Reading these posts, I feel that a lot of assumptions have been made not only about the little girls, but also about where Patricia is coming from and what she is trying to communicate. The comments about her spelling ability were unnecessary and insulting.
However, I too am going to make an assumption. I am going to assume that she is concerned about the refusal of some people that come to Australia to become a part of it, ie to speak and read the language and the dangers that this presents. Whether we like it or not it is essential for everyone to understand and communicate. Whether it is reading signs that communicate danger or being able to communicate verbally when in trouble. My mother witnessed the distress of a woman unable to read or speak English when she boarded the wrong train. My mother put her in charge of the station attendant but the experience was very distressing for my mother as well as for the lady. I can only assume that Patricia and her nephew were distressed at the distress shown by the little girls. Personally, their ability to feel compassion and concern should be rewarded rather than censured.

My spelling error comment was clearly intended to be taken in good humour. Does anyone here remember humour? It's hardly as insulting as being called ignorant for stating a position.

I have found that my idea of humour is different from a lot of other people's idea of humour. I did not recognise humour in your post, maybe it is a communication problem? I thought that I communicated that I consider that the assumptions made about Patricia's ignorance or implicit racism are not reasonable either, and are also insulting since we don't know her. To make such a judgment is presumptuous. Taking her initial post at face value, I got the impression that she and her nephew are merely stating that it is important for newcomers to any country to be able to communicate because of the inherent dangers in being in a situation where they need assistance and cannot communicate it. Maybe it was unfortunate that Patricia mentioned headscarfs as this automatically labelled the children as being from a "certain" background, a background that fuels emotions.

I think you’re reaching. The question that should be asked is: Would Patricia have started the thread in the first place if the children were not wearing headscarfs? If they were white and did not look foreign, but still behaved in exactly the same manner (looking bewildered, not talking), would she not simply have considered them scared and quiet children? And not thought about their language or background at all? Who assumes a child doesn’t speak English, simply because they don’t say anything to you and run off? I sure don’t.

And this is what I mean by judgements. From this perspective, the headscarfs are entirely irrelevant to the discussion, UNLESS you are predisposed to making a judgement of people from a “certain” background, as you state. A quiet white child might only speak French, but if they don’t say anything, you don’t start to worry about it, because you have no basis on which to make this judgement. Similarly, in an ideal world, a headscarf wouldn’t change this non-judgemental assessment one bit.

Perhaps I am (reaching). However, my initial reaction to the thread was probably as a mother in that I do not like to see children distressed. It also came as a reaction to my mother's story. I also feel very strongly about the necessity of being able to communicate. I know the feeling of panic that I get when someone cannot understand me. I also consider the personal attack on Patricia about her spelling prowess as a hit below the belt and unnecessary. As for the assumptions made about her racism I felt that they were uncalled for and unhelpful. Overall, I would have liked I guess to have a discussion on the importance of ensuring the safety of children by enabling them to communicate. Patricia's story was anecdotal and subjective after all and should it be therefore summarily dismissed as a racism?

I never dismissed it as racism. I merely pointed out it was a mistake to make such assumptions. And she did make assumptions.

We obviously viewed her story in very different ways, which I guess is what a forum like this is all about.

Yeah, maybe the spelling error thing was unnecessary, but I still think I had a point. And trust me, I've copped alot worse from others. It helps to have a bit of a thick skin round these here parts.