Teachers are branding thousands of children racist or homophobic following playground squabbles.
More than 20,000 pupils aged 11 or younger were last year put on record for so-called hate crimes such as using the word ‘gaylord’.
Some of them are even from nursery schools where children are no older than three.
One youngster was accused of being racist for calling a boy ‘broccoli head’ and another was said to be homophobic for telling a teacher ‘this work is gay’.
Two primary school children were reported for homophobia after quarrelling over a rubber and calling each other ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’.
Those youngsters reported for petty offences at nursery classes included four in the London borough of Tower Hamlets and three in Hertfordshire.
Schools are forced to report the language to education authorities, which keep a register of incidents.
Although the Department for Education recently pledged to cut unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy, it has given no guidance on such ‘offences’.
In total, 34,000 nursery, primary and secondary pupils were effectively classed as bigots because of anti-bullying rules.
Couldn’t happen here you say?
