87,000+ racist incidents recorded in UK schools

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

Nearly 88,000 racist incidents were recorded in Britain's schools between 2007 and 2011, the BBC has found.
Data from 90 areas shows 87,915 cases of racist bullying, which can include name calling and physical abuse.
Birmingham recorded the highest number of incidents at 5,752, followed by Leeds with 4,690. Camarthenshire had the lowest number with just 5 cases.
A racist incident is defined as any situation perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person.
In response to the local authority figures, obtained under a Freedom of Information request, the Department for Education said racism needed to be "rooted out".

(more at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18155255)

[Niall]

Working in a school this diesnt surprise me but the line "percieved to be racist by the victim" is a worry. Some kids know full well they arent the victim of racist abuse but are too happy to play the race card. Not defending anyone here, just giving my opinion. Also, some people dont understand racism at all. When giving a lesson on heat transfer and absorbing/emitting a kid said to me "sir, i dont wanna be racist, but it that why black kids sweat more?"

[Hit The North]

The 88,000 incidents between 2007 and 2011 in our schools breaks down as slightly less than one incident per school, per year. So the figures are likely an underestimate of actual incidents and tell us very little.

[Manic Impressive]

My little sister was one of those recorded incidents. Like the comment Nial mentioned she was in a class sewing, home ec or something and made some stupid comment to another girl asking whether Chinese people were better at sewing because of their eyes. Or something like that. A girl she'd been feuding with overheard and grassed her up to the teacher who reported it as racist abuse. It then gets put on your permanent record as being a racist. No one was actually offended by the comment all it needed was a stern reprimand which she got at home. The point is kids are immature, they say stupid shit and they get told what is and is not acceptable, that's how they learn. But permanently branding them racist for every stupid thing they ever say helps no-one.

[Hit The North]

No one was actually offended by the comment all it needed was a stern reprimand which she got at home. The point is kids are immature, they say stupid shit and they get told what is and is not acceptable, that's how they learn. But permanently branding them racist for every stupid thing they ever say helps no-one.

I don't even think it requires a reprimand, just an explanation. Kids aren't just immature, they are also questioning and exploring and making sense of the world around them. It shouldn't be disallowed for them to ask questions about the physical differences between people or any other phenomenal aspect of their experience.

Are you sure this incidence will permanently brand your sister? If so, if this becomes part of some permanent school record that could be accessed by employers and others, then that would be worrying.


Birmingham recorded the highest number of incidents at 5,752, followed by Leeds with 4,690.


This is quite an interesting distribution given that 45% of all "non-whites" in the UK reside in London.

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

The lies and confusing messages of official stats continues then...as per Manic's post about their sister, the incident could be anything from an actual assault to an insensitive slur taken out of context.
And yeah, they are children so branding the label racist should not be given lightly...my then teen sister branded me a racist when I asked if it was OK for whites and non-whites to be couples and marry (I was 6 at the time and had little or no experience of non-white people where I grew up, just on the tele).

[Manic Impressive]

I don't even think it requires a reprimand, just an explanation. Kids aren't just immature, they are also questioning and exploring and making sense of the world around them. It shouldn't be disallowed for them to ask questions about the physical differences between people or any other phenomenal aspect of their experience.

Are you sure this incidence will permanently brand your sister? If so, if this becomes part of some permanent school record that could be accessed by employers and others, then that would be worrying.

It was either permanent or until she finished school. But it gets sent off to the county council and kept on file there so it is permanently recorded somewhere. However, I doubt it would be brought up in a criminal trial or a CRB check or anything. She was about 13 or 14 at the time I believe, so she was trying to be funny not trying to learn why people look different. There was definitely a racist element to the comment but it wasn't malicious and it wasn't directed at an individual.

[Hit The North]

14? Then I guess she should have known better.

[antiracist]

That's not racism, that's "Political Correctness" gone crazy...

[Deicide]

I recall a regular ''incident'' in a high school I attended in Manchester. In our history class, there were 3 black lads and the rest of the class was white. The 3 black lads and 5 white guys, who were friends, used to shout racist slurs at each other, such as ''race war'', ''Honkie'' and ''nigger''. They were doing it as a joke, to scare the teacher. The teacher looked clueless the entire time.

Strange, huh?

[honest john's firing squad]

That's not racism, that's "Political Correctness" gone crazy...
whilst I generally agree with you, I want to punch anyone who uses the phrase "it's political correctness gone mad" in the mouth.

[Mass Grave Aesthetics]

whilst I generally agree with you, I want to punch anyone who uses the phrase "it's political correctness gone mad" in the mouth.
"oh, they´ve banned christmass now"

[Niall]

I don't even think it requires a reprimand, just an explanation. Kids aren't just immature, they are also questioning and exploring and making sense of the world around them. It shouldn't be disallowed for them to ask questions about the physical differences between people or any other phenomenal aspect of their experience.



.

exactly mate, its how kids learn, by asking questions

[Firebrand]

This is quite an interesting distribution given that 45% of all "non-whites" in the UK reside in London.

Yeah but think about it in a lot of london schools the ethnic makeup is so varied that no-one person really sticks out on the basis of race.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Following the inquiry into the murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence, the previous government said schools in England and Wales must monitor and report all incidents of racist abuse to their local authority.

However, the coalition government has changed that guidance and schools now have no duty to record and report the data.

[emphasis added]

This what concerns me more than the figures, to be honest. The increase could have been down to better reporting, but now I suppose we'll never now.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Birmingham seems like an area where the inclusion of diverse cultures/races has really failed. Seems as though there's a 'respectable' part of Birmingham, and a 'ghetto' where the poor live, which seems to also (from a couple of visits) have a very high BME population.

I've always wondered how, as a teacher, I might deal with issues of racism or similar discrimination. It must come in various shades, from outright son-of-a-fascist abuse of a BME or Asian student, to more subtle shit.

Teachers have a difficult enough job as it is. The link between teachers and the social care of children in the UK, 'Every Child Matters', is being taken away completely by this government (or I think it already has), so that teachers worried about the social or economic welfare of a student now have no central place that they can direct a complaint about this to. Shameful.