AIBU primary teacher branding granddaughter racist

[midlifediva]

AIBU I am fuming, grand daughter was told off by her teacher and called racist, she is only 8. A child in her class siad her new hair style was horrible and made her look poor, she retaliated by saying at least I am not Russian. (the other child is Russian) She was punished by her teacher and marked as racist in some "bad mark book" The other child was not punished. She then cried and when her friends tried to comfort her they were also punished. She is good at school, works hard and is frequently praised for her kindness to others. This new teacher has overstepped the mark IMHO..

An experienced teacher would have handled it better I'm sure. Taken both girls out of the classroom and told why each of their comments were inappropriate (ie spiteful).

Sounds like an overreaction to me.

Both comments should have been punished. And it's xenophobia, Not racism.

Well both of the children's comments were horrible and they would both be spoken to in our school. I would be mightily unhappy if two children traded insults like that. "At least I'm not Russian"....where's that come from? Not nice. Sorry.

Nationality is included in the definition of race in the Equality Act so it is accurate to say it is racist.

Ask the school if the other girl was spoken to. There'll be a record. I'm positive about that.

What your granddaughter said was racist. I agree both children should be punished and maybe the teacher could have dealt with it in a more private manner but by the sounds of things she used you dg as an example for the class that racism will not be tolerated.

Why did she think being Russian is bad?

Completely unfair @sweetmelissa1943 and both girls should have been punished. One nasty comment is no worse than the other. Not going to judge a couple of 8 year olds though.

@DexyMidnight
So the Russian 8 year old “is a vindictive little bitch*

thank you Feenie

Your GD has to learn it's wrong to say what she said, however, I don't think it's right the teacher called her racist. She is only 8 years old!

The teacher should be speaking to her to explain and teach why it's wrong. Labelling her a racist and putting it in a book?... no, that's wrong.

@NotUmbongoUnchained
Not to minimise your OH experience but I beg to differ there’s some horriblely racist posts all over Mumsnet today I don’t know if it’s to do with Brexit or that Trump has emboldened people who were closet racists but it’s very depressing😔

It's not racist! Russian is not a race.
Technically it's xenophobia

It's HIGHLY unlikely that this was motivated by a dislike of Russians specifically but a child grappling find something nasty to say back.

It's about difference. As all children do - they dislike difference. She could of equally said "at least I'm not poor".

Both kids should be in minor trouble for a minor spat.

The school should be in major trouble for misunderstanding the difference between racism, xenophobia and how children are.

I actually think the schools idiocy has caused more harm than good and it adds to the real problem of racism if even schools don't understand what it is and how it's truly manifested.

@ghanagirl it’s everywhere all the time isn’t it.

So is xenophobia OK then Fru? You seem to be saying it is?

Yes it is Ghanagirl.

BookMe - I actually say that it's highly likely this wasn't even xenophobia (which is not ok either) but rather a child grappling to say something nasty in response - being Russian the only difference she notices.

It is racist according to the equalities act, she made a derogatory comment based on the other child's nationality. The EA covers nationality under their definition of racist.

Hasn’t every definition of racism from the race relations act onwards included nationality? So not sure why people are trying to make this distinction between racism and xenophobia

Either way - both comments not on.

We need to move away from saying you are racist/stupid/bad and saying that was a racist/stupid/bad thing to say.

They are 8. They both said unkind things and should both have been dealt with appropriately.

Whatever happened to condemn the action not the child? Labelling a child at that age is horrible.

@FruHagen
Children hate difference maybe if they come from a background that think it’s acceptable and the school doesn’t explain its wrong.
My DC’s attend a school in London where the majority of the kids are not white English the Majority are from different parts of Europe with a large contingent from former Yugoslavia and the school is incredibly cohesive as the ethos is of tolerance,
I’ve learnt so much as the parents don’t pretend to be colour blind but acknowledge that we are all from different backgrounds but are people with feelings.
Instead of running up to the school to complain about your GD being told off educate her and her parents,

Maybe if people didn’t say racist things they wouldn’t be labelled racist.
Just a thought...

So are you all really sure you want to say an 8 year old girl is racist because the law includes nationality into the definition of racism?
Are you sure this is a good idea? Not a better way to handle all this?

How about schools don't label young children with serious almost criminal labels that could cause extreme damage to both the bigger cause and the individual.
Why don't they sit both kids down and explain and explore the issues about how we argue with others. Have a little chat about Russia, Russians and general differences between our countries. Talk about xenophobia and inclusion.

I mean the ultimate question is why is the teacher not teaching but instead labeling.
Isn't this the point of school- to educate?

I mean the ultimate question is why is the teacher not teaching but instead labeling.
Isn't this the point of school- to educate?

They’re labelling the incident because they have to. We have no idea what other steps have been taken in school to educate.