To think an English child won't be bullied in a Scottish school

[Pinkpanthershow]

I am Scottish but living in England and DS was born in England, and so has an English accent. I would like to return to live in Scotland but my DH is now saying that he is concerned that our DS will be bullied in school for being English. We would be moving to Edinburgh, and DS is only 6, and I think it is very unlikely that he would be picked on for being English. In my experience, there are a lot of English people in Edinburgh, and there are no problems in respect of this.
I suspect my DH's attitude is linked to his own reluctance to move to Scotland but would be interested in seeing if people agree with me with regard to the risk of bullying.

I don't think it is likely to be a big problem but it possibly depends on the area to an extent. Penguin - are you serious? Parents in favour of independence are likely to encourage their children to blame English people living in Scotland for political problems? I think anyone doing that would be in the minority. Rainbow - you're right about Scots language and culture being part of the curriculum but the teaching of Gaelic is not for most Scottish schools. Good luck with the move OP - Edinburgh's a pretty good place to be :)

It is highly unlikely your DS will be bullied specifically for being English- especially in Edinburgh where there are lots of people from all nationalities. Most people in Scotland really don't have a big problem with English people- I really don't know why there is all the angst about it. I think it has been blown out of all proportion- I've been surprised by some of what has been written on Mumsnet (not this thread) about the whole thing.

6 year old's may be interested if your DS's accent is different from theirs, and may notice it or mention it, but this would be the same if he came from anywhere else and the accent was new.

I think someone said up thread that in History they talk about "what the English did"- I don't really get the problem? It is Scottish history, a substantial portion of which involves wars/friction between Scotland and England and so "what the English did" is quite relevant. As long as it's not done in an "the English did this, so we must hate them forever" type way (which I would seriously doubt any school would), I don't really understand why it would cause offence. I wouldn't be upset if in an English History lesson they talked about the horrid "things the Scots did'.

Our friends have 3 children that are British born with an English accent and they moved to Aberdeen a few years ago. They've had no problems at all at school.

My nephew had an English-sounding accent and had to leave the state primary he went to in the north of Scotland because he was picked on. That was before the referendum, some years, in fact.

I would be amazed if that were to happen- being new can sometimes be a bit daunting but I can't imagine in this day and age that an English accent in Edinburgh would even be noticed let alone commented on?

It depends where you live.
Edinburgh - I doubt it.
Other rural areas -quite possibly.

We have had: 'YOU cant' sing Scotland my Country and my land of birth' -you English C*'. At Primary school.
Both my children born and bred in Scotland but to parents who moved from England 15years prior.

Also, the local LEA agree with the Support for Learning Teacher that my childs SEN are due to having 'a right English accent'.
Clearly, the fact his parents are English is why he struggles with handwriting too

There will be a LOT of 'what the bastard English did'.
From teachers as well as other kids.

And Yy to Gaelic, Burns and Scots in Primary.
Secondary is viewed through a narrow perspective in some subjects too (esp History...).

Scotland isn't racist - it is a tolerant place.
Unless you are English, in which case you are fair game.
NB this is not ALL Scotland, but sizeable pockets of it.

the majority of people in Edinburgh are English, and racism isn't really an issue in Scotland - more sectarianism, no one cares about where you came from or what colour you are. all they want to know is two things, catholic or proddy? and celtic or rangers? its fucking irritating

Well my parents moved to Scotland when my brother was 12 and 13 years later, everyone still calls him..... English. It is basically his name . He's a pretty mild mannered guy and takes it on the chin, but I'd say he came in for a lot of stick, yeah. He wasn't happy for a while there. He's been adopted now though

Secondary though, I imagine is pretty different from primary, especially for lads.

Ds hasn't been bullied. He's in primary school outside Edinburgh. Loads of English people here.

My sister and I were bullied at school for being posh and English, even though we are Scottish we just don't have a strong Scottish accent! This was in Dundee though, I think you will be fine in Edinburgh. We live in Edinburgh now and my English DH has never had any problems here.

I'm not English (or British) but I have a southern English accent which I learnt English in and the DC sound English, although we now live in Scotland. Especially recently, after and before the referendum, they've received some comments and some actual verbal attacks but Scotland is a tolerant place mostly and it was especially unnerving and horrible for them as it hadn't happened before, no one really made anything of it, they were English or whatever just like the kids from Poland or South Korea or any other places, and I'm pretty much sure that it will be fine when it's died down and it's not exactly heavy now, not even close. Edinburgh is a great city, I think (have friends who live there), it's very diverse and I doubt there will only be one English kid in the year, or even the class!

