Pupils being left in tears after having their hijabs pulled off and being called "monkey" are among the shocking racist incidents uncovered at schools in Wales. The incidents are among many reported by children during an investigation into racism in secondaries.
Incidents include a Muslim girl having her hijab pulled off at school, leaving her in tears, while another was told “you’re hiding a bomb in your scarf”. Pupils also reported being called “monkey”, “cotton picker” and other racist slurs and said the n-word is ‘normalised’ in schools while another incident involved stones and rocks being thrown at a pupil.
The examples are just some in a long list detailed in a new report into racism in secondaries in Wales from Children’s Commissioner Rocio Cifuentes. Ms Cifuentes and her team spoke to 170 pupils from across Wales as well as school leaders, to compile the report.
Students told the commissioner that racism is often passed off as ‘banter’ at school, that they felt staff are not equipped to tackle it and “nothing gets done” when it is reported. Racism also spreads in and out of the classroom on social media.
The attack in north Wales is not described in detail and does not name the school it happened at but the report says: “One incident of rocks and stones being thrown at students was also disclosed. We also heard examples of ongoing racist bullying happening outside of school or on the way home from school, with students having to leave school early to avoid being followed home. These children described feeling sad and scared about the situation.”
In another case in another part of Wales pupils told the commissioner about “a very racist incident” with another school which began on a the social media platform WhatsApp. Racist messages using slurs such as “terrorist” and “Nazi” were used, which escalated to the point that and police were contacted, but the students involved felt that their school, when told, did not take it seriously enough.
