Britishness not taught to kids
12-March-2010
*
* Your Gripe Gripe List Quick Gripe Comments Gripe Poll Resources Contact Us Advertise Home *
* prev
next *
 

Britishness not taught to kids

Leave a comment Leave a comment 
Related Gripes Related Gripes 
Random Gripe Random Gripe 
Feedburner Gripes by email 
 
 

We mustn't teach our kids to be British.  How silly is that?  Is it just me,or are we as a nation allowing ourselves to be converted to "barmy-ism"?  According to the newly elected chairperson (groan) of the NUT (what a perfect anacronym), it is undesirable and dare I say it RACIST to teach compulsorily all immigrants the values of "Britishness".

Britishness not taught to kids, what is so bad about being British?

Hang on a minute there.  It is precisely this "Britishness" that has welcomed all creeds and cultures into Britain.  Why would a foreign person wanting to come and live here desire anything other than and tolerant understanding (by comparison) community?  Britishness in its original true form has shaped the world for hundreds of years rightly or wrongly, depending on your view.  But that aside, any foreigners coming to live permanently in this or any country for that matter, need to understand the ways of that country.

I was a foreigner myself where I worked and lived in Saudi Arabia around 25 years ago.  I needed to know their ways and adapt, otherwise I would have been deported or possibly something worse. Also, I wonder why the Prime Minister of Australia John Howard is re-elected with such regularity.  Could it be something to do with his no nonsense approach to immigration?  Australia welcomes all, but this country has values and laws that are for Australians.  You are welcome to live in the country as long as you abide by them.

When are we going to get a politician in this once great country to stand up and be counted?  Why should we not teach these values to all our youngsters?  Are we British really that bad?


Other Related Gripes

Google Street View UK, why so paranoid?
School teaching methods letting our children down
British jobs for British workers
Britain is losing its Britishness
Religious symbols in schools
The immigrant hierarchy in the UK
Why are English people so cold?
Welsh language policy
Where are all our English apples?
Immigration policies in the UK
Tony Blair's little France
RE in British schools
English football hooligans
Rudeness and foreign language
Why do the British queue so much?
UK fishing industry almost destroyed
Time we withdrew from The European Union
Asylum seekers in the UK
British pub closing time





Visitor Comments

Please read this before you post

Enter your comments in the space below

Name or nickname


Remember my name



 
John Howard hasn't been PM of Australia for over 2 years
*spinna  11-Dec-2009 14:45

 
You Sir are a fool, that’s the problem with the internet; idiots get too much opportunity to voice blinkered liberal views.

If a family simply moved in and then imposed their cultural rules upon your family home YOU would be INFURIATED, yet it’s OK to take place, just as long as it’s outside your doorstep and doesn’t DIRECTLY effect YOU and even IF damaging your nations whole history and structure.

Yes YOU will only realise and complain once it’s walking up your particular driveway and has finally to come along to change YOU’RE (Mr ABC's) home.

You’re a genius...and a traitor.

Promote the ways and values that created the modern world - British (1st) and European (2nd)
*Eyes wide open  15-Oct-2009 08:26

 
I think they point being made here is that we are losing an identity as a nation; we are condemned as "racist" for flying the flag of St George, if we visited other countries we would have to abide by their rules, yet we are not allowed to conduct the same policies. And sorry, I have to agree with MikeP on the isssue of spelling...what are schools teaching these days? Part of the reason I don't want kids!
*Moaning Minnie  06-Jul-2009 12:26

 
The values of Britishness? Does anyone actually know what the values of Britishness are? When I think of Britain, I think of tea, a country where we can embrace all we meet and some poorly elected prime ministers (mentioning no names). Don't mock me for the tea. Have some, it'll cheer you up. Unless you're a coffee person. In which case, have a coffee.

I think we need to look beyond something as trivial as spelling. Why do we have to bash someone if we disagree with the person? What happened to the days of arguing a point without criticising the tiny things which don't really matter?

Enough babbling from me about the small things. As someone who is experiencing British schooling, I have my own views on how schools educate. How is it proposed we teach Britishness? Is it a separate subject? The days where ladies had separate lessons in etiquette are over. However, we are all taught manners in lessons (e.g. you don't get something unless you say please) and this should be something that is first established at home.

I don't think extra lessons should be wasted on Britishness. Why do these things need to be taught at school? Do parents not play any part in their child's lives? I am proud to be British. But I'm also aware that our history isn't as great as it could be. There are things to be regretted. However, at the end of the day, a person is a person, regardless of where they come from.

