This is offensive, but is it racist?

[unsurebutworried]

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Some accents do sound stupid to the person listening to them

But part of growing up, is learning how not to offend people by telling them what you find 'stupid' about them.

This child should definitely be taken to one side and taught this.

Children tease other children. They will almost invariably pick on the one thing that makes the child stand out from the majority. In this case it is your son's accent. Children also have a more limited vocabulary than most adults, so saying "your accent sounds stupid" is hardly the same when a child says it to another child, than if it were an adult insulting another adult.

Cheryl Cole is often ridiculed for her geordie accent.. it is not racist.

As a parent, if you go rushing in to interfere over something so trivial, which to be quite honest, it really is, you will be lining your child up for even more teasing.

irish people may usually be white but it is a specific category on the UK census - so he was being ethnicist if not racist - same thing, and child should be reprimanded for it

Technically, I don't think it can be classified as "racist". But it is akin to racism, in that it is prejudice based on where someone comes from, and as such, it is offensive. I think you should talk to the school.

I am in the exact same situation. We moved to England last year and my DS aged 10, is getting this all the time. I tell him to just ignore them. But now one boy has started to say he/we have brought Irish germs and diseases. Again I am telling him to ignore it all. I did say it to the teacher as DS is upset about it. Infairness she told the boys that at the moment she considers it teasing but if it continues she would rate it as bullying.

My DD is 7 and doesnt really get much teasing so I would think it is more an age thing. Mind you she has nearly lost her Irish accent!!!

In general I think children are children and anything "different" is bound to be commented on. If your Ds is upset, have a quiet word with the teacher and it might be nipped in the bud.

DD gets teased for having a Northern accent.

What next, someone tells a black kid that their hair is naff and they are called racist?
When you label a 10yr old child as racist, what do you think that does to them? Kids tease, end of. If it wasn't his accent they picked up on then it would be something else, like his surname, or the colour of his coat.

BTW were you testing with that little full stop there because you are a name changer perhaps? Looking to have a little stir mebbe?

It does matter whether or not it is racist. Schools have to report any racist incidents to the board of governors and take them really seriously whereas "normal name calling" does not have to be taken seriously. It doesn't mean that they have to brand the child a racist (child is too young to know) but it does mean that the school should be doing more (in assemblies, PSE etc) to ensure that the children understand that making fun of accents is not acceptable.

What next, someone tells a black kid that their hair is naff and they are called racist?

damn right, that's racist

Coat has obviously not been to Birmingham and if you have you've not met many. Where you live?

Calling an accent stupid IMO is not racist.

But making fun of say, the colour of someone's hair or their funny surname is ok is it?

FFS kids tease each other all the time and yes, that should be stamped on, but to call it racist is going too bloody far. If a kid is called "ginger" that is not racist yet it is just as offensive. So making fun of an accent will be treated more seriously than calling a kid a "ginger minger" or "carrot-head".

Ridiculous. Treat it all the same and have a talk in assembly about GENERAL differences. If you make a big issue about race then so will the kids and that is not the way it should be.

Thanks you for your replies. I will mention it to the teacher as it I want this nipped in the bud. I accept its not racism based on skin colour, but it is related. Yes, I understand it may be a recurrent theme, but I don't want my son to ever regard it as acceptable.

I only became aware of it because he asked what racism was and I started to tell him. He then said 'oh, so and so is a racist because he said this to me'.

it is already about race, if they are insulting a black kid for having black hair

You cant pretend racism doesnt exist to make it go away

But, that is a digression from the OP...

Right, this thread is obviously going to do my friggin head in and make me implode with fury.

One last try.

There are two boys. One is white, from Manchester and living down south. He has ginger hair.
The other boy is black with Afro hair.

Both boys are teased about their accents and about their hair. But the compliants about one boy are taken more seriously because that is deemed to be racist, whereas for the white boy from Manchester it's just tough luck and although the boys are told off, the incident does not require teachers to take time out of teaching to fill in reports on a racist incident.

Do you not see how ridiculous this is?

I think with many 'possible' racist comments, it's all in the intent and interpretation.

Take the 'black child, naff hair' thing....

A kid tells the child his hair is naff but doesn't explain it's because he's got tramlines shaved into it, that are naff in the kid's opinion.

Someone overhears and assumes it's because the child is black and has short afro hair.

Hence the reason these things should always be sorted out without assumptions and labelling.

I really don't get this 'every white Briton is the same race so it can't be racist' thing. When a White Scot person tells an White English woman in a pub to go home and stop stealing 'our' men because her babies will be mongrels and pollute the bloodline, then yeah, actually, that's very, very racist.

Whether the kids in the OP were being deliberately racist or whether they were 'just' picking on something different (accent today, hair colour tomorrow) I don't know and tbh I suspect the DCs involved wouldn't really know either. But I do think it's worth talking to the school about. You don't need to say 'it's racist', you can say 'it's unacceptable'.

Bejeezus: "where do you live? It could only be racist if you live in Africa/Asia/China for example? If you live in the UK, then it cant be racist, as Irish/ English are different nationalities, but we are the same race"

I'm afraid you are wrong. There is only one race: the human race.

Irish/English/Chinese/Indian/etc people are all members of the same race.

Definitely talk to the teacher - they shouldn't be making deorgatory comments and insults about difference of any kind.

Do you wnat the school to spend the equivalent of this thread debeting whether it is racist or not, or do you want them to tackle it, within their diversity and anti-bullying policies?

And no doubt you will talk to your DS about being proud of his cultural heritage and how stupid people are to try and make themselves feel big by having a go at other people about things to do with their background or body.

SIL is from Oop North and her Coronation Street-type accent is as irritating as hell. Does that make me Southist?

Making a similar comment about discriminated minorities, on the other hand, is racist IMO. A bit inconsistent I know but hey ho.

And so you have a generation of kids who cry racism without really knowing the difference because to them then, every tease, every criticism, every remark is a racist one.

A bit like the thread about a black woman in the toilets and a white woman commented (in a positive way) on her hair and asked if she could touch it. This was racist apparently.

Ah right, some sensible people at last!

Yes, it's tricky to have an absolute definition of racism, as race itself is an artificial construct.

no therhubardb it is not ridiculous.
Because of history and oppression and because the playing field is not yet level. And because of minority/ majority dynamics

very nice sentiment princess

hiding thread now, as it will also do my head in