AmyDavid

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7493654.stm

Zoe Bell

I blame the teachers

Purley

Yes and it would have been good if the writer of the book actually had a brain!

Arrona

OMG where do they get things like that. they say that a toddler hasnt the developmental capability to share but can be racist. whats it coming to.

LorraineG

My three year old will say 'yuck' to almost all food put in front of her...

Enlightened in knowledge that I have probably bred a racist another failing of my parenting skills comes to light!

Lorraine G

Coffeepot

Me to then

Butch Cassidy

I blame the last tory govt.

Tanah

Ha this is NOT news to me -
I can give 2 examples of incidents that I know of - one was a a friend of mines son who is now 7, was 5 atthe time in Reception class - His mum got called into school for her son making Racist comments ( she is far from racist) she was informed that her son had called another child a Paki and that as a result his name would be placed on a 'racist' register throughout his school time - yes right up to leaving at 16 / 18 - the school board and eduction board were involved and she felt awful. When she got home she spoke to her 5 yr old and he was adamant all he had said was " are you from Pakistani" ( yes the work pakistani was used not Pakistan - not my error) - she went back to the school and played hell - wanted to know who had heard him use the work Paki - the evidence had come from another 5 yr old who had gone to the teacher and said along the lines of " awwww Tom called ' name unknown' a paki" THAT was the evidence the Teachers had acted on and this childs name had been placed on a RAcist register at 5 years old!!!! - needless to say she contested it and they removed his name - with a very stern warning about if there were other incidents it would go on and stay on - obviously there havent been but she says that she hates going to the school for anything now as she feels they look at her like SHE is a racist.

The other is another friend of mine ( opposite story now) her daughter is half Turkish, born and raised in UK now aged 11. Yas is a stunning girl with olive skin and very long black hair. She has never seen herself a being any different to anyone else. About 3 weeks ago her Mum called me quite stunned - she had been called into school by the staff - She was sat down by the headmaster and appologised to over and over - he explained that Yas had been called a 'Paki' by two girls in her class during an argument. he went on to explain that they had called the Education Board immediately and that both girls parents were being interviewd as they spoke. He asked if this was ok with her, and had they acted quick enough - she sort of sat there a bit blank and said 'yes'. The following day they informed her that both girls had been put on the 'racist register' and asked again if she was happy with the outcome.
My friend wasnt sure what to make of it all - her daughter was fine, far to street wise and secure in herself to give a hoot about what they had said - she just said they were stupid coz she wasn't pakistani, she was English. Tracey felt that this register was a bit much.

Dont get me wrong I know they have to do something to stop racism - but to put a 5 yr old on a racist register is a bit much!!!!!!!!

AmyDavid

My goodness that is insanse! I wouldn't be a teacher for all the money in the world though - they must have to walk such a fine line nowadays with all this PC rubbish.

dbd33

A racist utterance from a toddler suggests a racist home environment, that's all, nothing there to get in a tizzy about.

MB-Realtor

Its quite obviously true though, if a 3 year old wont eat Brussels sprouts they are racist toward Belgium people, and Swedes, well they are so blond and beautiful we all hate them.

I started our on Vindaloos (extra hot) at age 6 months, just because I didn't want them to be racist.

NickyP84

I wouldn't agree there......

Children are exactly that; children, and they repeat things. I can remember saying the same kind of thing to a black kid in my primary school class when I was about 5 or 6 and I most certainly wasn't brought up in a rascist household.

The UK is in dire straights at the minute and the race issue is a card that is played far too easily these days.

dbd33

That would just get you noisy and smelly evacuations. Teaching the child not to eat curry because it's the food of a lesser race would be more likely to produce the kind of comments and behaviour mentioned in the, admittedly trivial, article.

NickyP84

Please god tell me you're joking

Oakvillian

I don't think it does necessarily suggest a racist home environment, and it's that kind of assumption that can lead (as Tanah relates) to children being placed unnecessarily on a "racist register" to follow them all through their schooling. It's just as likely that either a comment was misheard, or that the child has picked up a word without understanding its meaning, or connotation, as part of the process of learning language.

Kids call each other all sorts of things without understanding the meaning of the words themselves. Take another form of insult as an example. Every successive euphemism for physical or mental handicap has been adopted as a schoolyard insult almost before it has been dreamed up by politicians. When I was a kid the insult of choice was "spazz" or occasionally "flid;" my younger sister's peers had adopted "special;" my Canadian nephews insulted each other by suggesting they travelled on the "short school bus;" I humbly suggest that kids of 5 or 6 don't really understand the nature of the insult they're using, they're just using it because they've heard it elsewhere (as likely in the playground or on TV as from a parent or older sibling).

I agree, though, that there's "nothing there to get in a tizzy about."