Group: British kids unfairly deemed racist

Published: Oct. 29, 2009 at 4:22 PM

LONDON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A civil liberties group said in a new report that each year, as much as 40,000 children in Britain are unfairly deemed racists at their schools.

The Manifesto Club civil liberties group said new stringent school regulations have resulted in children being punished for making racial insults that many of the young offenders likely do not understand, The Daily Mail reported Thursday.

"The obligation on schools to report these incidents wastes teachers' time, interferes in children's space in the playground, and undermines teachers' ability to deal with problems in their classrooms," said Adrian Hart, author of the report.

School officials, as part of new regulations instituted in 2002, are required to report all racist incidents to their local authority.

Since the implementation of those rules, nearly 280,000 incidents have been reported, the civil liberties group claims in its "The Myth of Racist Kids" report.

Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families Diana Johnson defended the practice.

"If racist bullying is not dealt with in schools, then this will send a powerful message to children that racism is acceptable -- not only in schools but in society as a whole," Johnson told the Daily Mail.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Internation ... 256847721/