To think the head teacher should never have said the N word

[LittleMissMe99]

For context the head teacher of my children's secondary school decided to address racism by saying the N word. She actually said that she had asked permission from the other teachers to say the word....they're all white.

I'm literally gobsmacked. So AIBU to think she shouldn't have said it even if it was "teaching" kids not to say it?

Free speech...

Was the teacher white? And then asked the permission of all the other (white) teachers? That's really bad and awful for any black children in the school that had to sit through that. What is the obsession with white people and wanting to say that word?

It's complicated, I think. And I'm white, so not well placed to pontificate, but here I go anyway...

My first instinct was that no, nobody should ever say that word, especially if they're white. But then, I suppose, how do you educate children that they must never the "n" word if they don't know what it is? But if they never heard anyone say it, why would that be a problem? But they are going to hear it, it comes up a great deal in music, for example and possibly online where young people do stuff. I imagine the headteacher must not have just confined her remarks to saying that one word, she probably did explain why it was offensive and used the fact that she'd discussed whether to use it with the other teachers to underline the very grave sensitives around it?

The other question is, was there a reason this was addressed? Have there been pupils saying it? Was she trying to address an issue that has arisen recently in school?

Seems that way! I’m black and it’s not ok.

DC had a virtual assembly during strike action where the senior leader did an assembly on homophobia and cited the word faggot several times as an example of hate speech.
The following day two particularly impressionable pupils used the same word.
Not the desired outcome.

We have books e.g. Of mice and men, where the N word is prevalent but personally, I still do not say it. The pupils can see it on the page and know the historical context but I am not reading it out loud and I tell them why I won't.
We also look at Dre and reclaiming of words but as I am white, it isn't for me to reclaim nor can one person reclaim it for a whole community. It is still offensive to many. It makes for a good class discussion though as to how words have power and how we should be aware of that.

Nobody should say it.

What is the obsession with white people and wanting to say that word?
Free speech, innit?😐

... was there a reason this was addressed? Have there been pupils saying it? Was she trying to address an issue that has arisen recently in school?

I was wondering the same, since if there's been recent use of it in school they may have identified an obvious need for some whole-class reminders

This is a non issue. I think we can all glean from this the right intentions are there. I think you should channel your feelings towards someone saying something with intent.

So how do you teach other people not to say the word if you don't tell them what it is?

I think it would be reasonable to say "there is a nasty word for black people which is derived from another unacceptable word and you should never use any of them - if you hear someone referring to the N word they mean n-er or n-roe. I have said them now so you know what they are but they are completely unacceptable in today's society".

If you flash it up on a screen it is either there too long which will also cause discomfort or not long enough to be able to take it in.

If you don't tell kids something is unacceptable they won't know.

It really isn’t complicated. Highly offensive words shouldn’t be used in school. The only exception I can think of is maybe when reading a text in English but seriously, you don’t need to say offensive words so that everyone knows they are offensive. Unless everyone tells me their reception child was told ‘cunt is a naughty word, we don’t use it.’

Dc recently read a text at school which used this word the teacher I think dealt with it very well (from what I can tell). She said the word once, said she never wanted to here the word said by any of them, explained why and said from then on in that when the word cropped up in the book they were to use the word 'beep' in place of it. Dc14 (who has asd) came home, wrote the word down to tell me what had happened and said she's glad the teacher told her because otherwise she might have heard the word, repeated it and upset someone. So in some instances it may be right to say it because otherwise how does anyone learn right from wrong? I think context is everything. Why was this taking place? Have children been using the word at school?

No teacher would use the word with malice? I understand this could be deemed offensive but I’d be confident the word would have been used to educate?

Not a non issue.

I’m black and OP, you are not being unreasonable and the polling results so far are a bit appalling. I flinched at the thought of the word being said in a school context and how I would feel if my daughter had to sit and listen to that.

The ignorance on this thread is just… well…

I’m different. I teach Of Mice and Men, and others like A Streetcar Named Desire, which contain that language, and don’t censor them. We always discuss context, and that these texts are products of their time, containing attitudes that we disagree with. But it’s part of an educational context, and that’s okay with me.

We had a similar situation at my step son's school.

The teacher stood in front of the class and said you can't call black people a
"N**r".

My step son is black (and the only black child in the class). He was shocked and told me. I double checked with a couple of his class friends who all confirmed this happened and they too felt it was inappropriate.

I reported it to the Head stating that this word shouldn't be used by anyone, let alone a teacher. Then reacher was given words of advice and apologised to my step son!

It’s perfectly possible to educate children about racism without actually using deeply offensive slurs.

The only time I would (and have) is in Court. When I have to use the specific language used. I apologise first and if I can avoid it (drawing attention to a document for example) I will.

I don't know why other white people do as they do, I'll see where the thread goes.

... and to clarify, we wouldn't have minded if she said "the N word" but it's not appropriate to say it in full out loud!

100%

It is hard with Of Mice and Men to know what is best - teach the context, but not mention the word aloud, just let pupils read it? Is that considered best practice? Would people say that both words are equally offensive? I'd initially though that -o was considered less of a slur that -er, but I'm not sure now. I don't think pupils would be expected to read either aloud, but the teacher might in order to explain the context or the history. I guess as long as pupils were clear which word(s) were being discussed then they could just read them to themselves. What do audio versions of OMAM do?

Hi, yes some pupils have been saying it. So she addressed the whole school. It's a predominantly white school with maybe a dozen kids who are not white. It's a secondary school so all the children are 11 - 16 years old

For the record, if this word can’t be used against you, you’ve absolutely zero right to call this a non-issue. The absolute arrogance

Maybe sit down and listen to those actually affected by these words, rather than assuming your completely removed perspective trumps all.

I’m assuming the word was used to educate. I want my children to understand the connotation of such a slur. I’m sorry but the word needs to be properly understood and if the word was used by a teacher I’m confident then it was used to educate.