to think this should not be logged as a 'racist incident'?

[StarlightMcKenzie]

I'll try to give all the facts here so that it doesn't come out in drips but I'd appreciate any good quality advice how to handle this too.

My ds deliberately went up to a black girl at school and said 'chocolate face'.

My ds has ASD.

We have worked extremely hard with ds and the attributes of his ASD that affect him most are not behavioural, but social communication, reading emotions and facial expressions.

We have spent a couple of weeks getting ds to concentrate on people's faces and talk about the differences in them and how they are different.

We have been also working on the theme of 'looks like' or 'same as' i.e. yellow pen looks like a banana. Hand looks like a foot etc etc.

The school say they have to log the incident as a 'racial' incident, but my ds has no idea about races, and there was no racial intent, although I do not dispute that he meant what he said, or at the very least that the little girl had a face 'like' or 'same as' chocolate.

I am gutted to the core that my ds has his name in this 'log' and am really desperate for advice on what to do about it.

I do not for one second dispute that the teacher has to be seen to be doing the right thing, given that the girl in question may have told her parents of the incident, but surely this is a bit much.

I would also appreciate any guidance on what a school is likely to 'do' with such a log and what effect it might have on my ds.

Many thanks in advance.

I would not be pleased that he was told off though. I don't know what level your DS is functioning at but I don't think it helpful or appropriate to have made a big deal of this. He was just practising what you've been working on. This is what is hard about ASD - the children learn something but there are ALWAYS exceptions to the rules - some things you shouldn't say and its very hard for someone with ASD to make the distinction between things that are ok and things that aren't. That's hard for any 4 yr old, in fact, ASD or not.

I wasn't really putting forward my own opinion on whether it is right or wrong, so I don't feel disagreed with particularly.

Yes, it sounds like the school were going to handle this badly even though they didn't need to. I would ask them for clarification on what this 'logging a racist incident' should mean for your son, and if they make a meal of it for him as an individual, then I might ask why they think that is necessary.

Grockle - how wise. My DS (then aged 4 with no SN problems) asked a Waitrose check-out lady if she had hair on her front bottom. He had been talking about bodies with me 30 minutes earlier.
Happily the question made the day of the lovely Waitrose lady.

My DS (7) used exactly the same term on Monday. It has also been logged at his school as a racist incident. I am really upset about the way the school have handled it- totally over the top. I tried to explain that it couldn't possibly be a racist comment but it's like banging your head on a brick wall.

yy agree that they have handled it really badly. I would concentrate on that aspect, rather than the logging of the comment - as they are only going to say that they have to log all incidents, even seemingly innocent ones.

Oh I'm sorry puddle

I don't think anything like this should be 'logged' in nursery or reception. For goodness sake the kids are still learning and generally know nothing about being tactful.

'Out of the mouths of babes' as they say

As someone from an African family I can assure you that I agree with you. What I would say is that it would be great if the little girl and her family fully understood your child's lack of intent to say something that could be construed as racist.

It is obviously a sensitive issue on both sides and I am sorry that the school has to log it this way as I think it is unfair considering he didn't mean it and it obviously wasn't meant as a racial slur.

Hope it turns out ok OP.

Worra
No, I don't think that the school should be required to log this as a racist incident either, but protesting against that will not get Starlight anywhere.

She has to concentrate on the handling of the situation - the fact that her DS was told off for the innocent comment, that it was not handled as SGM suggested - quick phone call to both parents - this was said, we know that StarlightsDS has SN and did not mean anything by it, but are required to log the comment...

From my LEA website (for information!)

All schools and educational establishments are required to record racist incidents and to report them to the local authority on a regular basis. This is a legal requirement according to:

■The Race Relations Amendment Act (2000)
■Home Office Code of Practice on Reporting and Recording Racist Incidents (2000)
The official definition of a racist incident, as proposed by the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report (1999) is:
?any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person.?

This is the recognised XXXXXXX definition.

All incidents which are perceived to be racist, however trivial, should be recorded and reported and investigated. If, after investigation, the conclusion is that there was no racist motivation, this information should be added to the report.

That last bit needs to be pointed out to them I think Starlight.

In my opinion, and in context, it was an observation and not racist. If he had called one of the other boys Ginger it would of been name calling.

SWC - given my LEA's guidance on this, would that claim be against them or the school, given that were this school in my LEA, they would be acting in accordance with that guidance?

I wonder whether academies have the same procedures.

SWC - you are correct re Codes of Practice. They are codes and nothing else. Some statutes require a code to be set up for example, or will prescribe general provisions which should be included within them but they are not the law and much is left to interpretation.

I haven't really commented on the law (in no position to). I've said that we are required by our LEA to report. I think schools would tend to go with the guidance of the LEA (and presumably their solicitors) on something like this.