I'm just an average gypsy AMA

[GypsyAMA]

I've noticed a lot of hatred towards gypsies on here so I thought I'd answer any questions anyone may have that could help you to understand my culture more. You might still disagree with many aspects, but at least you'll be coming from facts and not stereotypes.

So it's not the education aspect that you have an issue with at all, it's purely about socialising with children outside of their culture and the possibility of picking up a different cultural socialisation than you think they should have.

Hmm, but in the post just before that one you say:

“Also re: leaving school. As our children get older their lives go in a completely different direction. They don't have the freedom to do a lot of the things the other children can do and they also have certain expectations of them”

To me, that does sound like you’re limiting their choices and thus making it more difficult to choose a different path in life.

Lots of people don't like modern sexual ethnics - Muslims, conservative Christians etc. They still send their kids to secondary school.

I think in the same way that many on this thread are attributing bad behaviour to your whole community, you are equally making a lot of assumptions about morals, relationships and teenagers in wider society. I did not have a bf until my very late teens, well after school. School may present opportunities for teenage relationships etc but there is also the additional principles that you bring to your children from their upbringing, they won't all suddenly go off the rails. I find it so incredible that opportunities are closed due to this.

If they're only mixing with the same group of people, for the rest of their lives, then they won't be disadvantaged.
I suppose? 🤷🏻‍♀️

@GoodHeavens99 but they go to Primary school

To me, that does sound like you’re limiting their choices and thus making it more difficult to choose a different path in life.

Agreed - it's like you're denying them the ability to make a choice for themselves by denying them basic knowledge.

I like the insight here OP. It’s a lot to digest, as I have never ever had a good experience from any travelling community. Ever.

One particular experience involved the mass trashing of a Hilton hotel and the majority of staff ready to quit their jobs. Absolutely the worst time of my working life.

You do sound nice OP, but some of your posts do indeed confirm the stereotyping

Jesus. That sounds horrific. I can't imagine how stressful that must have been.

I haven't made any assumptions about morals.

I'm sure everyone would agree that it's completely normal to you for your kids to spend their teenage years exploring these types of things. I haven't passed any judgement on that, just said that it's different to what we do.

Luckily I'm able to see that different people have different beliefs and behaviours that are normal to them and I don't judge them, it's a shame other people can't do the same.

Once again, I'm not a traveller.

I haven't made any assumptions about morals.

I would disagree. If you're not making assumptions, why are you denying your children access to sex education and secondary schooling?

Hi OP, thanks for doing this thread.

Having been a SAHM I was wondering a few things about your lifestyle.

Do you have equal access to money or do you have to ask your DH for money?

If you ever wanted to go back to work, would you be able to or would your husband object?

Is it common for women in your community to use contraception like the pill, coil etc? Would your DH be OK with it?

A couple of questions about your DCs too if that's OK? Would your DCs be able to come out as openly gay or would they be ostracised by you/the community? Would anyone attend their wedding if they married someone of the same sex?

At what age would gypsy men typically start to drink alcohol? And do women typically drink alcohol, or not?

If teenagers in your community have hidden relationships, before "coming out" how is that any different to teenagers in school having relationships but being open about it from earlier on?

Why didn't you vaccinate?

If one of your DC is gay, how would you support them coming out to the rest of the gypsy community?

And would you feel ashamed of them or be scorned because of your child's sexuality?

What was the rate of vaccination against Covid in your immediate community? Was anyone ill with it?

The thing is OP, you wouldn’t be able to support secondary school education at home, because you didn’t get one yourself.

So by removing your children from school you are limiting their choices. By generally removing daughters earlier than sons, you are in particular leaving them in a situation where they have less freedom than the boys in your community and fewer options to leave.

I understand you value your way of life, but what you are not doing is giving your children any choice in the matter.

I agree there is a lot of prejudice against gypsies, but I also think the unwillingness to educate children, which is something all children should be entitled to according the United Nations, is one of the things people find hardest to understand, and creates a lot of negatively towards the community which is something that gypsies could chose to change.

If by your own admission you just look British and lots of gypsies no longer travel what would you say your culture is?

I ask because the main thing I've taken (admittedly from TV) is having close family ties and that happens across many an ethnicity.

Ps not trolling at all , just curious.

Is there a difference between gypsies and travellers, behaviour wise I mean. My only experience of people I assume are Roma gypsies are people selling the Big Issue, but the traveller communities have caused huge problems where I live too. Whole towns shutting up when traveller camps turn up because the sheer volume of stealing, fighting etc makes it not worth opening, rubbish left in fields, dogs maltreatment etc ( my whippet was rescued fromma travellers site, with loads of other dogs, riddled with fleas and worms etc.). I know ethnically they are completely different.

Lots of religions/cultures feel the same way, so would you/others you know not consider a religious school or only allow them to attend certain lessons?

I don’t actually know but I assume there are some religious schools that follow very similar ethics to you and therefore teach things you would find appropriate.

Are your kids/other gypsy kids not allowed a phone/SM/contact with the outside world until a much older age than non gypsies, to try and avoid them coming into contact with these views?

@GypsyAMA do you agree with the way women/girls are treated by the Taliban in Afghanistan?

@GypsyAMA thanks so much for this AMA, it’s fascinating.
does your DH have a trade, and will he train his sons in that trade? Can they train from other relatives or Roma in your community if they want a different trade?
thanks

The stereotyping of Gypsys occurs because it is almost always true. I have worked in investigations for 35 years across a large geographic area. In all that time we (multi agency operations) ALWAYS as in 100% of perhaps 500 visits - the levell of class A drug distribution, modern slavery of the down & out used as free labour in unregistered. Tarmac/tree surgery/paving businesses - and phenomenal levels of benefit fraud (married women with between 5/10 kids claiming to be single parents - are off the scale and not found at the same level with any other group or ethnicity.
There appears to be absolutely no regard for authority or rules - just a general need to 'take' .

I'm sorry if you don't like this assessment but for me over such a long period of time it has been my live experience

Which country have you visited in the world and how do you teach your DC foreign languages?