Is your child 'cultured'?
Britain is now a more diverse society than ever before, but according to new research commissioned by Petra’s Planet, a new virtual world for children to explore and learn about different cultures, over 56 per cent of parents of primary school children think their kids need to be better educated about other cultures.
Generally, primary school children are taught about different cultures as part of PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education), but this latest independent research which interviewed 500 UK parents of primary school aged-children from around the country and carried out by OnePoll, revealed that over half of UK parents don’t think schools are educating children enough about different cultures.
Children love to learn about things that are different. They like to know how people live in other parts of the world, what they wear, what kinds of animals there are and how children play.”
Why learn about culture?
There are a number of reasons why parents think it’s important for children to learn about culture. The most popular was tolerance (51 per cent), closely followed by instilling an understanding of different cultures (49 per cent). Interestingly, developing new friendships was also stated as important according to 41 per cent of parents, with 34 per cent of respondents stating that learning about different cultures exposes children to life enhancing experiences.
A staggering 96 per cent of parents took a lateral approach to teaching their children about different cultures, using a variety of ways to instil a greater understanding and exposure to different foods, dress, cultures, religion, and language. Parents believed that foreign holidays were the best way (47 per cent) of exposing their children to other cultures, and 29 per cent of parents took the more affordable option of eating in different types of restaurants, for example, Thai, Italian and Turkish.
Eevamaria Halttunen, founder and creative director of Petra’s Planet is passionate about giving young children opportunities to explore and learn about different countries and cultures, she said: “Children love to learn about things that are different. They like to know how people live in other parts of the world, what they wear, what kinds of animals there are and how children play.”
Despite Britain’s ethnic diversity, only 17 per cent of parents of primary school children saw integrating with people from different cultures as a way of teaching young children about different cultures. However, 12 per cent stated that visiting different cultural markets and festivals was one way they exposed their children to other cultures, with nine per cent researching specific celebrations from another country to enjoy with their children, for example, Chinese New Year and Diwali.
Learning a language was only seen by 11 per cent of parents as a way of helping youngsters learn about different cultures.
Eevamaria added: “Petra’s Planet allows young children to explore different cultures in a safe and fascinating environment. With four countries to choose from, including Sami land, Jordan, Sri Lanka and Senegal, players get the chance to learn about a whole host of different experiences, from visiting a souk in Jordan, camel racing in the desert, to nursing elephants in Sri Lanka and playing djembe drums in Senegal.
"Children’s fascination is gained through a variety of games, quests and challenges – there are more than 80 in total – now offering children the chance to learn something useful while having great fun with their friends,” she says.
How important is it to you for your child to learn about different cultures? Tell us in the comments below or tweet us @FemaleFirst_UK
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