Teachers are being forced to report children as young as three to the authorities for using alleged 'racist' language, it 's been claimed.
Munira Mirza, a senior advisor to London Mayor Boris Johnson, said schools were being made to spy on nursery age youngsters by the Race Relations Act 2000.
Writing in Prospect magazine, she said: 'The more we seek to measure racism, the more it seems to grow.
'Teachers are now required to report incidents of racist abuse among children as young as three to local authorities, resulting in a massive increase of cases and reinforcing the perception that we need an army of experts to manage race relations from cradle to grave.
'Does this heightened awareness of racism help to stamp it out? Quite the opposite. It creates a climate of suspicion and anxiety.'
The Act compelled 43,000 public authorities, including schools and churches, 'to promote good relations between persons of different racial groups'. Details of the incidents are logged on databases.
Teachers are allowed to report racism even if the alleged 'victim' was not offended or if the child does not understand what they were saying.
Freedom of Information replies obtained by civil liberties group the Manifesto Club show that between 2002 and 2009, 280,000 incidents have been reported.
What do you think? Do children even notice colour differences at three years old?
Is this a classic case of good intentions causing more harm than good?