Dd, 17, asked by school if she had Bristish passport

[Sadusername]

DD just let it slip that she was asked to go to the school office to declare whether or not she has a Brisitsh passport. Only young people with foreign names or who "looked" foreign were asked. I am furious. Feels like the beginning of a slippery slope....

Exactly, Mooey.

Very, very worrying....

It's the way some schools have chosen to implement this data gathering excercise which is particularly worrying. They haven't told parents they can opt out of the excercise, and some schools have only requested the information from students they think are non-British. They have been asking for passports, which they have no right to do. Yet people can't see any cause for concern.

All you here who are so certain that there's a perfectly innocent, indeed positive explanation for gathering this information...

...how nice it must be to have such privilege that you can ignore all the xenophobia being stoken up in the country at present. You may not notice racism and xenophobia because you don't have to, but please don't be so quick to dismiss the very real experiences and knowledge of people who have a lot more experience of this than you.

We haven't got passports!

You may not notice racism and xenophobia because you don't have to

I do notice racism and xenophobia. Very much so. However, I can see the non-racist, non-xenophobic argument for needing this data. If it is misused to in some way target foreign pupils I will be protesting. But, since it is clear that gathering this data may benefit foreign pupils, I am willing to hang fire and see how the data is used.

Bloody hell, the Tories are ruining this country on a level I never thought possible

Archery that's a ridiculous set of assumptions and prejudices you're displaying. Personally, I'm very concerned about what might be around the corner and concerned that encouraging panic about benign events now will cause a 'boy that cried wolf' effect later.

Wonko are you just going to repeat that oh-so insightful post every 24 hours?

Ah, yes, Manumission - noticing prejudice is the new prejudice.

If you think we are still at some kind of "crying wolf" stage, then you must be in the happy position of not noticing all the people with wolf-bites. How nice that must be.

FGS, at least try to stop talking bollocks. Article 50 hasn't even been invoked yet.

People get frightened and upset by the scaremongery rhetoric you know?

I'm not frightened and upset by scaremongery rhetoric, Manumission. I'm frightened by the creeping xenophobia that's happening, and I'm upset by people like you who seem determined to ridicule and shut down anyone talking about this creeping xenophobia.

We've had the census form. I figured our options were

1. Fill it in
2. Tick the "refuse" box
3. Bin it.

Everyone I've spoken to at school has gone for option 3. If the DFE want this information they can get it for themselves.

I'm not frightened and upset by scaremongery rhetoric, Manumission.

No you're peddling it.

I'm frightened by the creeping xenophobia that's happening, and I'm upset by people like you who seem determined to ridicule and shut down anyone talking about this creeping xenophobia.

But the DfE census isn't an example of the rising xenophobia.

The implementation of it by the particular school in the OP might have been discriminatory, but that still doesn't equal xenophobia.

We really need to keep our powder dry for the real issues.

But for some reason you don't want to listen to facts. You just want to shut everybody else down, including those who are fundamentally on your side of the debate.

You make us all sound crackers.

Well, Manumission, you carry on shouting "don't get hysterical!" and I will carry on getting shit done about all this stuff. Each to their own.

As far as I read it:

OP was asked to complete a form if their child was not born in Britain (not actually the same as being British. But beside the point in this instance...).
OP didn't fill in the form, for whatever reason.
School should have assumed OP's DC was born in Britain.
Instead, school specifically targeted OP's DC to ask, because they don't look British (anecdotally, at least. I can't imagine they're asking ever student who didn't send back the form 'just in case').

If I'm missing something do tell me - but I'd be a bit pissed off in the OP's shoes too.

Thank you for that toomuchtooold it's good to know there are still sensible people out there!

I just worry that my DCs are going to be reduced to a statistic in The Sun, e.g. "45% of kids are BULGARIAN!" and they'll fail to mention that most of them are naturalised citizens, have British parents and, in the case of me and DP, are high rate tax payers and net contributors to the system. I fear people like my DC will be used to push through legislation that will to irreparable harm.

You could of course have been born in Halifax, Flint, London, and never set foot inside the UK.