I'm a traveller- AMA

[Pinkyyy]

I was actually asked on another post to start this thread, I've been debating the idea for a while but usually decide not to because I've seen threads like this turn sour before. Hopefully I can avoid that and actually provide information and educate people on a way of life they may well know very little about.

I invite you to ask any questions you may have, and I will do my best to answer them all honestly. I ask that you don't bother to comment if you're going to bombard me with racism and ignorance. If you'd like to question a common stereotype, by all means go ahead but I will not respond to those who are simply here to be hateful. I also hope you'll respect that I don't like to share too much of my personal details on here, so I'm aiming more to speak about travellers as a a whole and not so much about me personally.

So.... AMA

@Timmytoo I think you're referring to bare Knuckle fights, this is a way many people use to resolve conflict which actually works very well for our community. When there is a conflict the men will often have a fight which is always accompanied by someone from each side to watch fair play, after which they will shake hands and the dispute is over. The forcefully kissing is an Irish traveller tradition that is not practised by English travellers.

@TheTroutofNoCraic I agree that most travellers are very happy with our way of life and very much enjoy it. Those who don't just tend to stray and lead the life they want to lead

@LaurelAndMardy like I said earlier, it is becoming more common for young travellers to choose to stay in education

@Timmytoo you're welcome, I'm just happy to answer people's questions and educate them on our way of life

Thank you for replying to my comment, i would agree with the poster after me, of course they wont see it as conforming as they will just see it as the norm, as that is what has always been done, how can anyone think there is different if they are not exposed to what life has to offer? Thorough education and opportunity? This works the same as religious beliefs , if a person has been only exposed to one religion through generations and always been told thats the 'right' religion how would they want any different?

I live near a traveller site. In the supermarket you can tell the traveller mums by the beautiful prams they have. Usually white silver cross with lovely bedding. Is that a tradition or is it just a certain group that go for this look?
I'm enjoying this thread btw.

@chicken2015 I think you're reading too far into it, traverse not sheltered from the world around them, if they wanted to explore other avenues in life then they could easily do so

@donajimena silver cross pushchairs are a popular choice, it's not necessarily a tradition but just something a lot of travellers like

I'm going to be busy for the next few hours but will return later to answer any more questions anyone may have. I'm really pleased in the way this thread has gone and in the fact that we've managed to avoid the havoc I have seen in the past on similar posts

What age is the average traveller girl pulled out of education? In your community?

In my experience, most Traveller children, boys and girls alike, tend to leave during or at the end of Y6 and home educate, be it by parents or with help of tutor. Travellers who live on permanent sites are visited frequently by LA, there is a degree of pressure to ensure they are learning...but HE children (be they Traveller or not) are not under obligation to follow the National Curriculum. As long as they can prove some learning is going on then they will be supported, if not they'll be slapped with a compulsory school order and taken to court.

Admittedly, it's the Travellers who move about that go missing from education.

Thank you for taking the time to answer all these questions!

Re the 'rough' travellers leaving human poo behind - one taboo seems to be clashing with another - the traveller taboo of not using toilets in caravans even if there's no alternative, and the non-traveller taboo against poo being left outdoors for other people to deal with. Does that frustrate you?

When we had travellers park in our local park for a few days nothing else bad happened locally but everyone was disgusted (a very emotional, visceral reaction) by the shit left behind after they'd gone. It is a big deal to people, not just a bit of littering. It's not just a little cultural difference non-travellers are likely to be eventually educated into accepting. It has sadly made me less open-minded about travellers arriving again. It is really hard to get away from thinking "oh no, they might be fine, but I really hope they don't leave human shit in the children's playground again".

I wouldn't go around saying "all travellers do this", because I know you don't all do this, but I would still feel uneasy if our park was suddenly full of caravans again because I would be afraid of the same thing happening again. Do you think the 'rough' type of traveller you talk about will ever try to find other ways round this?

What I'm trying to say is that things like this make people who don't want to be prejudiced feel cautious, despite their natural inclinations, about what will happen when some travellers come into their local area. It's not fair to blame travellers as a whole for something only a minority do, but also I feel it's not fair to label this kind of learned caution as just blind prejudice towards travellers. It's a tricky issue.

Why aren’t girls expected to continue their education and why don’t many women work. Who do you expect to be your midwife, nurse, doctor etc? Why is it ok for ordinary non traveller women to work and serve you? I understand that you do work, but many travelling women don’t. This world wouldn’t work if women didn’t work. I know back in the day many women got married and had to give up work or weren’t even allowed to work and looked after their husbands. But times have moved on. Do you think that will ever change for the traveller community like it did for non travellers? Also I understand that many traveller men are in manual labour. Do any of them have do non manual labour like work in an office?

Sorry I don’t mean any hate just genuinely curious!

@zzzzz
No that’s not what I meant. Of course many non traveller women don’t work. I’m just asking why it is expected generally for traveller women to be homemakers and not work.

@vuripadexo at around 11, at the end of primary school

@saturnFive as local councils are constantly putting barriers in place to try and make it impossible for travellers to pull their trailers on to parks etc, I do think eventually this will come to an end, thankfully. I do not agree with areas being left in such a poor state. It is worth pointing out that in some cases, people take the 'oppertunity' on the travellers leaving the area to fly tip there, knowing the travellers will get the blame.

@Butterflycookie it's quite common for women and young girls in the travelling community to work these days. I've never known anyone to see it as non-travellers serving us, that seems strange, they simply don't work because they feel that their place is in the home. I've never known a travelling man to work in an office, but not all do manual labour jobs.

@coconutty yes, I think any traveller can instantly recognise another traveller, I wonder if non-travellers can always tell?

Most will leave school and enlist as homeschooled.

That doesn’t mean they’re receiving an education, especially as the likelihood is that the parents are also uneducated.

@Schmoobarb they are aware of that, they don't wish to have any further education in the cases where they leave school. If they wanted to they would stay in school, as many do.

I’m sorry but I think that’s absolutely bloody appalling. You’d only have your children complete primary school, let them choose if they want to leave, and then not provide secondary level education.

How do you answer the point that this is not only breaking the law, but may also be viewed as child neglect?

How can you think it’s OK to limit your children’s potential in this way?

What's your favourite thing about your way of life ?

What's one thing you would like changed?

@Schmoobarb a lot will pay a tutor to come and do English and Maths. To be fair, the same could be said of ANYONE who homeschools their children, for whatever reason.

I’m sorry if that comes across as rude because you do seem very nice but I do find that shocking. You could have kids with so much potential that they’ll never get to realise. Don’t you find that sad?

In a similar vein, how do you think the traveller community deal with children with special needs? Autism etc. I have a feeling (a propos of nothing) that they might be quite protective?

@Schmoobarb you are only looking at it from your own perspective. Travellers do not place as much weight on education and would rather their children learn life skills necessary to live and thrive in our community. You see it as somehow disabling our children, do all adult travellers seem like they've missed out? We get our education in different ways and just because we don't have A-levels or degrees, we are not somehow inferior.

What's your favourite thing about your way of life ?
The fact that I have friends all over the country m

What's one thing you would like changed?
The homophobia that it's still quite prevalent