[WSIS CS-Plenary] How to stop the beating or shaming of children for speaking their mother tongue?

[Rui Correia]

Dear All

I seem to recall that way back then there were a Languages Caucus and
Minorities Caucus, but a lot of our records are disappearing or being
written over!

This was sent to me to an online forum that I don't visit with frequency, so
it might be slightly dated, but nonetheless valid.

Specific to this forum, I'd like to recall Point 6 of our Charter of Civil
Rights for a Sustainable  Knowledge Society, which states that "CULTURAL
DIVERSITY IS A PREREQUISITE FOR INDIVIDUAL AND
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT."

If the relevant caucuses can this this up, please advise where people couple
post on this.

Regards,

Rui

_____________________________________________________
Text received:
Greetings! Not long ago I received an email from someone who mentioned in
passing how children in one school in Tanzania were under threat of a
beating if they uttered a word in their mother tongue. I also happened to
see some recent articles about the larger issues of linguistic rights and
education in various parts of the world, in which various ways of
discouraging use of the mother tongue were discussed. It occurred that in
this International Year of Languages (and during a decade on non-violence
for children) it might be time to call attention to this and at least try to
build opinion against punishment for speaking one's mother tongue. Which is
easy to say but quite another matter to implement.

How to stop the beating or shaming of children for speaking their mother
tongue?

The practice of punishing children for speaking their mother tongue in
school - or even at home - is apparently still not that uncommon. It is
rationalized in terms of keeping order in the classroom or forcing the
children to learn another more widely spoken or dominant language. The
victims are anyone who does not have the targeted language as their mother
tongue, and historically the most outrageous applications of this mindset
has been against indigenous peoples.

The issue now is how to draw attention to such punishment - not just the use
of corporal punishment but the whole concept of punishing someone for
speaking their first language - and to educate teachers, parents and school
administrators. Since this year is the International Year of Languages and
the 8th year of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and
Non-violence for the Children of the World, it would seem an ideal moment to
do something in this regard. Any suggestions regarding strategies and
organizations are invited.

-- 
________________________________________________


Rui Correia
Advocacy, Human Rights, Media and Language Consultant
2 Cutten St
Horison
Roodepoort-Johannesburg,
South Africa
Tel/ Fax (+27-11) 766-4336
Cell (+27) (0) 84-498-6838
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/pipermail/plenary/attachments/20080121/021894da/attachment.htm