They are pleading with their teachers and everyone else, to pronounce their names correctly. They say mispronouncing people's names amounts to racism.

This challenge is one of three the students issued in a video they have made to support the #GiveNothingToRacism campaign.

A Facebook post which explains some of the thinking behind the video has had over 27,000 hits.

A lot of online debate has been generated and opinions are divided as to whether mis-pronouncing some one's name is 'racism'.

TVNZ's Seven Sharp picked up on the the issue with a piece that let the children speak for themselves about how it feels to have their names mangled.

The two other challenges in the video the students made are:

• Not all of our Maori and Pasifika children are the same.

"Our Maori children have whakapapa from different Iwi and hapu.

"Our Pasifika children have heritages in different countries, islands, villages and families all from from the largest area on Earth - the Pacific Ocean.'

"We cannot lump all of our students together, we must get to know each and value what each brings to school and class."

• Teacher expectations are vital for our learners from minority cultures in Aotearoa.

"Teachers have an amazing amount of power, they must push their students to the highest limits regardless of ethnicity."

"They must believe that our students will achieve. This is a large part of our #BelieveAchieve focus this year."

Source

• Supplied
• FaceBook
• Image: Screenshot Seven Sharp

"I'm the leader of the government and we do all sorts of things from locking up criminals to paying for the school," he told Sada who ticked the question on his clipboard, nodded, then asked for an autograph.

English was sharing breakfast with the students at Holy Family School in Cannons Creek, north of Wellington.

Sada wants to be a journalist. The 11-year-old, armed with a clipboard, waited until the PM had finished his Weetbix before he posed his toughest question.

The grilling continued when 9-year-old Jayelle Temarama set aside her Milo, shook English's hand and got right down to business.

"How exactly did you get this job?"

"If you wait long enough you get a turn," English replied. "I did my other job well so they gave me this one."

English went on to visit near-by Windley School to re-launch The Graham Dingle Foundation's Kiwi Can Programme back into Porirua.

Foundation regional manager Lee Pownall said 600 students from Windley, Maraeroa and Bishop Viard College would benefit from the life-skills programme.

A lack of funding saw the Porirua programme end some years ago so the re-launch was a triumph, he said.

Windley principal Rhys McKinley said the programme matched the values already taught at the school and the children loved taking part.

"We're a low-decile school and we do have extremes so when people talk about the 1 per cent of the nation who struggle that's 20 per cent of our kids. We need all the help we can get."

Kiwi Can coordinator Faafoi Seiuli was delighted to have the nationwide programme back in his home town.

Source

• Holy Family school facebook.com
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz