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01-10-2017, 04:26 PM
Britain's gypsy kids: What it's really like
growing up as a traveller
where childhood is short -
and the young girls dream of cleaning and keeping house
* Channel 5 documentary finds out what it is like to grow up as a traveller
* Girls admit they will leave school at 11 to tidy homes and care for children
* Boys are expected to work with horses and drive by the age of 12
* One grandfather laments how short their youngsters' childhoods are
By Lucy Waterlow for MailOnline
PUBLISHED: 1st September 2016
Gypsy girls grow up dreaming of keeping house and having children and will rarely even attend secondary school, a new documentary reveals.
According to the Channel 5 series, traditional gender roles remain an important part of the gypsy community, with girls as young as 11 keen to leave school so they can maintain a tidy home.
One eight-year-old, Margaret - who is from an Irish traveller family and is the granddaughter of Celebrity Big Brother winner Paddy Doherty - now lives on a site in North Wales. She says she doesn't intend to continue her education after leaving primary school, despite being a star pupil.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C11B5300000578-3767087-image-a-22_1472660537674.jpg
Eight-year-old Margaret, an Irish traveller, says she intends to leave school when she is 11 despite being a star pupil
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C1199700000578-3767087-image-a-23_1472660548405.jpg
Margaret said she would rather stay at home cleaning and helping to look after her younger siblings rather than going to secondary school when she is older
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C11B3B00000578-3767087-image-a-32_1472662713792.jpg
Six-year-old Rihanna said when she grows up she wants to be a cleaner
'When I leave school I will probably be 11. I would rather stay home and clean up,' she said on the first episode of Gypsy Kids: Our Secret World.
She added: 'I am looking forward to leaving school so I can do my own thing. I will help my mummy.'
Six-year-old Rihanna who lives in Durham has similar ambitions.
She said: 'When I grow up I would like to be a cleaner, cleaning tiles.'
Margaret wants to follow in the footsteps of her older sister Rosanne, 12, who left school when she was 11 along with other girls her age from their community.
She explains: 'We were getting a bit old to go to school. Why would we want to learn anything at school? We are not going to be doing anything like that.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C119BB00000578-3767087-image-a-24_1472660556784.jpg
Margaret wants to be like her older sister Rosanne, 12, who left school when she was 11
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C21AE200000578-3767087-image-a-25_1472660571485.jpg
Margaret's sister Rosanne, 12, left, pictured with a friend, said she doesn't think it is right for teenagers to go to school when they could be at home cleaning
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/09/01/08/37AFB2EE00000578-3767087-image-m-2_1472716604066.jpg
Margaret - who is from an Irish traveller family and is the granddaughter of Celebrity Big Brother winner Paddy Doherty (pictured) - says she doesn't intend to continue her education after leaving primary school, despite being a star pupil
Girls like Margaret and Rosanne can be as young as 16 when they get married and most will become mothers not long after, having gained experience of childcare by looking after their younger siblings.
Rosanne said it is a path she's happy to follow and she doesn't think it is 'right' that 'gorgas' (non travellers) stay on at school as teenagers.
She said: 'I don't think it is right for older children to go to school. You are supposed to be at home feeding your children or your baby brothers and sisters.
'An 18-year-old going to school is not right. If you don't have a clean home people will call you names.'
Her friend added: 'When I get older I don't want to do a job, we don't really believe in having jobs.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C21AE600000578-3767087-image-a-26_1472660584701.jpg
Oliver is only 12 but he can already drive a car with confidence
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C11AFF00000578-3767087-image-a-27_1472660595362.jpg
Oliver pictured on horseback has been riding since he was a baby and wants to be a farrier
But Margaret's grandfather Paddy Doherty doesn't want his granddaughter to be like her peers and wants her to carry on at school to maximise her potential.
He believes the gypsy community needs to move with the times instead of holding on to all their old values.
He said: 'A lot of people think the child wants to come out of school but it is all to do with the family. We make them old fashioned.'
'Every child needs to learn to read and write even if their parents can't, it is very important.'
Paddy believes the gypsy community need to let children be children as they currently grow up too fast.
'I have a grandson and he's 13 but he's like 21. All the traveller boys are like that, like grown men,' he said.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C11A0700000578-3767087-image-a-28_1472660607251.jpg
A new Channel 5 series reveals what it is like for children to grow up in gypsy communities
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C11A2400000578-3767087-image-a-29_1472660616837.jpg
The girls have their roles as mothers and housewives carved out for them
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C11B8300000578-3767087-image-a-30_1472660624575.jpg
Margaret's grandfather hopes she will buck the trend and stay at school
The documentary focuses on one of these man-boys, Oliver, from Surrey who at the age of 12 can already drive a car with confidence.
He's also an experienced horse handler who can ride a horse without wearing a saddle and enjoys keeping the animals in good health.
He has dreams of being a farrier one day.
His sister Mary Kate said he was born to do such a job, while she will become a housewife.
