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Original poster

'black book' as punishment book :( in primary school.

105 replies

noonar · 26/10/2011 09:02

my dd1 is 9. her friend stayed for a sleepover last night as she has moved to a new school in a nearby town.

dd's friend dislikes her new school and it seems very authoritarian from what she has said. she then when on to tell me how children who misbehaved went in the 'black book'.

i was totally shocked that the school thinks it's ok to have such a negative connotation attached to the word 'black'. this was esp noticeable to me, as dd's friend is black.

she was telling us about some racism that she had experienced at the new school, then told us about the 'black book'. my knee jerk, gut reaction was to be appalled that the book has been given this name. i am not saying that i had time to reflect and then decide to be shocked in a politically correct way. i was instantly taken aback.

to those of you who may say i'm overthinking this...we have a golden book at out school for good behaviour. things golden are considered good, no? what then, does the black book suggest?

i have many years teaching experience and have years of experience studying multi-culturalism, so may be a bit 'biased'.

what do you think? just genuinely interested in your personal reaction to this.

OP posts:
RupertTheBear · 26/10/2011 09:04

I think that's awful! I would be straight up the school making a fuss if it was my dd

fuckityfuckfuckfuck · 26/10/2011 09:06

You are being absolutely ridiculous to even try and suggest that it's racist.

DownbytheRiverside · 26/10/2011 09:06

Ask them to change the name then, I have a class book for serious incidents that need a written record. It's just called the class incident book and is orange.

hocuspontas · 26/10/2011 09:06

Well it could just be the colour of the book. We had a black book at school and then we had a red book. My children had a blue book.

Original poster
noonar · 26/10/2011 09:09

fuckity, with a name like yours, i wouldn't expect you to pick up on subtleties Grin

i didn't say it was racist.

OP posts:
Eyelasher · 26/10/2011 09:09

are you sure the teacher has called it the black book?

Original poster
noonar · 26/10/2011 09:11

thanks for your views.... anyone else.

the thing is, it may well 'just be the colour of the book', but i feel the school should be aware of the possible connotations.

OP posts:
fuckityfuckfuckfuck · 26/10/2011 09:11

Noonar, you have implied that you think it's racist. Otherwise, what's the problem? It's a BLACK book. Hence it's name.

DownbytheRiverside · 26/10/2011 09:11

'i was totally shocked that the school thinks it's ok to have such a negative connotation attached to the word 'black'. this was esp noticeable to me, as dd's friend is black. '

I read that as you feeling that it was an inappropriate and racist description. But then, I taught in Brent for a few years in the 80s.

fuckityfuckfuckfuck · 26/10/2011 09:12

Well now you say the colour has connotations. So if you're not hinting at racism then what's the problem? Confused

DownbytheRiverside · 26/10/2011 09:12

www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/199800.html

ChunkyPickle · 26/10/2011 09:13

If you're not suggesting it's racist, then where's the problem with it being a black book?

Do we have to worry about it being a green book? Or a blue book? Should we be careful about attaching negative connotations to any colour?

I really think that you're over-thinking this - I don't think it would occur to any child to associate the things.

Plus, it probably is just the actual colour of the book..

Original poster
noonar · 26/10/2011 09:17

ok, let me clarify. i think it could be perceived as having a racial connotation and therefore an example of very poor judgement on the school's part. BUT, i am sure that this was not the school's intention.

i am shocked that the school is not more aware but don't believe that they are deliberately trying to be institutionally racist.

sorry if unclear in op:
BUT:
i am not so much saying 'gosh look at this racist school' but saying 'gosh i can't believe the school could not be aware of this racist connotation '

sorry repeating myself

OP posts:
LemonPeel · 26/10/2011 09:21

black book - racist????

I have heard it all now.l

What else do you call an object which is black

A dark book? Should we just do away with the colour black, just incase it is offensive so someone. Then of course we could move on to the colour brown being racist, followed by yellow.

With fuckity here

mrsruffallo · 26/10/2011 09:22

It's the colour of the book. It's silly to read anymore into it.

mummytime · 26/10/2011 09:23

Okay I am shocked a) that they write down the names of miscreants as a form of punishment, it sounds positively dark ages. b) that by calling it a "black book" they are subtly re-enforcing a hidden assumption that black=bad, if it was called any other colour it would not be re-enforcing stereotypes, and if it was called "white" it would be challenging them.
Basically the school seems to have need of some re-educating.

Eyelasher · 26/10/2011 09:24

i get both sides

imo its careless and unnecesary to equate bad ness with black.
there are SO many other things to call it and id CHECK the school call it that first

Eyelasher · 26/10/2011 09:25

i think you lot being dismissive need to think on a bit

I normally think these kind of daily mail related urban myths are silly but these are LITTLE children who are getting the idea that bad is black.

my dad had a black book for us in the 70s ( was kind of jokey as it didnt exist) but you dont need this nowadays

LemonPeel · 26/10/2011 09:27

Far Far too much overthingkinggoing on here.

It is a book, It is not a person,
It is black in colour. It is the book which is black in colour. Not talking about a black person ffs

I mightstart taking offence to the whiteboard. How dar anyone associate me with something you can scribble over.

ffs does it seem daft now?

DownbytheRiverside · 26/10/2011 09:27

'Okay I am shocked a) that they write down the names of miscreants as a form of punishment, it sounds positively dark ages.'

You have no idea if it is just a list of names of Bad Children or a series of incident reports to track and monitor the actions of individuals breaking the rules and the background to incidents. It can be very useful to track patterns and identify issues such as bullying without trying to remember something accurately from two weeks ago from memory.

Original poster
noonar · 26/10/2011 09:28

is there anyone on MN who is black who would like to comment?

you see the point here is that yes, some of you may think it is political correctness/ overthinking it etc etc.

however, schools are precisely the sort of institutions that need to be politically correct as they have a high level of social responsibility.

you know, i'm not at all shocked that the average MN ' (wo)man in the street' finds this fine. my FIL would also find it fine Grin. it shocks me, though, that a SCHOOL thinks this is a non issue.

OP posts:
Eyelasher · 26/10/2011 09:28

no but a whiteboard is descriptive of the colour of the board only
this is a Book ( or not) that LINKS black to bad behaviour

DownbytheRiverside · 26/10/2011 09:28

We didn't call them blackboards in Brent, they were chalkboards. Yes, we did use chalk. Yes the boards were black.

Eyelasher · 26/10/2011 09:29

i agree

i am white. I never normally agree with these things, but think that a school should be more careful.

Eyelasher · 26/10/2011 09:29

the white baord black board thing is irrelevant.

that has no pejorative link.