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Sarah: Gypsy/Traveller

I am a young Gypsy/Traveller and I want to talk about education. I went to school from the age of five to nine and it's fair to say I hated every moment of it.

In Scotland most Gypsies only attend primary school for a few years and many young people today cannot read and write. This, of course, can make it difficult to find work and nearly everywhere you go in society there are forms to fill in.

I left when I was nine because I didn’t fit in. I wasn't gaining anything. I got called horrible names such as 'Gypsy', 'stinker', 'minker' and 'tinker' it was like a little rhyme they had. We would report this to the teachers but they did nothing or sometimes they even blamed the Gypsies, saying we had started a fight.

So when I was nine, I persuaded my dad to take me 'hawking' instead of going to school. I suppose you could call that education too.

The education I’ve got may not be a lot, but what I have got I’ve learned myself or from my mum and dad. In schools I don’t feel my culture is valued, we are expected to learn 'their' ways, 'their' history but they don't want to learn about ours.

If it is mentioned it is always negative stories. And bullying is a big problem too – this can be name-calling or physical attack.

For a lot of people my age, there is a lack of faith in those in power to do anything. Many of my friends don’t even bother to report racist incidents because they feel it is a waste of time. We've suffered for so long, our government and society seem to think racism towards Gypsy/Travellers is OK and 'acceptable', but it isn't.

We are human beings too with feelings and rights. I know young people who try to hide their identity. I’m proud of who I am and we should not have to hide who we are. We're not asking for anything special, just some respect.