Britain’s newspapers, pointing this week to a rise in the number of children being sent home from school due to alleged ‘racist behaviour,’ would have their declining readerships believe there is a real problem with child racism.
But critical commentators have highlighted that some of those children being suspended are as young as four, and that even in cases involving older pupils, the problem often lies more with the teachers themselves.
More than 15,000 suspensions for ‘racism’ took place last year, compared to 7,400 in 2021—a more than 100% increase. Almost 2,500 of the 2024 suspensions related to children at primary school, attended by those aged four to 11.
Responding to reports, Georgina Mumford wrote in Spiked that “schoolchildren, some of them very young, are being treated as if they are adults.”
Their often clumsy use of a language they’re still learning is interpreted as carrying a clear and malicious intent.
She added that while some of the reported incidents were genuinely concerning, “teachers and the broader education establishment share much of the blame for this cynical interpretation of children’s interactions” because “too many now entering the profession tend to prioritise so-called social justice over learning.”
Christopher McGovern, who is chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said there should be “zero tolerance of racist behaviour” in secondary schools, but then appeared to contradict himself by adding that teachers “must not … act as ‘thought police’ and pursue witch hunts against pupils who say something in error or without thinking,” which will likely almost always be the case.
Reports late last year even showed that police have been treating fairly standard classroom jibes as “non-crime hate incidents” (NCHIs).
A freedom of information request revealed that one nine-year-old child was recorded by officers for calling a primary school classmate a “retard.” Two secondary school girls also had NCHIs recorded against their names after saying another pupil smelt “like fish.”
Chris Zarraga, director of the campaign group Schools North East, said that children are now especially struggling with socialisation thanks to government-imposed lockdowns.
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