BAA, Baa, Black Sheep has been put out under scrutiny in some Victorian Kindergartens for being both sexist and racist.
According to the Herald Sun, staff at centres in Melbourne are considering changing the lyrics of “black sheep” to reflect a non-discriminatory and multicultural society. And, the line “one for the little boy who lives down the lane” could also be changed in case it is deemed as sexist.
Childhood is innocent, children don’t understand the connotations or political correctness of songs, stories or anything, so why are we going to such great measures to sterilize their lives and take away their innocence?
Celine Pieterse, coordinator of Malvern East’s Central Park Child Care, said children could still use “black” if they chose to. “We try to introduce a variety of sheep.”
The Education Department said it did not tell early learning staff what to teach children.
Looking back at the origins of the famous rhyme, have nothing to do with race.
Although the first publication of the nursery rhyme was in 1744, it probably dates back to the Middle Ages, possibly to the 13th Century, and relates to a tax imposed by the king on wool. One-third went to the local lord (the ‘master’), one-third to the church (referred to as the ‘dame’) and about a third was for the farmer (the ‘little boy who lives down the lane’).
Are we focusing too much on the “what if” and living in fear that everything we do and teach children will have an underlying political correctness issue?
Do you think that “Baa baa black sheep” is a harmless nursery rhyme or is it something that does teach children racial and sexual discrimination? Tell us in the comments below…