We moved to Edinburgh when my sister was 5 or 6. She didn't face any bullying but did make the teacher smile when she asked what she was going to do when the Scottish children were being taught English !

DD has not been bullied for accent in her (very mixed middle class) state school. Although again her terrible spelling is apparently due to the fact they teach phonetically, so she will spell words differently to her classmates.

I've had a couple of pretty unpleasant anti-English comments in connection with the referendum, though. Sometimes meant as a joke or in a spirited debate - but sometimes just a genuine dig. There are some strong anti-english feelings among some people up here, and it is seen as acceptable.

If I am completely honest, if I had known how things were going to work out over the past couple of years, and all the unpleasantness and division that the referendum would cause, I wouldn't have moved here. I've lived all over the world and it is only now that I feel uncomfortable as an outsider.

My friend in the north of Scotland has recently had to see her son's headteacher as a result of him being bullied about being English. Her husband (his step dad) and youngest son are both Scots but one child with uber political, mouthy parents was giving him a very hard time.

So it's definitely a possibility, but as other posters have said, Edinburgh is probably the least likely place to have those kinds of issues, and tbh you can't guarantee a child won't be bullied wherever they are.

My DD was on the receiving end of it earlier this year for no other reason than the fact another girl took an extreme dislike to her & decided to make a nuisance of herself.

Should be OK in Edinburgh. A posh English accent in the mining villages of Central Fife is no fun! Post- referendum there is some anti-English ill-will but will probably be directed more to the parents.

"It is Scottish history, a substantial portion of which involves wars/friction between Scotland and England and so "what the English did" is quite relevant. "
That is true as far as it goes. But it is often given in such a personal way, just compare how Scottish/English History is taught in Scotland with how WWII is taught. It is specifically not taught that all German's did x y or z.

One of the best years of my life was spent in Scotland, but it is also the only time I've experienced "racism" (and actually some of my ancestors could well have been covenanters).

Can I admit to being slightly offended that so many are suggesting an anti-English atmosphere post indyref? Of course there will be some of that by small minded people, but visit the pocket of Edinburgh where I live and you will find that many of the pro-Indy residents are English. I'm not, but would hate to think people might believe I'd take out my frustrations on someone purely because they're English. I don't mean to be provocative at all, and appreciate people's experiences, but please acknowledge that not everyone here, no matter their political views, is anti English.

I was born in Morayshire and went to school in Aberdeenshire until my family moved back to England when I was twelve. I've never had any trace of a Scottish accent so it was assumed that I was English. I was pretty badly bullied at school (to the point that I ended up in hospital on a couple of occasions) because of this so it does happen.

HOWEVER, this was back in the eighties and I think times have changed a lot so I wouldn't be worried about it happening to such an extent nowadays. I definitely wouldn't be worried about schools in Edinburgh! :)

Twittwoo - of course not everyone in Scotland is anti-english. But some people are. And I've had a couple of pretty unpleasant comments directed at me (face to face - not online) from people who quite frankly should have known better.

And FWIW, I don't even consider myself "english" - as I am actually mixed heritage

My child has a broad regional English accent (an accent which is associated with many things, but never posh!), and was fine in his rural Scottish school.

Equally, I never encountered anything nasty myself, with a mixed background but mainly regional English accent, but good knowledge of Scots words.

Kids quickly adapt home language and school language, if they have sense.

American in Glasgow: there are lots of English, and other non-scots, at my sons school. Some of their parents even voted Yes.

There may well be some kids at some school behaving that badly, but I suspect they would find a reason to like some newcomer somehow anyway. edinburgh is a big city, with people from all over, so I wouldnt worry.

My English DSis has lived in Edinburgh for years. The rest of her family are Scottish, but I'm not aware of her ever having encountered any English sentiment.

I live in Scotland and know plenty of children who were born and raised where I live who don't sound remotely Scottish. I think it would be even more likely in Edinburgh.

Sorry to hear that Kansas - it angers me that some people in this country have that kind of attitude, of course because it's so unkind but also because it fosters the 'Scottish people are anti-English' belief.