She said: 'Since Oliver has been a baby he has been going on horses. The travellers see it as the boys do the horses and work and the girls stay at home and cook and clean.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3767087/Meet-Britain-s-gypsy-kids-s-REALLY-like-growing-traveller.html
growing up as a traveller
where childhood is short -
and the young girls dream of cleaning and keeping house
* Channel 5 documentary finds out what it is like to grow up as a traveller
* Girls admit they will leave school at 11 to tidy homes and care for children
* Boys are expected to work with horses and drive by the age of 12
* One grandfather laments how short their youngsters' childhoods are
By Lucy Waterlow for MailOnline
PUBLISHED: 1st September 2016
Gypsy girls grow up dreaming of keeping house and having children and will rarely even attend secondary school, a new documentary reveals.
According to the Channel 5 series, traditional gender roles remain an important part of the gypsy community, with girls as young as 11 keen to leave school so they can maintain a tidy home.
One eight-year-old, Margaret - who is from an Irish traveller family and is the granddaughter of Celebrity Big Brother winner Paddy Doherty - now lives on a site in North Wales. She says she doesn't intend to continue her education after leaving primary school, despite being a star pupil.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C11B5300000578-3767087-image-a-22_1472660537674.jpg
Eight-year-old Margaret, an Irish traveller, says she intends to leave school when she is 11 despite being a star pupil
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C1199700000578-3767087-image-a-23_1472660548405.jpg
Margaret said she would rather stay at home cleaning and helping to look after her younger siblings rather than going to secondary school when she is older
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C11B3B00000578-3767087-image-a-32_1472662713792.jpg
Six-year-old Rihanna said when she grows up she wants to be a cleaner
'When I leave school I will probably be 11. I would rather stay home and clean up,' she said on the first episode of Gypsy Kids: Our Secret World.
She added: 'I am looking forward to leaving school so I can do my own thing. I will help my mummy.'
Six-year-old Rihanna who lives in Durham has similar ambitions.
She said: 'When I grow up I would like to be a cleaner, cleaning tiles.'
Margaret wants to follow in the footsteps of her older sister Rosanne, 12, who left school when she was 11 along with other girls her age from their community.
She explains: 'We were getting a bit old to go to school. Why would we want to learn anything at school? We are not going to be doing anything like that.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C119BB00000578-3767087-image-a-24_1472660556784.jpg
Margaret wants to be like her older sister Rosanne, 12, who left school when she was 11
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C21AE200000578-3767087-image-a-25_1472660571485.jpg
Margaret's sister Rosanne, 12, left, pictured with a friend, said she doesn't think it is right for teenagers to go to school when they could be at home cleaning
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/09/01/08/37AFB2EE00000578-3767087-image-m-2_1472716604066.jpg
Margaret - who is from an Irish traveller family and is the granddaughter of Celebrity Big Brother winner Paddy Doherty (pictured) - says she doesn't intend to continue her education after leaving primary school, despite being a star pupil
Girls like Margaret and Rosanne can be as young as 16 when they get married and most will become mothers not long after, having gained experience of childcare by looking after their younger siblings.
Rosanne said it is a path she's happy to follow and she doesn't think it is 'right' that 'gorgas' (non travellers) stay on at school as teenagers.
She said: 'I don't think it is right for older children to go to school. You are supposed to be at home feeding your children or your baby brothers and sisters.
'An 18-year-old going to school is not right. If you don't have a clean home people will call you names.'
Her friend added: 'When I get older I don't want to do a job, we don't really believe in having jobs.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C21AE600000578-3767087-image-a-26_1472660584701.jpg
Oliver is only 12 but he can already drive a car with confidence
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C11AFF00000578-3767087-image-a-27_1472660595362.jpg
Oliver pictured on horseback has been riding since he was a baby and wants to be a farrier
But Margaret's grandfather Paddy Doherty doesn't want his granddaughter to be like her peers and wants her to carry on at school to maximise her potential.
He believes the gypsy community needs to move with the times instead of holding on to all their old values.
He said: 'A lot of people think the child wants to come out of school but it is all to do with the family. We make them old fashioned.'
'Every child needs to learn to read and write even if their parents can't, it is very important.'
Paddy believes the gypsy community need to let children be children as they currently grow up too fast.
'I have a grandson and he's 13 but he's like 21. All the traveller boys are like that, like grown men,' he said.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C11A0700000578-3767087-image-a-28_1472660607251.jpg
A new Channel 5 series reveals what it is like for children to grow up in gypsy communities
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C11A2400000578-3767087-image-a-29_1472660616837.jpg
The girls have their roles as mothers and housewives carved out for them
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/31/17/37C11B8300000578-3767087-image-a-30_1472660624575.jpg
Margaret's grandfather hopes she will buck the trend and stay at school
The documentary focuses on one of these man-boys, Oliver, from Surrey who at the age of 12 can already drive a car with confidence.
He's also an experienced horse handler who can ride a horse without wearing a saddle and enjoys keeping the animals in good health.
He has dreams of being a farrier one day.
His sister Mary Kate said he was born to do such a job, while she will become a housewife.
She said: 'Since Oliver has been a baby he has been going on horses. The travellers see it as the boys do the horses and work and the girls stay at home and cook and clean.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3767087/Meet-Britain-s-gypsy-kids-s-REALLY-like-growing-traveller.html