Black Lives Matter not allowed to be discussed in class

[Geppili]

AIBU to be shocked that my primary school DS told me that they are not allowed to mention or talk about Black Lives Matter. Apparently teacher said that it is a political issue and therefore against the rules to discuss? They are Year 5. I am angry and shocked.

Good advice Ellisandra.

Of course they can and should talk about it. Not talking about it has lead to where we are now. Pretending it isn’t relevant in the U.K. will enable racism for longer.

It has been featured on NewsRound a lot and many kids that age watch it in school. We discuss anything that crops up from all sorts of sources in school. It’s excellent grounding for secondary and it’s crucial kids learn about the world and politics at all ages. Not talking about politics will put any kid at a real disadvantage. I’d be livid if my dc.’s primary had this stance.

Educating is different to pushing your own political views. Discussion is part of educating.

We’ve had some really interesting discussions and kids in year 5 are more than old enough to take part.

My husband would probably go marching straight down the school to ask why.

Blm is related to history. It will come up eventually. But yet they're happy to teach graphic sex education in year 3 at certain schools

Well said @0tt0L0tt0

It should be discussed, but discussion means all views (within reason) should be listened to respectfully.

Is that possible with this issue?

Free speech means that people are free to say what you don’t want to hear, not merely reinforce your own views.

I am sure the school will be dealing with this carefully at a time of their choosing.

In our school we discuss racism and attributed issues because they're social issues.

The BLM movement is a political one and not discussed for that reason. Like brexit isn't discussed but immigration and movement of people are.

I think there is a difference between discussing racism and discussing BLM. If I were going to clarify anything with the school, I'd ask if they include anti-racist work into their curriculum and whether a diverse range of people/cultures/viewpoints are included, along with media literacy and critical thinking.

It does sound like the teacher was thrown into the scenario which doesn't lend itself well to detailed explanations to kids. The teacher may have been very worried about saying the wrong thing or kids chiming in with offensive comments. It's very easy for something like that to snowball and many teachers would prefer to have time to mentally prepare for certain discussions.

I have y5 who has had a lot of BLM work sent by email plus recent events in US.

We didn’t spend long on it as we are doing Oak academy instead. But it was quite blunt about what had been happening.

Hi @onemoreuser I wonder if you are just deluded or being sarcastic . I would imagine the latter . “We live in a country where everyone is equal?!!!! I would like to think that I am firmly middle class.

Some years ago driving in Hampstead in London stopped by the police asked if I had been drinking . Seeing as I was going for my On call shift I hadn’t had a drop . He asked me to get out of the car and you know what he did ? he asked to smell my breath . NOT BRETHALYSE ME smell my breath . I was young, complied and left . If were white I would even have been stopped . Apparently I was driving too slow There are numerous examples. Speak with any black person in the uk and they will give you loads . The problem with white privilege or any privilege for that matter is that the privileged ones don’t realise their position and think if only the other lot weren’t so lazy, argumentative, hostile pick an adjective they won’t have a problem .
I’m afraid that’s not how it works . In my daughters school the news letter around the time the headmaster wrote a beautiful piece on the subject and advised us to share it with the pupils and spoke about it in assembly. He put it in a language and referenced “Ubuntu” which translated from Afrikaans means “humanity towards others” or human kindness . I quote what he said “about the BLM movement by marginalising different sectors of the society aren’t we taking away our own humanity?”

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/amp/52813673

Hoards of year 5/6s will have watched it in school. What on earth are they incapable of discussing or understanding?

And who on earth doesn’t want their child informed or part of the discussion?

It sounds like an inappropriate heckle more than an attempt to discuss it. A divisive, race based cheer so I would imagine the teacher wouldn't want it being raised in such a juvenile manner.

I’m in two minds. I share in the child’s happiness that a BAME person has won a competition in an area that was nothing to do with race.

The problem is in pointing out the race, one focuses on the race, and moves further away from the ideal world where race is simply not in the equation of how we feel towards people.

It’s the same with women. I don’t want women’s successes to be celebrated under this ridiculous “go girl” empowerment category (which just creates a backlash anyway) but because we appreciate the successes of the individual. And in a truly equal world those successes would be just as numerous as their male counterparts.

