Cyprus-Forum.com

[bilako22]

I heard about that Halil.. My friend was one of the boys that they nearly beat up.

Do these people ever change?

http://www.cyprus-forum.com/cyprus17401.html

Versus state sponsored wholesale murder, I would say thinking in the free areas has come a long...wouldn't you say?

Not really , same Greeks same racist thinking.

[miltiades]

You insists in calling the G/Cs Gavour , an outdated anachronistic and utterly third "worldish "word and then you audaciously call the G/Cs racist !!! What a Plonker .

[Viewpoint]

The difference is that the rest of the world (aside from the ethnically cleansed north) reside in multicultural societies enjoying Freedom of speech, and such clashes will always occur as one tries to balance out with the other.

.... And they get reported, so that they may be addressed.

Because unlike Turkish administered dictatorships, we do not fear being silenced with bullets, imprisonments and executions.

Thats the point is no one is doing anything, they are ignoring these racists outrbursts thats why they are on the increase.

[Eric dayi]

The difference is that the rest of the world (aside from the ethnically cleansed north) reside in multicultural societies enjoying Freedom of speech, and such clashes will always occur as one tries to balance out with the other.

.... And they get reported, so that they may be addressed.

Because unlike Turkish administered dictatorships, we do not fear being silenced with bullets, imprisonments and executions.

Where is it being "addressed", in your head little sock-puppet?

According to school sources, most cases are not investigated by the school or police.

“It is a major issue and the management tries to cover it up. The school’s policy of ‘don’t do anything and the problem will be solved’ is wrong,” said one teacher who did not want to be named.

Apparently the establishment has had a series of outside expert opinions on how to create a cultural sensitive school but none of the many recommendations listed in each of the reports has ever been implemented.

It is being ignored and "expert opinions" never been "implemented", don't you ever read any of the articles you respond to?

[miltiades]

The difference is that the rest of the world (aside from the ethnically cleansed north) reside in multicultural societies enjoying Freedom of speech, and such clashes will always occur as one tries to balance out with the other.

.... And they get reported, so that they may be addressed.

Because unlike Turkish administered dictatorships, we do not fear being silenced with bullets, imprisonments and executions.

Thats the point is no one is doing anything, they are ignoring these racists outrbursts thats why they are on the increase.

And they should not be tolerated , nor should such acts go unpunished. No responsible G/C would accept such loutish behaviour just as no responsible T/C would accept such behaviour .
The ROC ought to implement immediately harsher ways of dealing with these yobs.

[DT.]

ok .... you called 2 drunks them ..... how about this one .....

School must tackle racism
By Alexia Saoulli

Expert recommendations have not been followed

THE ENGLISH School’s senior management team was yesterday blamed for turning a blind eye to racist outbursts and for failing to encourage students’ respect for fellow classmates’ differences.

The accusation was made 24 hours after Greek nationalist graffiti was found sprayed across the Nicosia fee-paying school’s walls. ‘The English School is Greek,’ said one slogan. Others targeted specific teachers.

The latest attack follows a series of incidents dating back at least two years. In 2006 a group of Turkish Cypriot students enrolled at the school were beaten up by students from a nearby gymnasium, and earlier this year the school’s Turkish Language room was defaced. There are approximately 90 Turkish Cypriot students at the school.

According to school sources, most cases are not investigated by the school or police.

“It is a major issue and the management tries to cover it up. The school’s policy of ‘don’t do anything and the problem will be solved’ is wrong,” said one teacher who did not want to be named.

Apparently the establishment has had a series of outside expert opinions on how to create a cultural sensitive school but none of the many recommendations listed in each of the reports has ever been implemented.

“Some were not even discussed. I hope the new board and the new chairman [Kyriakos Vassiliou] will be much more sensitive to these issues and understand the need to take measures,” the teacher said.

Judging from Vassiliou’s reaction to the incident the teacher will not be disappointed.

“Unfortunately this kind of racism does exist. On balance the experiment to have Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot students together has been very successful. There are a portion of people who are opposed to this and are trying to destroy it. We hope in time this will lessen,” Vassilou said yesterday.

The chairman said the board planned to address the issue at its next meeting on May 12 and would discuss preventive measures to stop similar future incidences. One suggestion he made was the possibility of introducing closed circuit cameras.

“We also have to get the students to see what the English School offers them. They attend an exceptional school and get so much out of it. They will see later in life what it means to be an old boy or girl. It is not in their interest to tarnish the school’s reputation when there are so many other ways to let off steam,” he said.

Vassiliou added that although the school did not know who the culprits behind the latest incident were, it would start punishing those caught committing these kinds of offences.

“Students must learn that they will be punished, whoever they are and without exception,” he said.

A number of students, parents and teachers told the Sunday Mail members of EFEN, an extreme right-wing youth organisation, were the problem.

“It must be them because one of the teachers named on the wall is sympathetic towards Turkish Cypriots,” a sixth form student said.

Senior teacher Antonis Antoniou has been responsible for staff development and European Union programmes which involves a lot of work with staff and students to create a culturally more sensitive school. He was one of two teachers targeted by the spray painters. The second senior teacher is responsible for discipline. Attacks against the latter are thought to be more personal, compared to Antoniou who has less to do with students.

Asked to comment on the speculation, Antoniou said: “I don’t know why I was targeted. You’ll have to ask the students responsible. Anything I say is purely guesswork.”

Nevertheless other teachers said nationalist feelings had increased since the Annan plan referendum in 2004.

