'˜Third of Scots children' have experienced racism, warns charity

Nicola Hay, left, blames Brexit for the hardening of racist views. Picture: Contributed

The charity, which delivers anti-racism education, says 37 per cent of youngsters say they have been targeted – up 19 per cent from last year.

Experiences detailed in the study included racial insults, with one child being told they should not wear a kilt because they were not white.

Nicola Hay, the charity’s campaign manager, said  Brexit and poverty were  factors in the rise in incidents.

She said: “The figures sadly indicate a notable rise in young people’s experiences of racism. It’s likely that the spike in racist experiences is a result of Brexit almost legitimising racist and xenophobic views.

“In addition to this, people living on the poverty line are likely to blame migrants. However, we are losing more jobs to automation than migration.”

Ude Adigwe, regional  organiser for the union GMB Scotland, who experienced racism in Scotland’s education system, said: “The irony is that, as a child growing into adolescence and then into my adult years, I have always been in love with the inclusive  sentiments encapsulated by the wonderful old Scottish proverb, ‘We are all Jock  Tamson’s bairns’.

“Given these depressing figures, it seems that not all bairns are welcome in the land of Jock Tamson.”