"Baa, baa rainbow sheep"

[pascy]

Just wondered how people felt about changing nursery rhymes, stories etc for political correctness?

I thought Tweenies was a bit iffy the other day though. Max was looking at sheep and he played a game where he had a black sheep, a white sheep and a rainbow sheep and baby sheep to put with the mummies (he'd said about the real sheep in the field "how do the mummies know which their babies are - they all look the same?") And he did "well, the black lambs go with the black mummy, and the white lambs go with the white mummy and the rainbow lambs go with the rainbow mummy." And, yes, I know it's only sheep but black lambs don't neccessarily go with black mummy sheep do they? Or white with white? Though rainbow probably would go with rainbow - kind of a rare breed that.

I just thought it was a bit of a dodgy message to give to kids - that babies are always the same colour as their mummies.

And yes I need to get out more and stop watching the Tweenies.

My friend works in a day nusary and said that they aren't allowed to sing ba ba black sheep, and other nusary rhymes have had to be changed. I really think that things are getting out of hand, where do you stop with all of this?

are they going to change the words to 'Little White Bull'
the bull who wanted to be black?

Once upon a time there was a little white bull
Very sad, because he was a little white bull
(Little white bull)
All the black bulls called him a coward
Just 'cause he was white
Only black bulls go to the bullring
Only black bulls fight
When he asked his mama if a little white bull
(Little white bull)
Ever had a chance of turning black
His mama said, you silly little bull
You're a pretty little bull
You're my little bull
So please don't ask me why, little bull
You just ain't black!
But this did not satisfy that little white bull
(Little white bull)
He was an exception to that little white rule
(Little white rule)
Everyday alone in the meadow, he'd find things to charge
Till one day he really imagined, that his horns were large
Bold as brass right then and then, the little white bull
(Little white bull)
Quickly found the nearest road to town
And people said, what a funny little bull
What a fluffy little bull, he's our little bull
He marched along, a proud little bull
And hit the town!

It was the day of the bullfight, all the town were there
Waiting to see the famous matador
Trumpeters sounded a fanfare, tam-ta-da-dam-tam-taaa!
Out from the throats of the crowd came a mighty roar
Into the ring to the shout of a great olé (olé!)
Came the parade, all prepared for a mighty fray
Matadors and picadors and toreadors
And who do you think as well?
Trotting right behind them came the little white bull
(The little white bull)
How they laughed out loud to see the little white bull
(Little white bull)
Trotting 'round the giant arena, with his head up high
Till the matador in the centre caught his tiny eye
Charging right up to him went the little white bull
(Little white bull)
Charging twice and charging once again
The matador cried, torro little bull!
You're not a little bull, you're a brave little bull
You're gonna be a great little bull
The best in Spain!
Then the crowd all shouted, torro little bull!
You're not a little bull, you're a brave little bull
You're gonna be a great little bull
The best in Spain!
So if you got a little bull, that's a white little bull
It's quite possible that it might be the bull
That's the best in Spain

I really dont like the tweenies i do think that they send out the wrong message. My ds and I watched an episode that was abotu weather and they hid under a table because they thought the ceiling was going to fall in the house. Now my son thinks that the ceiling will fall in even though we told him that it is the clouds banging together and nothing to worry about - he now does.

At school the black board think annoyed me. When I had a black board in my room we knew it was supposed to be called a chalk board. However, I then got an interactive white board in my room - hm, only ever called a white board. Strange too - as I was never offended byt he term.

my SIL works at a nursery and they have been singing Baa Baa Wolley Sheep for years now.

Over -the-top PC, really gets on my titties !!!
Mind you, have you ever noticed, that very few of the nursery rhymes are actually very nice - I mean there's always someone being eaten, chased, pushed, killed etc etc - hardly heart warming, are they ?

WasWondering - I've always wondered whether Ring of Roses was really about the plague.

\link{http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.htm\Apparently not!}

you could always teach your children the modern versions which aren't PC, as found in "This Little Piggie Went to Prada" which are all the nursery rhymes in a modern context. Really funny. I like "Twinkle Twinkle Diamond Ring, wrapped in a Tiffany's box, tied with string".

JellyJelly - a few months ago dd asked why thunder made a noise and I was cheerfully explaining that it was the clouds banging together. Dh quietly whispered to me "you do know that isn't true, don't you?". Err, no. Me, I believed what my Mum said .

i really like humpty dumpty sat on the wall humpty dumpty had a great fall all the kings horses and all the kings men said f**k it its scrambled eggs for tea again! dont think i will teach it dd just yet though! can imagine the faces at swimming!:)

Needing to adjudicate in a hurry over DS, his friend and two sorts of biscuits in Tesco, I certainly altered 'eeny meny miny mo' from the version that was common when I was a child.

DS1 sings a version taught at nursery of

Humpty Dumpty had a banana,
Where do you think he put the skin
In the Kings Pyjama's.

On the subject of PC'ness in nursery rhymes - absolute madness!

The teachers in Zim call a black board - duh! A Black Board - and at the school for the deaf and disabled children I worked at for a while out there their favourite ryhme was Baa Baa Black Sheep - and we didn't have a single white child in the school!

Qoq mine sing ..
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
Eating black bananas
Where do you think he put the skins?
Down the King's pyjamas.

spider - that could quite well be it - but DS1 probably just forgot the black bananas bit (he likes the thought of sticking the skin in the kings pj's

Aw Turniphead my dad used to sing Little White Bull to us. Thanks for posting it. I can sing it to my kids tonight.
Happy memories.

OK, if it is wrong to call a black board, a black board is it wrong to call a black person a black person? Is there a suggestion that black carries with it a negative connotation?

DO you remember years ago when a white person would only ever you the term 'coloured' when referring to a black person?

Here in the UK, I gather saying "Black" for people is considered a bit off?

It's perfectly normal and acceptable in Canada.

It seems to be unacceptable to use the term black even when you're referring to the preferred colour of Goths, judging by some of these anecdotes.

Actually, some Canadians are a bit funny about the word, but I associate that attitude with nervous racist people, iyswim.

If you're trying to tell someone what Bob looks like, and his colour makes him stand out from the people he's with, then mention his colour!

Well my black DP only finds the term coloured offensive. WJen he was little his Dad said to him it's OK to be white and it is equally ok to be black. Has he missed out on some political movement?

Coloured used to be a "genteel" word for Black. Well, and in South Africa, it meant "mixed", and hence better than Black.

The NAACP hasn't changed its name. But "coloured" isn't an acceptable term in North America any more.

It's funny, I remember having a long drunken conversation with one of DH's older colleagues when I first moved to this country. He was saying some perfectly reasonable things about colour, to my ear (stuff like, customs and immigration people are often really really horrible to Black people, for no apparent reason). While using the term "nignog". It was deeply puzzling.