There has been a “noticeable increase” in the use of racist language used by white children, according to an early years education consultant.

Liz Pemberton, who delivers anti-racist training and works closely with local authorities, early years organisations and primary school teachers, told HuffPost UK that racism among young children is “becoming more and more frequent”.

“Concerns that I have coming in from educators in nurseries and primary schools have been about there being a noticeable increase in the use of racist language used by white children directed at children from the global majority,” she said.

Typically, early years settings don’t educate kids around racism specifically, instead focusing on respect and kindness.

But there is an issue, warned Pemberton, where some educators are not secure in their understanding of what constitutes racist behaviour, or they’re not addressing such behaviour and challenging it when it happens.

What to do when a child displays racist behaviour

In a post on Instagram, Pemberton – who runs consultancy firm The Black Nursery Manager – said early years educators are often taught to separate the behaviour from the child. This is all about “viewing a child’s behaviours as actions they do, rather than as reflections of who they are”, explains Heritage Counselling.

But the anti-racism trainer said from what she’s seeing, this........

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