Page 2 | Racist toddlers

mshadowsisfab · 07/07/2008 14:31

omg that is just stupid.
words fail me

beaniesteve · 07/07/2008 14:34

it's all to do with intent. That newspaper has picked on one silly and badly worded part of the guidelines in a typical way.

I thik people should be aware that some children are raised to be racist and some things children say are said with racist intent, even down to why they refuse some foods.

TheApprentice · 07/07/2008 14:40

Does this mean that as a primary school teacher I am going to have to start eating bananas (which I loathe) in front of the class to ensure I am not sending out negative, racist attitudes about people from the Carribean?!

Tortington · 07/07/2008 14:54

agree beaniesteve

at the mo BIL & SIL and their childrena re living with us. it is a huge exersise in keeping your gob shut. i love them dearly and am ejoying their time with me.

but there have been homophobic references at the 6 year old - and things like pink is for girls etc

i had 6 year old in car on my own going to shop and we were discussing why the interior was pink....

this morphed into me saying that my oldest boy (18) wears pink.

6 year old thought on it for a sec then came back with
"It doesn't matter" he said in a reassuring tone "it's only a colour y'know"

"i think your right there kid" says i v. pleased!

the point - some parents to parent this way.

the way to tackle this is not through flagging it at nursery and reporting to council

its through re-education of parental values - to parents.

Kewcumber · 07/07/2008 14:58

the interior of your car is pink!?

whitebeachesandcoconutoil · 07/07/2008 15:01

a few months ago i posted about how my lo would say eww he saw somebody black -i was mortified we are not racist at all in fact my dh is italian but it is because of articles like this that things like that make me worry even though i was poopooed [rightly i suppose] but the world imo is slowly going mad

Tortington · 07/07/2008 15:03

yeah kew....PINK

mylovelymonster · 07/07/2008 15:06

Is it April again? '08 or '09? Am really confused now.................

madamez · 07/07/2008 15:12

THis is just the Telegraph hyping one silly bit of a report that was probably well-meaning and nowhere near as daft as it has been made to sound.
Does anyone remember the Baa Baa Green Sheep 'scandal' which was later proved to have been, er, completely made up?

fuzzywuzzy · 07/07/2008 15:15

well ermmm dd1 won't eat anything even remotely spicy (I blame Annabel Karmel myself), dd2 on the other will eat everything. Sooo does this make dd1 racist?? We're all indian, born in england obviously, but my great grandparents are buried in India!

Whizzz · 07/07/2008 15:20

Good grief - ridiculous!

beaniesteve · 07/07/2008 15:24

When I was little we lived in a remote part of Ireland. The opportunity to mix with different races and cultures was somewhat limited. Apparently when we moved back to the UK and stayed in Birmingham Briefly my sister (then 7) started walking about pushig her liprs right out (A la Mick Jagger)so my mum asked her why?

'I want big lips like the black ladies have' replied my sister.

Now - this was not racist, this was an observation and a mimic.

However, had that action been accopanied by a racist comment then it would have been racist.

So, a child saying yuk at curry because he/she doesn't like curry is not racist.
A child saying Yuk at Curry because he/she doesn't like the fact that indian people eat it, IS!

that's the difference, and I think it's worth being aware that it does happen.

deeeja · 07/07/2008 15:34

Well, my children won't eat anything spicy, does that make them racist? They are Indian.
I agree that when very young children make comments that can be construed as racists, they are usually copying parents and close family, etc.
As a young child at primary school I came across racist comments from other children for the first time, but the same would also play with me at breaktime etc.
I think for most children it is the same as calling someone fatty, etc. Not that I am condoning that either. The problem is a wider societal problem, and alot more complex than this.

Greyriverside · 07/07/2008 15:42

Nurseries are encouraged to report as many incidents as possible to their local council. "Some people think that if a large number of racist incidents are reported, this will reflect badly on the institution. In fact, the opposite is the case.">>

Hmmm so will nurseries need to find incidents to report to show that they are doing their bit?

tazmosis · 07/07/2008 19:25

Sounds a bit like Big Brother...that's the 1984 version not the Channel 4 one!

handlemecarefully · 07/07/2008 19:34

lol, my dc's dont like yorkshire pudding. They must be Lancastrians

Nighbynight · 07/07/2008 19:34

I just knew this would kick off on mumsnet. Even the BBC sensationalised it but its still bonkers.
Hopefully most nursery staff are much too sensible to be labelling toddlers as racist.

meridian · 07/07/2008 19:37

that is just ridiculous... so apparently my DS is racist against tomatoes... though not ketchup...does that mean he is violent? becuse ketchup is a tomato beaten to a pulp?

edam · 07/07/2008 22:21

Actually, for all it's just one bonkers suggestion, it does highlight a worrying trend in official thinking on 'parenting' (quote marks because somehow it's become a verb, something we do rather than something we are, and I'm not entirely happy about that).

The government and the bodies it funds and listens to seems to think parents are shit and need to be told what to do in huge detail. We are not good enough to look after our own children - all the 'incentives' are to drive mothers into paid work because childcare is only of value if you are paid to do it - and we are too stupid to bring them up properly so we need teams of experts to tell us how to do it. Even 'call me Dave Cameron' says he's planning to appoint lots more HVs because we are all too clueless to hold the baby the right way up without someone with qualifications watching over us.

BouncingTurtle · 08/07/2008 09:33

Hmm I must be rascist against Northerners as I despise mushy peas and black pudding. Hmm maybe I should move away from Teesside then.
And what about fish/shellfish?

Honestly whata load of drivel, total waste of tax payers money again whose sole aim is to make parents feel shit about themselves

waffletrees · 08/07/2008 18:27

Weel said Edam. There is a worrying trend that all parents are shit and children need to be protected from us.

Hecate · 08/07/2008 18:43

I LOVED this comment from 'Vlad' "Calling little children words like "racist" is a new step forward in your noble struggle. We in Ukraine are looking forward to see what funny things will happen in UK next."

What a load of shit this government is chucking OUR money at. Just when you think they have become as ridiculous as it is possible to be, there they go, proving you wrong again.

I tell you one thing though. I am starting to get bloody alarmed at all the different things the government is encouraging us to 'report' one another to them for.

History tells us that sort of regime never ends well.