Racism Is Happening Among Nursery Age Kids. We Cannot Ignore It

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 doesn’t seem to happen when racist incidents occur in nurseries.

“For clarity: you are not labelling a child racist. You are naming the behaviour and language used as racist and this matters when we are talking about embedding a culture of belonging and value in an early years setting,” she explained on social media. 

“In my experience, many white early years educators are so uncomfortable with the word ‘racism’, that they bury their heads in the sand and when racist comments are made, they’re often dismissed as ‘not nice’ instead of being named as racist.

“This minimisation doesn’t protect any of the children, it reinforces harm. Silence as a response is equally as harmful because children can interpret this as permission.”

As much as it’s important for nursery workers to be tackling racism when it happens, it’s also down to parents to put in the work. 

If your child says or does something racist, it might feel deeply upsetting, but it’s important to not brush it under the carpet. 

Pemberton urges parents to: 

• Re-examine the home environment: Take an honest look at what your child might be overhearing or absorbing from conversations among adults, media you watch together, or comments made by extended family or friends. Children pick up far more than we realise.
• Be honest with yourself: Reflect on your own beliefs and biases. Are there attitudes, jokes, or stereotypes you may be reinforcing? It’s uncomfortable, but necessary work. Children are not born racist; they learn it from the world around them, starting at home.
• Take responsibility as the adult: It’s your job to guide your child’s understanding of difference, respect, and kindness. Don’t dismiss the comment as “kids being kids.” Have age-appropriate conversations about why what they said was hurtful, teach them how to apologise sincerely, and make clear that these views and words are unacceptable.

If the child is under four, she suggested you could say something like: “That comment has made [child’s name] feel really sad. That’s your friend! It’s not OK to say that about someone’s skin colour, do you understand?”

You can also explain what racism is, in an age-appropriate way. Pemberton offered the example of: “Racism is when someone is treated unfairly because of their skin colour or where they come from. When people say mean things, don’t let others play, or treat them like they don’t belong, that’s not OK.”

Anti-racist parenting at home

Whether a child has displayed racist behaviour or not, parents might also find it helpful to broaden the books, toys and TV shows in their homes, so their children are seeing characters from a range of backgrounds. As author and activist Christine Platt wrote for Mother Mag: “Storytelling is one of the easiest and accessible approaches for teaching race, equity, diversity, and inclusion.”

In a report on raising anti-racist children, by Mattel, the authors suggest reading books which address racism, but also feature protagonists of different races; and urge parents to convey positivity and excitement about difference; and network and build relationships with a diverse mix of parents and carers.

Between the ages of 3-6 years old, the report also recommends leaning into fairness and working on building empathy.

“Role play is the most effective way to teach this; playing out stories with dolls and figures, dressing up and becoming different people are all play patterns which help children strengthen their empathy skills,” the authors add.