Sorry to backtrack.
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Originally Posted by Xaccers
Not when the reporting is up to the news paper.
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Well you'd expect the
BBC to report the headmaster's comments fairly, wouldn't you? But they didn't quote him at all. He is also quoted more fully by the
Daily Mail although I expect the Mail's report is no more to your liking than the Manchester Evening News' is. Interestingly, we also learn from the BBC that Greater Manchester Police take "
hate crime reports very seriously and its treatment of the teenager was in line with normal procedure." That a 14 year old's comments led to her being arrested for a "hate crime" is depressing example of the political correctness affecting this country. Even if your preferred version of events is true, shouldn't this have been dealt with by a reasonable teacher or the headmaster alone? Did the school really need to involve the police?
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I'm sure he actually said more than "An allegation of a serious nature was made concerning a racially motivated remark by one student towards a group of Asian students new to the school and this country" in fact he probably said nothing of the sort. I know many people who've been misquoted by reporters to put a particular slant on the article, or to simply get across what
they're saying in a more concise manner. I also know of a complaint to the PCC regarding an article in a local Liverpool paper being upheld because the reporter had all his facts wrong making wild claims.
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I know of similar cases too, but no such claims have been brought against either newspaper over this particular issue. And Paul Dacre, editor of the Daily Mail, is a member of the PCC. Perhaps that doesn't say much for the PCC?
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Notice the girls are not reportedly interviewed, the only suggestion they can't speak English is from the chastised girl's mother, who is likely to be relying on her daughter's opinion of the girls and trying to defend her rather than first hand knowledge of the girls involved.
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Evidently you are actually prepared to believe that this 14 year old is both a liar and a racist, despite no claims to the contrary? Interesting.
Please clarify: If she had been honest, ie that she was expected to discuss a subject with a group of 5 others, only 1 of whom could speak English, do you think she acted reasonably in asking her teacher if she could change groups? (And the MEN did not report the discussion group children as being girls.)
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... There is no way that saying your child is not getting the education they are entitled to because the teacher is having to spend all their time with other kids can be seen as anything other than a valid concern by a decent parent, unless that parent uses racist terms during the discussion with the school, in which case the parent is being racist.
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Absolutely right. Unfortunately not all teachers regard the issue in such an eminently reasonable way.