Villagers opposing plans for a travellers site have accused a council of attempting to 'brainwash' their children.
Pupils aged between six and 11 were requested to stand up and promise to 'welcome newcomers' and not bully them.
The incident happened at a workshop for youngsters that was part of Local Democracy Week, where talks were organised by Norwich and Norfolk Racial Equality Council.
A large proportion of the scores of children present were from Spooners Row Primary School, near Wymondham, Norfolk.
Residents there are battling plans by South Norfolk District Council to build a permanent travellers' site with eight pitches.
One parent, who asked not to be named, said: 'It appears as if the council was targeting children with propaganda to try to get them on side. My first thought was that it was disgusting to target children in such an underhand way when so many people oppose the new site.'
Another parent said: 'It's out of order that the council has done this.'
They added: 'If I had been there I would have stood up and said, "Stop this". It's in breach of the children's rights, surely?'
Another parent complained the workshop was planting thoughts about bullying into the minds of children who had probably not thought of it.
The primary school's headmaster, Simon Wakeman, has made an official complaint to the council.
He said yesterday that a council official connected with the plans for the travellers' camp had been at the workshop-The two people taking the workshop asked the children if they wanted to stand up and make a pledge,' he said.
'None of the children stood up because I suspect they felt awkward, but the pledge was read out anyway.
'They were asked to make a series of promises to be kind to gipsy and traveller children, welcome them into the community and not bully them. The children were encouraged to put their fingers in the air or their hands on their hearts to signify their acceptance.'
He added that he supported talks to 'build bridges in society', but opposed having children make pledges, particularly in light of their parents' anxiety over the travellers' site.
Mr Wakeman said the workshop had left the school in an 'invidious position' as it had gone to lengths to remain objective about the proposals but parents were now questioning its neutral stance.
The talk, on October 17, was one of several on offer to schoolchildren at the council's offices in Long Stratton. Headmasters chose which ones their pupils attended.
No one from the Norwich and Norfolk Racial Equality Council was available to comment yesterday. continues here
Pupils aged between six and 11 were requested to stand up and promise to 'welcome newcomers' and not bully them.
The incident happened at a workshop for youngsters that was part of Local Democracy Week, where talks were organised by Norwich and Norfolk Racial Equality Council.
A large proportion of the scores of children present were from Spooners Row Primary School, near Wymondham, Norfolk.
Residents there are battling plans by South Norfolk District Council to build a permanent travellers' site with eight pitches.
One parent, who asked not to be named, said: 'It appears as if the council was targeting children with propaganda to try to get them on side. My first thought was that it was disgusting to target children in such an underhand way when so many people oppose the new site.'
Another parent said: 'It's out of order that the council has done this.'
They added: 'If I had been there I would have stood up and said, "Stop this". It's in breach of the children's rights, surely?'
Another parent complained the workshop was planting thoughts about bullying into the minds of children who had probably not thought of it.
The primary school's headmaster, Simon Wakeman, has made an official complaint to the council.
He said yesterday that a council official connected with the plans for the travellers' camp had been at the workshop-The two people taking the workshop asked the children if they wanted to stand up and make a pledge,' he said.
'None of the children stood up because I suspect they felt awkward, but the pledge was read out anyway.
'They were asked to make a series of promises to be kind to gipsy and traveller children, welcome them into the community and not bully them. The children were encouraged to put their fingers in the air or their hands on their hearts to signify their acceptance.'
He added that he supported talks to 'build bridges in society', but opposed having children make pledges, particularly in light of their parents' anxiety over the travellers' site.
Mr Wakeman said the workshop had left the school in an 'invidious position' as it had gone to lengths to remain objective about the proposals but parents were now questioning its neutral stance.
The talk, on October 17, was one of several on offer to schoolchildren at the council's offices in Long Stratton. Headmasters chose which ones their pupils attended.
No one from the Norwich and Norfolk Racial Equality Council was available to comment yesterday. continues here
![Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War](http://patbuchananbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/bk-pjb-chuw165.jpg "Churchill_Hitler_the_Unnecessary_War\")
Post a comment on AAWR
0 Responses to "Outrage as council makes pupils stand on chairs and pledge to be nice to gypsy children"Post a Comment
We welcome contributions from all sides of the debate, at AAWR comment is free, AAWR may edit and/or delete your comments if abusive, threatening, illegal or libellous according to our understanding of, no emails will be published. Your comments may be published on other nationalist media sites worldwide.