Students as young as 8 years old were ordered to participate in a trip to “Explore Islam” or receive a permanent citation that they were “racists” in their school records.
Parents of children in Years Four to Six (equivalent to third to fifth graders in the American system) at the Littleton Green Community School in Staffordshire, Britain received a letter from the head teacher stating that, as part of the “National Religious Education Curriculum,” that the trip was mandatory.
Further, the letter informed the parents that “Refusal to allow your child to attend this trip will result in a Racial Discriminations note being attached to your child’s education record, which will remain on this file throughout their school career.”
In addition, the school wrote that, “All absences will be investigated for their credibility and will only be sanctioned with a GP sick note.”
The parents were also informed that they were required to pay five pounds ($8) for the trip.
The letter sparked outrage among the parents as well as generating unfavorable media coverage, causing the Stafford County Council to intervene.
The next day, the school’s Headmistress Lynn Small backed down and apologized for “inaccuracies” in the letter, asking parents to “disregard a section from the earlier letter.”
A council spokesman clarified that parents were allowed to choose whether or not to send their children on the trip while saying that it was important for children to learn about different cultures.
one community memeber was quoted as saying, “‘How dare they threaten to brand the children racist at such a young age? It’s going to make them feel like little criminals.”
Stacy Waldron, the parent of an eight-year-old student at the school who received the original letter, said: “I feel my child will be [seen as] racist if I don’t allow her to go. This is my choice, not hers, and she shouldn’t have to pay for it.”
South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson called the threat “bonkers” and “a very heavy-handed approach.”
