Take stereotypes out of text books

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION BODY SAYS OLD PEOPLE ONLY SHOWN WHEN ILL AND WORKING WOMEN UNDER REPRESENTED. SCHOOL text books should stop reinforcing stereotypes, an anti-discrimination body has said.

La Halde, Haute autorité de lutte contre les discriminations et pour l'égalité said a study into text books found they frequently prejudiced women, foreigners and the elderly. While

not "devalued" in textbooks, disabled people and gay couples hardly features at all, the survey found. Foreigners, particularly those from north African countries, where often

shown as poor. Senior citizens, when depicted, were usually suffering some form of illness. Woman made up just over a third of illustrations of professional occupations. Out of the 1,046

such photos, one quarter showed a man in charge of a woman. Housework was treated as an inferior occupation. The study looked at 3,100 illustrations in 29 books across different subjects.

The President of La Halde, Louis Schweitzer, said the group sought to represent society, whatever it was. Publishers have contested the findings. The director of Magnard publishers, Isabelle

Magnard, said: "It is evident that we have to be vigilante against stereotypes and discrimination, but I believe that there is a big gap between the study and the reality of

things." The director general of Bordas publishers Mahin Bailly said:"Editors have already made a lot of effort, it is not fair to use us as a target. "This study stereotypes

the text books themselves. We already give a very idealistic vision of society, we can't go around giving false ideas to children."