This website is about 'race' and racism. It is intended as an educational tool for use mainly in areas where young people do not have frequent contact with minority ethnic groups (though no doubt it will be of interest to others too). In our experience the issues raised on the site can be difficult to deal with in a whole class setting, and authoritative accessible resources are hard to find. We therefore hope this site will be useful to you and fill a gap.

The site is based around nine imaginary characters in their mid-teens, from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, and users are invited to 'hang out' with one of these characters. The characters show us their homes, introduce us to some members of their families, and tell us something about themselves and their lives. If they are religious they give some information about their beliefs, and it's also possible to visit their respective places of worship.

Most of the site, however, consists of arguments and conversations between different members of the 'cast'. They discuss harassment, relationships, the words and 'jokes' they like and don't like, public attitudes about race myths and ideas about the numbers of minorities, myths about 'natural black talent' in sport and music, racism in football, crime, and discrimination.

These discussions end either in a quiz, or a 'truth/dare/kiss/promise' option, where they have to engage with the material and give answers that may be factual, moral, or a matter of opinion. There are also contributions from celebrities.

There are two ways of exploring the site.
The first is by 'hanging out' with a character and just seeing what issues to do with 'race' and culture come up for them. The way to access this route is by clicking on one of the character figures and following the resulting path through the site, (the first step will be map of the town with about four of the locations highlighted). You can switch to another character whenever you like. Students seem to like this route, since they can identify with one particular individual.
The second way of exploring the site is by issue, and this is not immediately transparent to the user. In effect, the different locations in 'Britchester' serve as proxies for specific issues, so the sports centre is where you'll find something about racism and sport, the park is where you'll find discussions on marriage and relationships. You can see full details of this on the Teachers' Guide chart, which serves a key to the full map of Britchester. Using this, you can direct individuals or groups to specific issues by asking them to 'go to' a particular location.

We suggest that students look at the material on an individual or small group basis focusing upon particular characters or specific issues.

'Behind' the main screens and pathways through the site there are more factual pages onto which users can 'click' for further information (e.g. about the law on discrimination). We have provided you with a list of these pages (Serious Issues), so you can access them directly if you wish.

We have also provided a small selection of lesson plans, which can be printed and photocopied as work sheets and handouts.

Follow-up work depends on you and your class, but there is a brief list of backup classroom materials that we think is appropriate and useful. We're happy to add your own suggestions, so email us at cgaine@ucc.ac.uk