Imagine if a child had responded “But All Lives Matter”. What would the teacher have done? Yet that child is also correct because they don’t understand at that age the historical nuance of it.

tonglong

Amplify black voices.... no, not those black voices

Another example of parents needing to take responsibility for teaching their child right from wrong. This is a topic which should be discussed at home, not at school. At school (and home!) children should be taught to treat everyone with respect, including any section of society - disabled, BAME, fat, glasses, ginger - all things which are picked up on by children. This general topic could be discussed by teachers. People seem to be putting more and more responsibility for these issues on schools and teachers, when they should actually parent their own child instead of reverting to lazy parenting.

emodi Looking at onemoreuser's posts today I think probably goady is the best description. I had almost the exact scenario you described (other than the oncall) and it wasn't to do with ethnicity. They were though rather crestfallen when my answer to when did you last have a drink was 'Christmas' and to why I was driving slowly was that there were too many crazy drivers on the narrow lane with just passing places. I have no doubt though that these events do disproportionately affect the BAME community though.

I disagree that yr5 is too young to be debating this issue and even if there wasn't time in the day at that point for a meaningful discussion then a comment affirming that it was great that the competition was won on merit would have acknowledged the view point without an indepth discussion and a mental note to return to the topic later.

As an aside I think that I would be disappointed if my yr5 was allowed some time actually in school this term only to spend some of it watching Bake Off. I know they wouldn't do academic work all day but surely time would be better spent having a class debate or activity which involves pupil interaction rather than watching screens which they can do at home. Hopefully it was just a newsround clip rather than the whole programme.

It was hardly a formal lesson to be derailed was it if they were watching bake off!

The kid wanted to celebrate seeing a person who looks like him winning a TV show. That still happens less than it should.

He used Black Lives Matter because it is a slogan. It was intended as such. As a short hand way to make a point. It's a bit easier than saying 'I am glad he won. That's a bigger achievement than it would be for a white person. That gives me encouragement' He was using it in context as far as I can see. I doubt he was subscribing to an anti Zionist Marxist political policy. By shouting it down the teacher comes over as saying that she disagree that it was a good thing the black kid won.

If there was no institutional racism in this country then black people would not be 2 x as likely to die in police custody here in the U.K. or half as likely to go to Oxbridge as any other ethnicity. If you think that structural racism in the UK no longer exists then you are factually incorrect.

@Livelovebehappy

Another example of parents needing to take responsibility for teaching their child right from wrong. This is a topic which should be discussed at home, not at school. At school (and home!) children should be taught to treat everyone with respect, including any section of society - disabled, BAME, fat, glasses, ginger - all things which are picked up on by children. This general topic could be discussed by teachers. People seem to be putting more and more responsibility for these issues on schools and teachers, when they should actually parent their own child instead of reverting to lazy parenting.

I am teacher of English at high school.

One of the aima of my subject is to encourage young people to think critically about the world, and their place in it. To question, to challenge, to provoke thought and perhaps even thought that leads to future action. We can do this by telling them to respect everyone and leaving it there. And if we did, we would be doing young people a huge disservice.

*can't FFS!

Tall to the teacher about it. Kids don't always recount things with the most accuracy, and if it is accurate and s/he confirms it then you can discuss with her what her reasonings were.

I think Goosefoot and Ellisandra, raised really good points about critical thinking, context, and communicating with the teacher about this.

We live in a country, thank god, where people of all skin colours are equals in society and under the law. Of course there will always be pockets of racism here and there but as far as institutional affairs go we all have equality. This is not an issue for children in school.

You are so wrong. I don’t know how you can say that. Just one example: People with non-white sounding names have to apply for around 60% more jobs before they are given an interview than their white-sounding named peers.

csi.nuff.ox.ac.uk/?p=1299

I just can't get my head round people who don't think schools need to be parts of these kinds of conversations. It literally underpins my whole philosophy!

I doubt he was subscribing to an anti Zionist Marxist political policy.

How should the teacher have dealt with this? Allowed a discussion about it? And if this child saying BLM prompted another child to question the BLM stance on police particularly ACAB and be upset because their mum is a police officer? Should the teacher discuss and allow a discussion to include that too? And if their was a Jewish child in the class whose family are upset about the tweet - should that be addressed?

Or do you want the teacher to just affirm the views of BLM and ban any other views?

Theld Where did the OP state that the student who called out was BAME? I've re-read the thread and I can't find that. Thanks.j