My son got in trouble at school – for making a (sort of) religious joke…

Poly +1

I recall receiving detention for saying “Damn!” in my RE class. I wrote a few hundred times: “I will not swear in class”. I did not realise it was a swear word. My parents were cool about the detention. Hey ho and no harm done.

Your son cracks a religious joke and gets made to look up what he was actually making fun of as a “punishment”.
This is bad how?

100% agree with Hora
kids these days need to KTFU

Yes, Poly, very well summarised. Obviously it was not a “racist” joke (I’m sure you didn’t mean that it was). I’d be surprised if he’d managed to develop any racist leanings at such a young age. He once, said “That man’s black” very loudly in a supermarket, but I think he was just stating a fact, like 3 year old’s do.

Fourbanger – he wasn’t making fun of anybody.

I’ll go home, slap him round the head and tell him to KTFU.

All input much appreciated 🙂

Right back in the warm at a computer, not freezing on site fumbling with an iphone.
I hope they deal with this in a better way than my sons school dealt with him.
Polly might recall this. My son aged 10 said to a black lad (the only black boy in the school)who was irritatingly play fighting my son ‘who do you think you are, blacky Chan?’
Whoop whoop whoop, red alert, defcon one, shut down, no one leave the building. My son was hauled to the headmistresses office by a dinner lady.
Long and short of it was he was expelled.
The kids parents wanted more done, though God knows what.
He was branded a racist.
He couldn’t play for his football club.
Friends were suddenly not allowed to our home.
I had meetings with the school and I let my feelings known. IMO they had no experience of dealing with racial issues.
You see my son and daughter are the only white kids in our extended family. He’s cousin tags himself as ‘Blacky Chan’ on facebook ect and is known as that by his friends.
Yes my lad used it as a put down, but it was ironic statement because the name is used to call kids who are ‘a bit handy’
I tried to get the schools representatives to look it up, it’s every wherein modern culture.
Anyway, the point is school was to quick to over react and the part time staff i.e dinner ladies did not keep it confidential, by that afternoon we were getting calls and visits from concerned/nosey parents.
I finally spoke to the parents of the lad, and I got it through to them that he wasn’t a racist, but he was overly confident in relationships with black kids, and unaware that you can’t be familiar with those you don’t know.
The stigma lasted about two years and he is very good friends with the lad now.

I hope they deal with this in a better way than my sons school dealt with him

Yep, I reckon they have!

Obviously it was not a “racist” joke

+1 for that. People have taken leave of their senses if they think the joke was racsit.

Long and short of it was he was expelled.

Are you serious?

Much as I hate this, but TJ is bang on.

TandemJeremy – Member

Sounds a bit odd ( the teacher making such a point)but are you risking making a mountain out of a molehill yourself?

YOu be chilled about it a

I called my maths teacher a slut…well technically I wrote in on my pencil case.

I had to write a short explanation of what I thought a ‘slut’ was…that got me in more trouble, and I kind of think they wished they hadn’t asked.

On a related note, I drew an enormous penis on my friends geography folder, and the teacher saw it. I got called to the headmasters office for that one, i then got shouted at when he asked my “what the hell is this”, and i told him it was a penis. He said, “don’t you get funny with me boy”, that confused me a bit.

The seats outside his office used to make farting noises when you sat on them…why have seats like that if you’re going to shout at me for sitting up and down on them.

The moral of my rambling, is that teachers don’t really know what they’re doing when it comes to discipline, and are too worried about following ‘the rules’. Nowadays anything related to racism will be jumped on and the school will be too worried about ‘doing the right thing’ rather than doing the sensible thing.

are you risking making a mountain out of a molehill yourself?

Yes, that is a risk – but my potential over-reaction is purely because of the religious aspect of it. The (as has been discussed in great length on here) reglious’ “right to be offended”.
I’m certainly not going to take it any further if, once he’s delivered his “A red dot on an Asian lady’s forehead is called a Bindi, Miss. It is a decorative item, although in the past had religious connotations in the Hindu religion. Miss” speech, the issue is closed.

Send him to school with the idea the 3 wise men brought gold, frankincense and no more nails as presents. They’ll soon forget about the Hindu remark. 😉

LOL@ doug

Maybe, just maybe the ‘rules’ are getting in the way of discipline?

Tell your kid to check what it means and the importance of it. Just in case.
Tell the teacher to shut the trap and concentrate on teaching instead of raising your kid.
Write to the head complaining about your kid being victimised by the teacher.
OR
Go face-to-face with the teacher, tell them they’re an idiot and should get laid as their lack of sex in life affects the quality of their work.

Is that before or after I’ve done my Bikeability course?

Oh how I long for the day when you didn’t tell your parents when you’d had a bollocking at school for fear of what the old fella would do when he found out…

So OP how about just trusting the teachers judgement rather than assuming that he/she is some politcally correct paedophile predating on the innocents? Or is it too much to presume that anything born of your seed may indeed have done something warranting a minor disciplinary?

I’d counsel being chilled about it too.

EDIT: Somewhere between “chilled” and BermBandit 🙂

Is that before or after I’ve done my Bikeability course?

NOW!

That’s a really sad story oldgit, I one which I struggle to believe (although I’m sure it’s true) It just makes me think how lucky it is that I am not at school now………I would be in even worst trouble than I was 😯

Love the “blacky Chan” put down btw…….got to try and remember that one 😀

Best post so far! Thanks for the laugh Berm Bandit 😆

I remember back when the Spice Girls were ‘popular’ that they were used to highlight the difference between a racist joke and a joke that was predicated on race but not racist (I think it was in response to Mrs. Winterton’s telling of a racist joke at a dinner party).

The person making the point (this was on Radio 4 IIRC) simply told the following joke to illustrate a joke that used race without being racist.

Q. What do you call four dogs and a black bird?

A. The Spice Girls

I still find that funny but I may now get banned……..

You sound a bit more chilled already, out of interest where is this school. I only ask because I don’t think my kid would have gone through that in the areas my wife and I schooled – London and Leeds.
I did blame them for their Beds/Bucks and Herts middle class overly PC niceness. Whilst all the time aware they probably thought I was the local BNP candidate 😕

When I was at primary school I was in a group of friends, one lad was black. We were in class next to the teacher in a line when my black friend during some 8 year old banter called me and another White lad “White basterdz” my White friend replied calling him “black basterd” it was all very funny till the teacher punished the White friend for racism. His parents had to visit school and he was made an example of. The black friend never got punished despite the teacher hearing his comment first. Were all still friends and laugh about it now. The teacher we learned (my mum was on the board of governers) was after a permanent job and tried to make a name for herself. Irresponsible.

It’s a shame he didn’t get asked “what’s a hindu?” Because the correct answer is, as any schoolboy should know, “lay eggs.”

I used to have a Teacher called Mr. Condon.

Did you ask if his first name was Johnny?

Oldgit.. Oh definitely more chilled. Even though this isn’t really “talking” to people, it has helped a hell of a lot. Not only to hear the different views, but to see the funny side too. Stw Therapy at it’s best. 😀 school is in Hampshire btw.

SIGHS!!

have you thought about cutting your sons tounge out? it’s always an option you white basterdz! from what I can tell he just sounds like an inquizitive little kid. that’s right A LITTLE KID. chill it out!

Why did your lad get so stressed about it?