Children in Scotland project co-ordinator Selma Rahman said that young people attending its conference, Equal Futures 2003, expressed the view that problems with racial prejudice started at an early age, even before school.
Research by Children in Scotland found that 85 per cent of non-white primary and secondary children had witnessed verbal racial abuse, 77 per cent had experienced verbal abuse and 69 per cent had experienced physical racial abuse.
Early years practitioners should not hesitate to tackle such abuse, said Ms Rahman. She said, 'Vigilance at a younger age range is so vital. Even at that age it's necessary to challenge racial abuse. There is almost a paralysis that sets in. Teachers worry, "Am I being too politically correct?" or say, "This is only a small child, what do they know about racism?".
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