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Sunday, Nov 29 2009 This
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Schoolgirl arrested for refusing to study with non-English pupils

Last updated at 10:27 13 October 2006

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Codie Stott: The 14-year-old schoolgirl was arrested for
racism and spent three-and-a-half hours in police custody

A teenage schoolgirl was arrested by police for racism after refusing to sit
with a group of Asian students because some of them did not speak English.

Codie Stott's family claim she was forced to spend three-and-a-half hours in
a police cell after she was reported by her teachers.

See also
English
schoolgirl sues Scottish council over 'racist bullying'

The 14-year-old - who was released without charge - said it had been a simple
matter of commonsense and accused the school and police of an over-the-top
reaction.

The incident happened in the same local education authority where a
ten-year-old boy was prosecuted earlier this year for calling a schoolfriend
racist names in the playground, a move branded by a judge "political correctness
gone mad."

Codie was attending a GCSE science class at Harrop Fold High School in
Worsley, Greater Manchester, when the incident happened.

The teenager had not been in school the day before due to a hospital
appointment and had missed the start of a project, so the teacher allocated her
a group to sit with.

"She said I had to sit there with five Asian pupils," said Codie
yesterday.

"Only one could speak English, so she had to tell that one what to do so she
could explain in their language. Then she sat me with them and said
'Discuss'."

According to Codie, the five - four boys and a girl - then began talking in a
language she didn't understand, thought to be Urdu, so she went to speak to the
teacher.

"I said 'I'm not being funny, but can I change groups because I can't
understand them?' But she started shouting and screaming, saying 'It's racist,
you're going to get done by the police'."

Codie said she went outside to calm down where another teacher found her and,
after speaking to her class teacher, put her in isolation for the rest of the
day.

A complaint was made to a police officer based full-time at the school, and
more than a week after the incident on September 26 she was taken to Swinton
police station and placed under arrest.

"They told me to take my laces out of my shoes and remove my jewellery, and I
had my fingerprints and photograph taken," said Codie. "It was awful."

After questioning on suspicion of committing a section five racial public
order offence, her mother Nicola says she was placed in a bare cell for
three-and-a-half hours then released without charge.

She only returned to lessons this week and has been put in a different
science class.

Yesterday Miss Stott, 37, a cleaner, said: "Codie was not being racist." "The
reaction from the school and police is totally over the top and I am furious my
daughter had to go through this trauma when all she was saying was common sense.
"

"She'd have been better off not saying anything and getting into trouble for
not being able to do the work."

Miss Stott, who is separated from Codie and her 18-year-old brother Ashley's
father, lives with her partner Keith Seanor, a 36-year-old cable layer, in
Walkden.

School insiders acknowledge that at least three of the students Codie refused
to sit with had recently arrived in this country and spoke little English.

But they say her comments afterwards raised further concerns, for example
allegedly referring to the students as "blacks" - something she denied
yesterday.

The school is now investigating exactly what happened before deciding what
action - if any - to take against Codie.

Headteacher Dr Antony Edkins said: "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 new to the country."

"We aim to ensure a caring and tolerant attitude towards people and pupils of
all ethnic backgrounds and will not stand for racism in any form."

Fewer than two per cent of pupils at Harrop Fold come from an ethnic
minority.

It had the worst GCSE results in the entire Salford LEA last year with just
15 per cent of pupils achieving five good passes including English and maths, a
third of the national average.

Since being placed in special measures, Ofsted inspectors say it has
improved, not least as a result of Dr Edkins's "outstanding" leadership.

Salford was at the centre of a storm last April after a ten-year-old boy was
hauled before a court for allegedly calling an 11-year-old mixed race pupil a
'Paki' and 'Bin Laden' in a playground argument at a primary school in
Irlam.

When the case came before District Judge Jonathan Finestein he said the
decision to prosecute showed "how stupid the whole system is getting".

But was himself fiercely attacked by teaching union leaders for "feeding a
pernicious agenda" that aided the BNP.

The prosecution was eventually dropped.

Last night Robert Whelan, deputy director of the Civitas think-tank, said:
"It's obviously common sense that pupils who don't speak English cause problems
for other pupils and for teachers."

"I'm sure this sort of thing happens all the time, but it's a sad reflection
on the school if they can't deal with it without involving the police."

"A lot of these arrests don't result in prosecutions - they aim is to
frighten us into self-censorship until we watch everything we say."

Greater Manchester Police denied Codie had been kept in a cell but would not
comment further.

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Comments (37)

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not debate this issue live on
our message boards.

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Regarding Willam Owen's comment made just above, the use
of full-time police officers in high schools is very common. A high school
student myself, the officer situated in my school is used fairly often. Carrying
a gun and everything, he's often needed to bust up the numerous drug deals that
take place. This isn't just in my school though. This is a common trend I've
seen at every high school I've been to.

- Bryce, Canada, 18/10/2006 02:22

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Rating   13

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abuse

What kind of school is this that it needs a Police Officer
to be based there? We need to know more about the true state of our schools.
This incident again seems to reflect the kind of Britain that this Labour
Government has spawned.

- William Owen, Cardiff Wales., 13/10/2006 02:05

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Rating   15

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abuse

Is the entire universe going crazy, or just the
"civilized" Western world?

Just as there is no legitimate place in
humanity for racism and other social evils, neither is there a logical place for
the kind of idiocy that promotes mere "political correctness" as a remedy for
racism, etc. People need "human" correctness, the kind of thing the Bible refers
to as "love" for your neighbor. Policital correctness doesn't promote social
love; it is only a fabricated attempt to avoid the appearance of racism.
Political correctness be screwed, along with mindless adherence to its
precepts.

- Gregory Curtis Trotter, Sacramento (California) USA,
13/10/2006 02:02

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rate

Rating   18

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I think I would question the teacher's motives here. She
certainly doesn't appear to have used her common sense, but then, does anyone
these days?

- Avril Hassett, Guelph, Canada, 13/10/2006 01:57

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rate

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Wow, I'm aware the UK has become liberal, but I cannot
believe how far to the left the country has lurched. This is truly political
correctness run amok. Like the saying goes "Liberals out of power are hilarious,
but liberals in power are dangerous". The reason being that when out of power we
can laugh at their outrageous ideas and beliefs, but once they are in power they
actually can enact those beliefs.

- Andrew, Springfield MA, USA, 13/10/2006 01:56

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Rating   10

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Poor Codie. What will be her future opinion of teachers
and racial groups? Teachers are supposed to be mentors not power-mad
politicians. And what were the police thinking about when they decided to
intervene? This is political correctness gone mad.

Why did the teacher
put the Asian children together in one group? Because it was common sense to do
so. But surely this is an equally racist action, so has the teacher been
reprimanded also? Seems there is one rule for the teacher and another one for
the pupil. No wonder the school has a poor GCE record, it's a reflection of the
poor standard of teaching.

- Graham, Nanning China, 13/10/2006 01:52

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Rating   22

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