Case Study – Lealands High School, Luton

Report from a Year 8 pupil on her Show Racism the Red Card day:

On the 7th of July, Year 8 pupils were lucky enough to have the charity “Show Racism the Red Card” come in to talk to them.

Firstly, they held an assembly where they talked about racism, not just in society but in football as well. They showed a video which shocked many of the pupils. The severity of the racial abuse was shocking as was the story of former Barcelona and Real Madrid player, Samuel Eto’o ,who received racist jeers and comments from some of his own fans. It also told the tragic story of one teenager who was stabbed to death because of his colour. The video also gave some pupils a reality-shock and showed them how racism is part of life for people including footballers who just have to be brave and face up to it.

After the film, the year was split and some workshops were held. There were two classroom session leaders and two coaches who held sporty workshops in the sports hall.

In the classrooms, pupils asked any questions they had regarding racial abuse and the leaders offered an array of answers and were very non-judgemental. There were also some activities held that led to many debates in 8WP including “What neighbour would you choose?” It was thought provoking and made many people think differently about racism and consider that racism is not only about the colour of people’s skin.

In the sports hall, pupils had a chance to work on their teamwork abilities in a variety of sports activities. For example: sprinting races and ball control exercises.

On the whole it was a very eye-opening day and a very enjoyable experience.

Lianne Franklin – Year 8, Lealands High School