Youth select committee highlights concerns over racist 'banter' in schools
Adam Offord
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Racism and religious discrimination has become so normalised among young people that many just see it as "banter", the youth select committee has warned.
An inquiry by the group found that some young people do not recognise taunting in schools as discrimination. It has called for teachers to receive more support to tackle and report incidents.??
The youth select committee, a British Youth Council initiative made up of 11 young people aged between 15 and 19, said young people are not confident in reporting incidents because racism and discrimination is hard to identify, has been normalised and there is "a lack of leadership from teachers".
Its report, launched on Wednesday evening at Portcullis House, says that dismissing racism and religious discrimination as banter is "not acceptable" and teachers need to lead the way in giving young people the confidence to understand what constitutes racism and discrimination. ??
The report calls for personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education to become a compulsory subject, with the issue of religious discrimination a part of the compulsory content.
??"We support calls from other committees, organisations and representatives of teachers that PSHE should be a compulsory subject in schools, with protected classroom time and statutory guidance," the report says.??
"We recommend that the government undertake a consultation within the next 12 months with teachers, representative teaching, faith, race and community organisations, parents and young people, on the teaching and content of PSHE, including whether young people should be required to sit a GCSE in PSHE.
"In the case that the government fails to provide schools with clear and definite PSHE syllabus guidance and leadership, local authorities should fill this role and establish local guidance, in consultation with local schools, on teaching PSHE." ??
The report adds that the government's Equalities Office should have a separate minister to work exclusively on the government's efforts to tackle discrimination, including racism and religious discrimination, and promoting equality and diversity. ?
?In addition, it says that local authorities should place a legal duty on schools to require them to record and report data on incidents of discrimination, and that an advisory group should be established, made up of government departments, local authorities, and service providers, as well as community, religious and race groups, and young people.
??Bronagh Hughes, 18, chair of the youth select committee, said: "Throughout our extensive inquiry into racism and religious discrimination, it became apparent to the committee that racism and religious discrimination remains prevalent in the lives of many young people living in the UK. ??
"We must ensure that this is high on the agenda for decision makers so that we can make positive steps to combat both racism and religious discrimination."
Tackling racism and discrimination was chosen as one of the top priorities of the UK Youth Parliament in a ballot of nearly 970,000 young people in 2015 and subsequently became the topic of focus for 2016. It was then highlighted as a priority again this year in poll of more than 978,000 young people.