“It keeps getting worse. As a school we need to be proactive. We can’t be reactive and punish. We have to remember this is an educational institute and that we have a responsibility towards our students that doesn’t just end with preparing students for exams,” he said.

The teacher said it was simply a matter of common sense.

“Children sometimes get carried away by what they see others doing. The school has never made an effort to educate them that they have to respect differences. Tomorrow they could get a job in Europe. How will they react if they live in France and their neighbour is black or Indian? It is our job to teach them tolerance and to respect diversity,” he said.


A concerned English School parent said she had learned that the Turkish Language room had been vandalised from her son.

“I heard they cleaned up the mess and did nothing. The police were not called in and the school never took a stand condemning the act. Someone should have said this thing has happened, we are sorry, we condemn it. The students should have been addressed and the parents also. Instead it was brushed under the carpet,” she said.

Turkish Cypriot parents were also reportedly furious and upset upon learning about the incident from their children.

“I think their reaction was completely understandable and as a parent I’d have felt the same way because it’s no coincidence why the room was targeted,” she said.

The mother, who has two children at the school, said similar abusive slogans about teachers had been sprayed on the walls three weeks ago.

“It’s not the first time this has happened. It’s my understanding that the teachers targeted are teachers sympathetic to the promotion of respect for diversity,” she said.

The concerned mother said there were already some children as young as 15 who were “deeply racist”.
“All this is a result of the school’s inaction and inactivity to deal with a problem that has been growing for the past four years. How can a school function as an effective school when you can’t create a functional learning environment?”

The 45-year-old said unless the school acted soon, the situation would only get worse.
“Things never get better if swept under the carpet. They always become worse.
Without specific targeted programmes to improve things nothing will be changed,” she said.






Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008

Halil,

being an old boy of the english school myself one thing people do not understand is that it is a highly political school. You are encouraged to debate, form opinions and have strong political beliefs from an early age in the English School. Take that political belief and add some childish immaturity in and you have yourself some vandalism. As long as we grown ups cannot explain to our children why 40,000 troops are pointing their guns at them and a bigturkish flag laughs at them from pentadaktylos then they will continue to act this way.

Just before my son goes to the army, loses 26 months of his life and is posted on a green line with someone from a village on the Black Sea pointing a gun back at him....I will also find it hard to explain why he shouldn't hate that boy. We can reason with this, they can't, still we must try.

[miltiades]

A fair assessment DT , and one that most of us can understand , however it is up to school authorities and the parents to take it upon themselves and enlighten the students as why there are 40 thousand occupying troops in North Cyprus , why they are there and who invited them to come . There are many students that simply believe that Turkey invaded just out of the blue , when in fact Turkey was given the green light by the fanatics and the Greek Junta .The extremists were responsible 100 % , on both sides , but the extending of the invitation to invade Cyprus was by the kind invitation of the G/Cs and Greek extremists joining forces in order to achieve their dream in complete disregard of any one else on the island.These young students must be nurtured with responsible care ensuring they do not enter adulthood full of hate as for instance the likes of Eric amongst others.
We must rely on the school authorities not to stand by idly watching our young people developing into vigilantes .
The T/C students have a right of attending school without the fear of intimidation and hindrance , they did not cause the problem , on the contrary Cyprus must rely on all these students for its future.

[Oracle]

A fair assessment DT , and one that most of us can understand , however it is up to school authorities and the parents to take it upon themselves and enlighten the students as why there are 40 thousand occupying troops in North Cyprus , why they are there and who invited them to come . There are many students that simply believe that Turkey invaded just out of the blue , when in fact Turkey was given the green light by the fanatics and the Greek Junta .The extremists were responsible 100 % , on both sides , but the extending of the invitation to invade Cyprus was by the kind invitation of the G/Cs and Greek extremists joining forces in order to achieve their dream in complete disregard of any one else on the island.These young students must be nurtured with responsible care ensuring they do not enter adulthood full of hate as for instance the likes of Eric amongst others.
We must rely on the school authorities not to stand by idly watching our young people developing into vigilantes .
The T/C students have a right of attending school without the fear of intimidation and hindrance , they did not cause the problem , on the contrary Cyprus must rely on all these students for its future.

In other words brainwash the kids into accepting your view on the Cyprus problem!

You Miltiades, who was brought up to rightfully question authority, such that you deem it acceptable to insult a traffic warden for doing his job, will now happily sit back and allow Turkey to do her "job" of ethnically cleansing half our island of its native people .... Nay, not just sit back, allow, endorse ..... but also produce justification for her doing this "job" ... when we all know full well she should not have been given this "job" of looking after the interests of the island in the first place.

And to think you were probably sober when you wrote that

[halil]

dear friends DT and Miltiades ,
İ agree with miltiades remarks ,
DT , we (the parents) first must direct our kids with correct information and we must teach them how to live in peace together , even if they goes to army , it doesn't mean they can hate each other .They might do their duty on the borders but if we teach them right things they can not provocate others at borders or do silly things between each other . Soon my son will go to army as well . I didn't teach him to hate GC's or others . he is very sensible guy . Soon he will finished his university .He has no any change he has to go army for 15-18 months . It is only wasting his valuable time from his life .what else we can do ...at the moment nothing but what we can do give them good advise not to do silly things .tell them be sensible .

second comes from our schools we must not wash these Young's brains with hate and racism we must not find excuse , what they are doing now .we must tell them what kind of harms they are giving for us , with these kind of actions we can not gain anything but we can lost many things.

[halil]

Also i am not agree with my TC's friends to call some one Gavur . If they are in wrong truck we must warn and tell them truth without fear .