School overreacted ?

Your child, and you, need to take on board very quickly that what other kids did, and what happened to them is totally irrelevant, and has nothing to do with you.

If he was a teen being pulled up in court for this, only his behaviour would be being looked at. If others had got away, that would make no difference at all. He needs to take responsibility for himself.

And he said something which was perceived as racist. The school now has a legal duty to report that to the council, including how it was dealt with. The school has no leeway in this. It is nothing to do with the school "over reacting". A racist incident has occurred, defined as being perceived as racist by the victim or a witness. |The legal procedure must now be followed.

Valuable lesson for your child, and for you.

This thread surprises me. It seems people are falling over themselves trying to see the point of the school. I work in a primary school myself. If it was just as you said and he said "you're a poo!" And not "you are the colour of poo" or "you look like poo!" Or similar, and if there have been no other previous events that add some context to this... what a huge overreaction!! Common sense needs to be applied here.

Yes we do need to teach kids about racism and about being careful with the language they used. But this could have been effectively dealt with by having a conversation with your son. Two days of isolation at 6 years old! This would simply never have happened at our school.

I had similar with primary school. There was a child being violent to others in the class. Teachers did nothing and the children were every upset by it. My son (6) and his friend hid the bully’s lunch box behind a tree -re playground supervisor saw and I as hauled in to listen to the head teacher berating him for racism. We were told the bully was a refuge. None of us had any idea but was then clear why he was never punished -the teachers didn’t dare.
My sn was very upset -he is most definitely not racist and has -and had good friends of all cultures. The school was actively promoting racism and division! Luckily we were able to move him to a better school.

Yeah they should all have been punished not just one

If it’s as you say, I think that’s a huge overreaction. It’s also going to give the poor child a complex about using a word for a daily bodily function for most people! If lots of 6-7 year olds stood around a child with brown skin and chanted ‘poo’ at them, that’s a very different thing. I’m surprised at a primary using isolation, and two days’ isolation, as a punishment for a first offence. I’d want to see their behaviour policy.

Good lord, poo is the favourite word of primary age children. Your child and his friends need a lesson in being kind but I fail to see how this is in any way racist.

@DeniseSecunda

Oh man, I am not sure! I forgot about that! 🤦🏻‍♀️

In the US children first learn about that in Kindergarten.

I wonder how UK approaches this? 🤔

If your child's version of events was correct, it sounds like the whole group needed a lesson in how even silly words can be hurtful.

There are many terms when said to a white child can be funny and silly, but can have extra meaning when said to other children.

We used to call each other poo as kids I’m sure. I didn’t know it was considered a racist term. I guess it’s an opportunity to explain to your child about racism.

Kids can't be kids anymore, there has alway got to be more to it.

Bloody ridiculous.

Kids call each other poo all the time. Even my white kids say you look like a poo as an insult to each other.
Wouldn’t have even occurred to me that someone would take that as a racist insult

"you're a poo head" and "you look like poo" are two different things, even from a 7yo.

The punishment is ridiculous though. A first incident from a child that young should be explained carefully, the kid should feel they've had a serious telling-off, and that should be the end of it.

Yes, for my children it was juniors, then again in history and RE in KS3.

I still don’t think that the child was intentionally racist. I whole class approach to not calling people names would have been better in this situation. 2 days of isolation is not something I would be happy with.

I think the school did have to take it seriously.

However I think the punishment isn't appropriate. It would be better to talk and learn about racism.

I think whether your son had racist intentions doesn't matter. The other child was offended. It's an opportunity to learn.

So MLK and Rosa Parks were American. Would children in the UK learn about them...?

Hmmm..whether it was racist or not entirely depends on the intention of the comment which we won't know. Did they choose poo as the child they directed it at isnt white to highlight the colour of their skin? Young kids can be racist even if unintentional.

Also WTH was your 7 year old doing, staying there with friends, insulting and hurting other children's feelings?! It doesn't seem that you're bothered about that? It's not normal or kind and instead of teaching your child right from wrong, you're on a forum trying to mock the idea that your child could have been racist.

Wow! That punishment does sound over the top OP, even if your child was racist, that punishment is well beyond the bounds of appropriate punishment.

And obviously using “poo” as an insult is not necessarily racist. Saying someone is the colour of poo is different. I’d say many six year olds would use the word poo as an insult without it having any racist connotations at all. Context is everything and I wouldn’t entirely rely on your son’s assessment. The punishment is still excessive.

HOW is poo "racist"?

Have you had a meeting with the school to discuss this?

The children of racists can be racists from a very young age. Your child shouldn't be insulting other children gratuitously. Are you telling him that it is unfair or helping him to understand that it is not nice to be gratuitously insulted

Also, they have learned about Rosa Parks. I remember DC coming home speaking of lessons about them.

This is a good opportunity to explain to your child that we need to be careful with words because the way they affect other people can be serious.

What has the school actually done?

Haven't they learned about Martin Luther King Jr? I am pretty sure they know at that age.

My 6yo calls most things some variant of poo. I don't think there's anything hugely concerning about your ds actions.

@Changingeveryth My 6 yo is aware of racism but would never link this to poo.