BAD WORDS

Educational TV programme

INTRODUCTION

The project “Bad words” is an educational TV series designed primarily for the children under the age of 12; the aim of the series is the affirmation of the Roma, their culture and identity on one hand and laying the foundation of the healthy, tolerant society on the other.

“Bad words” is a series of 30 episodes, each lasting 15 commercial minutes.
“Bad words” is a bilingual project – everything said in the series in Serbian language is subtitled in Romani language, and vice versa. The priority is given to the Romani language and throughout the series it is spoken by a number of celebrities.

BAD WORDS – EXPLICATION

There are different bad words. Some of them are not polite to be spoken publicly. Some of them are not nice to be even thought about. However, the worst words are those whose meaning is so horrible that endangers or insults someone else.
In short, bad words are all those concepts that make human lives sadder and uglier, and their realization or prevention often depends on us…

Every episode of “Bad words” shall have the following structure:

1. BAD WORD – the subject of the episode. For example: discrimination, violence, hatred, beatings, curse, quarrel, conflict, bullying, ignorance, cruelty, insult, intolerance, war, blackmail, robbery…
The ugly word is introduced on the cardboard held by the children (among them there are also Roma children). The word is written in Serbian on one side of the cardboard and in Romani language on the other side of it (we can see it when the children turn the cardboards).

2. CELEBRITY – narrator of the episode. One celebrity takes us throughout every episode, and explains the bad word first and then a nice or good one. Everything that the celebrity speaks is in Romani language with the Serbian subtitle. There are some celebrities proposed: Uroš Đurić, Raša Popov, Bojana Maljević, Marčelo,
Dušan Kovačević, Ana Ivanović, Aleksandar Đorđević, Miloš Vlalukin, Bora
Todorović…
By taking a part in the Bad words programme and speaking Romani language, celebrities give a special stimulus for achieving our goals. The celebrities are chosen very carefully, all of them are popular, persons of integrity, role models to young generations to whom the main message is addressed to.

3. ROUND TABLE – a group of children, including Roma kids, too, sitting at the small table and talk about the bad word that is the subject of the episode – when and how they hear the word, what they think about it…The discussion is in Serbian, subtitled in Romani. The debate is interesting, dynamic; the statement made by the children are unexpected and original. Findings are often touching.

4. DRAMATIZATION IN THE THEATRE – Roma children’s theatre shows the dramatization of the bad word on the scene. They act in Romani, the subtitle is in Serbian. It is not necessary that the scene is complete. The very process of work can be equally exciting.

5. POETRY – children in the classroom reciting children’s poetry in Roma. These are well-known works of the famous children poets – e.g. Mika Antić, Jovan Jovanović
Zmaj, Milovan Danojlić, Vojislav Ilić, Dobrica Erić, Branko Ćopić,
Desanka Maksimović… the original Serbian subtitle.

6. KIND WORD – a public figure and/or children present a kind word for that episode in Romani. The children announce the word together, in both languagages.
Kind words make our lives better and more beautiful; the mentioned kind word is very often like a remedy for the ugly one. For example, the kind, good, nice words are love, peace, embrace, friendship…

7. OCCUPATION – the children respond to the question what they will be when they grow up.
One of the Roma kids chooses his/her future profession – new profession for a new episode.
The occupations have to be chosen in a way that they overcome and erase stereotypes about the necessary Roma occupations; e.g. traffic policeman, fireman, ballerina, doctor, lawyer, carpenter, actor, photographer, police inspector, politician, as well as weatherman, superhero…
The occupation is presented in particular, the situation in which we show a Roma child in a chosen role, at workplace (e.g. as a traffic policeman standing at the crossroad regulating the traffic). There will be the explanation of the situation given in off in Romani with Serbian subtitle.

8. GAME – in every episode there will be a game represented, for instance marbles, hopscotch, blindman`s buff etc. through participation of both Serbian and Roma children. The game rules are explained in both languages.

9. CHANGE – when a celebrity finishes the episode with a kind word, the children from the beginning appear once more, each with his/her cardboards with the ugly word on it. They change their places, other children approach them; there is a small mess until the bad word finally turns into the good word of the episode.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of TV series ”Bad words”, one hand is to preserve culture and identity of Roma national minority in Serbia through using Roma language and active participation of Roma children.
On the other hand, there is also the aim to erase all existing prejudices and stereotypes when it comes to Roma community. Because of that we do not shoot favelas, begging, washing windscreens or gypsy tents, but the Roma children in urban settings, in game situation, conversations, acting…
We also affirm Roma community through the participation of celebrities who with their own integrity promote the society in which differences are respected and welcomed.
We set one more very important goal to ourselves – to lay foundations of a healthy society without bad words through the children that have not adopted attitudes and prejudices of the adults yet.