• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

School Pupils Told to Report Racists

Posted on: Monday, 13 February 2006, 09:01 CST

By MOIRA SHARKEY South Wales Echo

Pupils are being urged to report racists as the number of attacks in schools fell in the last year. Concerns have been raised that an overall decline in the number of racist incidents recorded in schools in Cardiff, was due to under-reporting by pupils rather than a real reduction in attacks. Education chiefs are now calling for refresher courses for staff who monitor racism, for more training for school secretaries who record the incidents and an upgrade of the electronic system used to compile the information. They are also looking for a way of finding out youngsters' views of racism. There was a total of 150 incidents in the capital in the last school year, almost 100 less than the previous year. This included 55 in secondary schools and 90 in primary schools sparking fears that many victims were not telling their teachers of the abuse

. The majority of incidents related to name-calling, insults, racist jokes and language. As anecdotal evidence suggests incidents would be more common in secondary schools, council chiefs are now calling for schools to share good practice and encourage children to speak out against racists. Schools in Cardiff have been recording racist incidents since 2002 following guidance issued after the Stephen Lawrence inquiry. Corporate director, Steven Phillips, said: 'Research into bullying in general would suggest the number of incidents in a secondary would be expected to be as high or higher than in primary. 'The continued low number of incidents reported by secondary schools suggest there may be under-reporting by pupils.' Incidents affecting members of staff are dealt with separately. Executive member for education councillor Bill Kelloway said: 'When the proposals were first introduced schools made pupils really aware of the importance of reporting any incident. The figures show there was a reduction in incidents in the last year. This could either be due to under-reporting or due to a real reduction. 'I think some pupils are not as aware as they were in 2002. I think schools should be working to raise the levels of awareness again.': LESS REPORTS MADE:The main findings of the Racist Incidents in Schools report for Cardiff were: There was a decline in the number of incidents reported by primary schools in 2004 to 2005 as compared to the previous years. The continued low number of incidents reported by secondary schools suggests under-reporting by pupils. Boys are consistently more likely to be involved in racist incidents. The number of incidents in special schools is small and decreasing, 11 in 2003 to 2004 and five in 2004 to 2005.

Source: South Wales Echo

More News in this Category