The RESPECT animation: a training resource to inform the Police about the impact of racism from children’s points of view
The RESPECT Project (Racialised Experiences Project: Education, Children & Trust) responds to calls to understand children’s racialised experiences and the impact this has on their mental health and wellbeing. The study revealed a broken relationship between young children and the police, and the RESPECT team recently partnered with Avon and Somerset Police to develop a much-needed resource which is hoped to inform anti-racist practice in this force. The animation presents four real examples of children’s experiences. The children were 9 to 11 years old, from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. They consistently expressed how they felt let down by the police, that the police made them feel unsafe, that they were sometimes scared to leave their homes, and how they worried about family members being targeted by police officers. These parts of the animation are voiced by children from one of the schools in which the original research took place.
The animation is being used as part of UWE’s Professional Policing courses to help tackle racism. The aim of the animation is to encourage police officers to listen to the experiences and perspectives of the children and consider these when they are interacting with Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups. It is also being used in Race Matters training across the Avon and Somerset constabulary.
Watch the animation here UWE Bristol RESPECT Project: Race Matters Police Training animation, made with children’s help
For further information please contact Verity6.Jones@uwe.ac.uk
Dr Verity Jones is an Associate Professor of Education Dr Verity Jones – UWE Bristol
Dr Anne Eason is an Associate Director of Policing Dr Anne Eason – UWE Bristol
Luci Gorell Barnes is a socially engaged artist, illustrator and doctoral researcher
https://people.uwe.ac.uk/Person/Luci2Gorellbarnes
RESPECT: https://respectprojectbristol.org/
To read the children’s book online: https://issuu.com/uwebristol/docs/if_racism_vanished_for_a_day
Teacher guide: https://respectprojectbristol.org/?page_id=187
‘Where do you feel it most?’ Using body mapping to explore the lived experiences of racism with 10- and 11-year-olds’: British Educational Research Journal: Vol 50, No 3 (wiley.com)
The RESPECT project has been funded by both UKRI and University of the West of England, Bristol