One more point to add, all the things I said I thought of when thinking of Britain, are better applied to England. Britain, or the United Kingdom, is still very much divided. And Britishness or English, is just another division. By all means be proud of where you come from and what you stand for, but don't try to force those views upon others.
*Kate  05-Jul-2009 23:06

 
To MikeP,
Mate, you need to chill! Relax a little, I reccommend aromatherapy. It's great you have such strong views but be a little less agressive in your comments. You may not mean it but it comes over that way! I'm exactly like you, I'm always correcting people! I just can't help it. It's my weakness!:)
*!Little drop of Ocean!  17-Feb-2009 17:00

 
:Have you tried the Life in Britain test for immigrants. I have just tried a sample of the questions and I do not agree with one of their answers. They asked what jobs British Children should do A) Manual, Supermarket work Paper deliveries. Their answer was Paper Deliveries and Supermarket work. Well last time I went to the high street our shops are not all supermarkets and children can do manual work on farms.So to any immigrants taking this test do not take this rubbish as gospel and good luck.
*Linda Hancock  16-Feb-2009 16:43

 
"And don't you, MikeP, go on correcting my mistakes, because to be quite honest I don't realy care!!! No effence MikeP but you don't half sound stuck up!"

If 'stuck up' is your term for someone who speaks and writes English correctly, then I am stuck up and proudly so. I certainly don't take 'effence' (sic) at being referred to as 'stuck up', but you could benefit from having your English corrected. If you have so little pride in yourself that you don't care, then it's your problem.
*MikeP  10-Feb-2009 19:46

 
jamie123
Going back to the disscusion made before, Jamie123, I agree with sam and mikeP and I do think that you do come of as very very agressive!!! BUT who cares if you spell something wrong, after all there are many bristolian peole in the uk, even if your not bristolian it doesn't matter how your grammer is, at the end of the day it's the point your trying to get across! i'm sorry to hear about your english teacher! And don't you, MikeP, go on correcting my mistakes, because to be quite honest I don't realy care!!! No effence MikeP but you don't half sound stuck up!
*little sugar lump  10-Feb-2009 18:49

 
How do you teach someone to be British? Do you sit them in a classroom and tell them to write an essay about why England rocks?!?! I don't think you can teach Britishness but you can identify yourself as someone who is proud of their heritage, as I am! I myself am still at school and I have never been taught to be British but I just know I am and wouldn't to be anything else! National pride is what makes you realise you are British. Not what you speak or learn but how you feel about your country! You don't have to love it or agree with the policies, you just have to realise who you are and like it!!!!
*!Little drop of Ocean!  09-Feb-2009 19:14

 
As an English woman living in Scotland I can tell you now that so called 'Britishness' is a myth. I have not met one single Scottish person yet that would describe themselves as British the same as I would always describe myself as English. I think the British are something of a minority who have deluded themselves into believing that somehow the 4 nations that share this land mass we call the United Kingdom are actually united. Im sorry but as far as I can see its just a matter of geography. It is my strong belief that the Scots, the Welsh and the Northern Irish would prefer to be a million miles away from England if they could. To quote Renton from Trainspotting (you must have seen it!) " Some people hate the English.I don't,they're just w*nkers. We on the other hand are colonised by w*nkers! We can't even find a decent civilization to be colonised by!" That to me rings completely true! You can bet your last penny that 'British' was a phrase coined by the English to try and make all the other nations we ran rough shot over feel a bit better! And yet it is us, the English that now find ourselves in the position that now we do not feel that we cannot celebrate our patron saints day or display our national flag without the fear of being labelled as racist or being targeted for abuse. I feel we have more to fear from our celtic cousins than from any of the ethnic minorities that have descended on to our shores over the years.
*Lisey Lise  16-Jan-2009 17:13

 
we have celebrate all kinds of foreign rules. you can't do this you can't say that we have st patricks day and such alike but as british people we don't celebrate st georges day
so why do we teach our kids everything else . but not to be british ! STUPID or is it because we have no more british values In our own country
*proud to be british  16-Nov-2008 19:34

 
Well I never! Plans for a "Britishness Day" have been dropped, it has emerged.

The plan for a national holiday, like July 4 in the US or Bastille Day in France, was proposed as part of Gordon Brown's plan to celebrate Britishness.

It was one of the key recommendations of a citizenship review he commissioned from Lord Goldsmith last year.

Don't want to go upsetting all those so called 'non British', those that carry a UK passport now do we?
*Oxon  27-Oct-2008 15:36


View more comments on this gripe


 
*   *
* © 2000-2009 The Weekly Gripe. All rights reserved. Please see our privacy policy and disclaimer.   Site Map *