School overreacted ?

[JimmyJam2019]

Child is barely 7, had full weight for school racism policy applied to them for calling an 11yo a poo. On the playground daring each other to call the big kids rude words. Older kid reported child for racist comment, can school not use some common sense, the kid is 7 and has no clue about racism.

@justabigdisco that's awful and clearly racist though! I think just shouting 'poo!' Has a different intent behind it. If the one non white child was singled out that also adds another element but purely going by the OPs account this seems like it was not racist.

I'm not saying it's good behaviour mind!

She didn't say it was racist. She said she wanted to make sure it didn't continue.

that is NOT a "factual statement based on observation"

Some kids are well aware of racism and racist comments at that age unfortunately due to beliefs expressed at home or familial experience of racism directed at the family. My son's friend was subjected to insults based on his race at that age from a boy in his class. One of which involved saying his skin looked like poo. There were also a lot of incidents of racism on the playground directed against children of all non-white races and ethnicities when COVID started, implying people who were not white carried COVID. This is in a school that has a very diverse intake in an inner city area.

Your child's insults may not have been intended in that way, but your child has learnt a valuable life lesson about the way you speak to people.

The child who was called poo was upset by it so they did the right thing and reported it. It is important that that child who felt that s/he was being racially insulted could see their school taking action against that.

The school is at fault for not punishing all the children in this situation. They were all doing the same mean and silly thing. They all need to have an explanation of why they were in the wrong and why their choice of insult can easily be seen as racist.

Two days isolation for a six year old? Even if there was a racist element (which I really can't imagine because children have been calling each other poo insults since I was at school in the sixties) two days is ridiculous and counter productive at that age. I'm a teacher by the way.

Primary kids love the word poo, and they're daft as brushes at that age. Unless your child specifically said "your skin is the colour of poo" the school is massively over-reacting.

Poo CAN be a racist slur. Probably wasn't on this occasion but it will do your son no harm to learn that a) name calling is not nice; and b) calling black people poo is even more insulting.

So while there hasn't necessarily been racist intent, the impact was that a black kid (or other ethnicity) was called something that can be construed as racist. The school has addressed that and has punished the child in question.

I think that's actually a good outcome.

@piintheski it absolutely is.

That doesn't automatically mean it's appropriate to say, which is why the context and age of child is relevant, to understand whether they should have known that.

@Bookish88 they were playing a game and the other child (same age) suggested that her character should be called ‘poo’ because she is brown like poo. If you think that’s just making a factual statement (as the child’s parents seemed to) then you’re part of the problem.

It absolutely isn't and it is very shocking indeed that you seem to think it is

Also, your 7 year old should know what racism is. If he doesn't, then you should teach him. Early education on these issues is key.

Similar happened to my son is secondary.

The boy is question tipped yoghurt down his back on his 2nd day there but they said no proof do nothing happened.

2 weeks later I got texts from him stick in the toilet after PE by some kids throwing his stuff at him and him too scared to leave (was on transport as ehcp).

Yet - somehow - he managed to be the calling the original kid a racist name at the same time. Reported by other pupils. He was punished severely.

Didn't matter apparently that he couldn't possibly have been calling the kid a racist name in maths when he was in a completely different class (PE) at the time. And of course him being bullied was never investigated.

They have to react to any racism claims full stop and report. Seems they can't take a view of investigations actual facts.

2 years later the same children called him a spastic cunt on kahoot in public. It was after calling him autism boy and being warned, then spastic autism boy and being threatened with detention and removal. (Ds has a MND and is autistic)

They were removed from the kahoot session and given a detention.

I had to send a VERY strongly worded email about their discrimination towards people with different protected characteristics.
I threatened going to the police and reporting it as a hate crime unless they received equal punishments to DS for doing something that wasn't witnessed that he wasn't even present for. (Luckily because they were using their phones for kahoot ds managed to get a screenshot).

I think everything should be investigated and taken EXTREMELY seriously. But there has to be a point we don't apply intentionality where it doesn't exist and where there's evidence it couldn't have happened then it's treated properly.

My ds was still affected by being accused of racism years later as he couldn't understand how he could be punished for something the school even admitted he couldn't have been present for based solely on the fact they had to react because it was reported.

I think whether your son had racist intentions doesn't matter. The other child was offended. It's an opportunity to learn

FGS. Nobody can say anything without someone else claiming to be offended. I have had years of children at school, and have never come across "poo" being racist.

This is a massive mountain out of a very tiny molehill. Young children think it's funny to say "poo". They think it's funny to call one another "poo". The 7 yr olds all need to be told en masse to stop being so silly, and the older children need to be told en masse not to pay any attention to younger children being silly. That ought to be the end of it.

I think the punishment was ridiculous for a 6 year old. A reminder to all children involved that name calling isn’t acceptable and an assembly about celebrating differences would have been more appropriate.
We can’t know what or how the child in the OP used the term poo.

Of course they would! Do you think children only learn about British history in school?

Doesn't matter whether you think it's racist or not though. It can be used as a racist slur and it is 100% right the child was punished for using it to address a black kid.

We absolutely should not be teaching kids not to pay attention if they feel they have been subjected to racism. If your child was disabled, would you say they should tolerate discriminatory language? Absolutely not.

This, they definitely do. It was said to my bi-racial son years ago and I wish the school had acted this strongly. Stop this behaviour in its tracks.

At that age I’d expect child to be spoken to but isolated for 2 days??? Wtf

Actually tbf I think that is quite harsh, and I say this as a parent who’s bi racial child’s skin has been compared to poo. If you’re a brown kid, it’s racist to you whatever the intent.

Absolutely ridiculous of the school to say that a 7 year old calling someone “poo” is racist. Poo is a common 7 year old “naughty word”, when they’re at the age when they don’t know worse words.
It's excessive and misplaced punishments like this that cause anger and intolerance.

The fact that the OP refers to her child's victim in this way:

They said poo to multiple children my kid just said it to the wrong kid.
Other kids not punished. is very telling.

That the child only said "poo" to the black child absolutely makes it said with racist connotations.

If a 7 year old didn't know anything about racist slurs before, he does now. Job done.

The 11 year old has probably had enough of this "low level" shit (pun intended) going on all his life that he's going for zero tolerance. Good on him.

@JimmyJam2019 suck it up and educate your child not to make comments which are racist .

2 day isolation when the other chn that said it get away without punishment sounds wrong. Speak to the school.
At my school this would likely result in a stern talk with HT and she would normally be able to tell by the reactions whether racism was at play.

Do you think the child randomly singled out the black child and randomly said one randomly insulting word to him?

And only him?

Really?

A child doesn't need to know what the term racist means. If they are using words to insult because someone looks different then that needs to be pulled up on regardless of whether they have been taught the definition of racism.

However, the crucial thing here is whether the child said poo because of the way the other child looked or if they were just using a standard 7 year old insult.

Yes. This.