A social education program called ‘Building Belonging’ has been commissioned in order to educate children about racial privellege and respect for other cultures.
The program received praise however Victorian Opposition leader Matthew Guy says ‘parents are the best people to teach children about respect and values, not government,’
Headteacher at Moordown St. John’s C of E Primary School, Peter Herbert spoke on how teaching the behaviours one should have towards racism is important.
“There are certain behaviours and attitudes that three year olds can learn from other adults and children around them so there’s a capacity to learn and make choices around racism.”
He continued ‘If it’s talked about and it’s discussed in those sorts of terms then children grow up understanding that people are different and we need to respect those differences.’
Local Bournemouth resident Manuela Vițelaru discussed her personal experience with racism in Britain.
“I can see that people are racist to me. If I stay with British people they won’t be that accepting if I don’t have the British accent.”
The Building Belonging Toolkit has been successful with 11,000 downloads in the last month.