A survey of almost 6,000 children aged 10 to 16 by charity Show Racism the Red Card (SRTRC) found that negative attitudes towards migrants and Muslims were widespread among school pupils in the UK.
The data, based on questionnaires sent to more than 60 schools across the UK, also found that 60 per cent of children questioned believed that “Muslims are taking over our country”. The Muslim population in schools is a much higher percentage than in the general population, because of their high birth rate, says Ged Grabby.
“This survey shows that this is fuelled by a totally distorted view of the number of immigrants and Muslims living in the UK,” he told The Guardian.
41 per cent of children did not think that “Muslims are taking over England” and just under half (47 per cent) thought that relations between Muslims and non-Muslims were poor and 30% thinks Muslims are taking their jobs.
The survey’s results come shortly after Labour MP Tristam Hunt’s embarrassing encounter with a schoolchild, who told the shadow education minister that he would vote Ukip because he would “like to get all the foreigners out of the country”.
SRTRC chief executive Ged Grabby said the results demonstrated more needed to be done to combat far-right extremism and cautioned what message younger people were taking from the media.
But Dr Paul Jackson from the University of Northampton, who also worked on the research project, was pessimistic – despite acknowledging some young peoples’ “gap between the reality and perception on issues”.
He said: “The subsequent levels of hostility towards these groups is very worrying and is something that we, as a society, need to take seriously.”