Teaching racism in primary school

[Eslteacher06]

So its Black History Month and my daughters teacher is very passionate about it.

A couple of the parents have said it's really sad that we have to teach about racism to young children because she never noticed the colour of skin before.

I have my own thoughts, but wondered what others thought? Is it reasonable to teach about racism at a young age or is it ruining innocence?

I think it’s far sadder for non-white children to experience racism than it is for white children to taught to not be racist.

Not necessarily. I found out about it aged five when I was talking about my 'boyfriend' and his name wasn't English. I got shouted at by my older half brother - with a long list of categories of people I wasn't ever allowed to be friends with, especially not boys.

I'd never heard any of the words until then. But they stuck in my head because they were said with such anger, like I'd done something wrong by holding hands in the playground with another five year old. So I was scared to play with my friends at school in case I was shouted at again - I didn't tell the teacher because I thought she'd realise I'd been bad by playing with them if I said anything.

Teaching from an early age can be the only defence against white children internalising that racism before they understand what it actually means, rather than a penance they must pay for not having experienced it personally.

I think the logic goes, 'my lovely white child would just KNOW how not to be racist, just absorb it like osmosis and therefore never notice the colour of anyone's skin or see how the world is, they are innocent'. This logic means they believe their child is being taught ABOUT racism not how not to BE racist. And racism is unpleasant so we should put it off as long as possible.

In reality we're swimming in a racist soup and kids pick stuff up. Better to teach them while they are still adult-socialised rather than peer-socialised.

I've said the same for years. My daughter is mixed race in a primarily white school. She has never described anyone by colour. I have no issues about her learning about the wrongs of history but learning about equality and non discrimination should be ongoing and all encompassing.

I read an article about the teaching of white privilege and white guilt. Teachers were instructed not to comfort white children if they cried. That is very nasty. It takes a zealot of the stupidest kind to wreak revenge
for their grievances on little children who are too young to defend themselves.

Sammyscrounge- really? No teacher would not comfort an upset child. I call bull shit.

Very important at early age to teach about racism in the same way about being sexist or mean in other ways and more details later. I’m Indian origin and first experienced racism aged about 6 at Brownies. For almost all my school life in a rural area I was the only pupil with parents not white and from the UK. A couple of years there were Bosnian white refugees and that’s it for multiculturalism.

As someone of Indian origin agree that if we want a celebration of a particular Asian culture and recognition of racism and colonial rule we need to organise.

I was born in Britain, feel British. and the main teaching I had on racism was the context of slavery and also the American west and what the British empire did to native Americans. I did feel guilty about what the British empire- a very strange feeling as my family was certainly not involved in that. But that was at secondary. Felt guilty about buildings in nearest city being due to slavery. Also on the backs of badly treated local mining communities- the rich owned mines and slaves.

I read an article about the teaching of white privilege and white guilt. Teachers were instructed not to comfort white children if they cried.

Citation please.

It must be nice to choose to discuss racism to your child. My 11 yo was fist called the N word at 2 on a bus with me and has heard it shouded at us on the street, subway, and at school many times since.
It's so important to protect the white children from unpleasantness they will never experience.

Yes they do. DS4 knew boys from girls in nursery and knew that I had pink/orange/yellow skin and his friend had brown skin as soon as he could name colours. Believe me, he's no genius.🤣🤣🤣

They don't see power imbalances but they do see sex and colour because they've got eyes.

This.

I've changed my name.

We are white parents with black children (adopted).

It's simply not true to say that other children don't see colour.

However, even if this was to be the case, my children certainly notice it because we live in a very white area and they feel very different to their friends.

Sadly there is lots of casual racism around.

My 5 year old came home from school the other day complaining about another boy. He kept saying that he hated him because he was brown!!!

So yes, kids really do notice skin colour from that age.

I don't understand where it's come from honestly, as he has a black friend and a South Asian friend who he really likes and has never commented on their skin colour before (apart from when he first met them and he was in awe of their darker skin and said that he wanted 'brown' skin too). He got upset and told me that he was only repeating what one of his friends had said and the reason that he didn't like this boy was because he's non verbal and 'naughty' and follows him around all day and won't leave him alone. I've spent all week teaching him about racism and SEN but I can tell that he's not grasping it as well as I'd hoped. I really hope that his school offers some thorough education soon"

I think it depends how it's done. I think as long as it's a "celebration" of difference and not a "anyone who looks like this with this colour skin is different and should be treated differently".
For us as a family, we mix with a lot of people from different backgrounds and cultures, and my kids just aren't aware that there's any difference as I've never said "oh your friend is different to you because she has an afro" for example.
On the other side, one of my friends doesn't have a lot of people in her life from different cultures and backgrounds and has therefore rammed it down her children's throats that people who are from other cultures/ethnicities are in some way "different" and must be treated "differently" (thinking she's doing a good thing!). Her kids are now super odd when they're around my kid's friends as they've been told they've got to be "respectful", so don't see a little boy who just so happens to be black as another kid, but rather as this being who isn't like them. It makes me feel quite uncomfortable

I think these other mums would benefit from doing some research in unconscious bias.
Sadly I sounds like they’re not even be aware of their own ignorance and are completely unaware of what the world is actually like for many people.

All children should learn about racism, race, prejudice, stereotypes, white supremacy...non-white families have to teach their children these things at home because white people think they don't have to. So yes, schools need to.

Exactly what @Squirrelonwheels said.

Agree

I think that they should focus on discrimination and prejudice.

My DC know their friends have a different skin colours and are have different cultures.

It's important to teach children that we're not all the same but we are all equal and as important as each.

Once they're around 9 they should learn about racism and unconscious racist behaviour and thoughts towards others and how to call it out.

As long as dickish parents exist who are uneducated or from a particular culture that accepts racism saying horrible things in front of their children the schools have no choice but to educate children on the subject.

This!!!

My son got called a 'p**i' aged 4 and at nursery by another child who had clearly heard it from his own parents. If my child experiences racism at such a young age then other children can be bloody well taught about it!

The really sad thing is you don't have to teach the black 5 year old about racism, they've already experienced it.

They don't or at least not all of them do. I don't think there are any non-white pupils at the local primary so teaching about racism doesn't take centre stage very often.