to have complained to the head about a Swastika flag in the school carpark?!

[sethstarkaddersmum]

Actually I KNOW I am not BU, I just want someone to calm me down a bit.

So there was a car in the school carpark with one of those England flags on it.... with a swastika stuck to the other side.
I did a double take, went and looked, then went back and basically said 'WTF?' to the other mums, only nobody seemed that bothered
Then one of the other mums, who is a German teacher, turned up, saw it, and went absolutely ballistic - 'That flag is a sign of murder and racism!' etc. Which was how I saw it as well but hadn't expressed it with quite as much force.
So I said 'Shall we go and talk to the head?' and then he came out of the school and I said 'Are you going to do something about that?' and anyway, it turned out the car belonged to a TEACHER! A v young supply teacher, apparently, who had put it there as a joke .
I intimated to the head that I did not feel it was appropriate (while the other mum repeated her points about murder and racism) and he went off to get it removed and, I hope, have more than a few words with this teacher....

I mean, WHAT
THE
FUCK....

Not unreasonable at all. I hope the young teacher reads up on his/her history, if s/he thinks it's a joke.

WTF was that teacher thinking? YANBU

A joke?

Report the teacher to the LEA-wouldn't want them anywhere near children.

That's one supply teacher that won't be going back there...Good for you, what an idiot!

Your reaction sounds fair enough to me. Glad you raised it with the Head and didn't just walk away.

Obviously I meant the supply teacher was an idiot, not you!

bye bye supply teacher

how awful they felt it was even ok to do that.

I do hope it was just idiocy, not anything more sinister. It probably was just idiocy tbh as if you actually had horrible racist views you probably wouldn't draw attention to them by doing something like that, would you?

I was so relieved when German teacher mum saw it and exploded - you know when you can't quite believe something and no-one else seems particularly bothered....

Um, I dont think there's a diference actually.
If you didn't hold racist views you wouldn't find it funny to drive around with a swastika on your car. Surely?

you might simply know nothing whatsoever about history, I think. You might think it is funny simply because it is taboo but have no real understanding of why it is taboo.

anyway what I'm getting at is the difference between a dodgy sense of humour and someone being, say, a BNP activist.

AhLaVache, I am a generous soul and prepared to believe that this person may simply not have known how horrific the Nazis were. How much is taught in history classes these days? Is it possible not to be taught about it? (My kids are past that age...)

I would not allow my child to be in a room with someone that thought that was funny.

DS is 9 and has ASD and even he understands what the Swastika represents.

You would assume a teacher had a degree of intelligence and would have some knowledge (no matter how young) of the implications of a nazi flag. Therefore, I would assume it is deliberate attempt to provoke.

what does she teach?Hope she is no longer supply teaching

Disagree I'm afraid.
If this teacher knows enough about the swastika to know it is offensive (and lets be honest, there's no way they would not understand it was a symbol of hate) then they know enough about it to not find it funny. Unless, you know, they find racism funny?
Also plenty of vile racists who are not BNP activists, excuses nothing.

I realise the irony of this exchange given that you are the op but I dont for one minute think that it was a joke. Well maybe it was a joke but one being made by a racist nugget-head.

it's a primary school (rural, zero ethnic or religious diversity). I don't know the teacher.

wonder how many times she's had her tyres slashed

Was it a swastika or a reverse nazi swastika? I only ask as when in India you see swastika tattoos, marks on everything from cloth to cups and plates to jewellery. It's a symbol of life, I believe.

on reflection, doesn't sound like it.

I would follow it up with a visit to the head tomorrow to ask what happened. Agree with scurry re LEA. Seriously. Inciting racial hatred? One thing to collect them in pivate (bad enough) but displaying it?

I am not 100% certain which way round the spokes were going but it was swastika colours, so it was definitely meant to be identified as such.

That's ridiculous! Hope the school wont be employing them again

I will deffo check the situation tomorrow & get together with German teacher mum to take further action if necessary.

"basically said 'WTF?' to the other mums, only nobody seemed that bothered"

terrible ignorance, perhaps?

Nazism is a warning from history.