‘There are terrorists in the park,’ a three-year-old recently announced, on seeing a group of Muslim elders wearing shalwar kameez walk through a park near her nursery and sit on a bench. She was playing in the garden with other children when she saw them, two of whom had grandchildren in the nursery.
In discussions the children showed they had a good sense of what a terrorist was. This episode shocked staff and parents. The nursery, situated in a multicultural area, was already very aware of the importance of presenting and celebrating the cultural identities of families but they realised that they were making huge assumptions about children’s awareness and sensitivity to the world around them. This provided an opportunity to explore the issues with parents and staff. They concluded that it was through media images that children had developed these ideas. Consequently the staff redoubled their efforts to address them specifically.
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