[Cancerian Moon]

There's a boy in my daughter's prep class, he's lovely and his mum is also, I'm good friends with her and chat to her most days.

She's from an Italian background (I think) and is quite olive-skinned, as is her son. Today before school he came up to play with my daughter, but two boys that he had been playing with followed him shouting "Hey Bobo! You're it!"

I live in quite a 'white-bread' area, not terribly multicultural but not totally redneck either. I wouldn't have expected this and I'm quite shocked. Unless I have got it wrong about the meaning of 'Bobo'.

Because the boy had left the game I thought that perhaps he was unhappy about being nicknamed like that, although he's quite a cool kid who's not easily rattled.

Question is, do you think I should tell his mother/the teacher/school admin or leave it to him to tell his mum if he wants to? I don't know who the other boys were, so can't report them specifically.

[Mumma_G]

I would mention it to the teacher. In my experience it is very rare that children of that age even notice skin colour let alone comment on it, unless it is something they have heard somewhere else and even then they dont really understand what they are saying.

[akkiandmalli]

What does Bobo mean?I wouldnt have thought it was racist..
when i hear that i think this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobobo
lol my ex loved Manga!

[Jenflea]

What on earth does Bobo mean? I've never heard of it, let alone as a racist slur.

[Lyra]

I would mention it to the teacher. In my experience it is very rare that children of that age even notice skin colour let alone comment on it, unless it is something they have heard somewhere else and even then they dont really understand what they are saying.

I had a yard duty the other day where one grade three student called another grade three student the N word The irony was the name caller was from a Middle-Eastern background so was hardly pale in colour

I have never heard Bobo used as a racist term. When I think Bobo I think clown

[Cancerian Moon]

What does Bobo mean?I wouldnt have thought it was racist..
when i hear that i think this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobobo
lol my ex loved Manga!

It's a term for an African person that was quite common some decades ago, you don't hear it much now...that's why I'm not sure.

[mpjp]

the word 'dodo' is big at our school - dodo as in 'you fool'! Sure it wasn't that?

[Sinister Bonnet]

Never heard of it as a racist term and google doesn't have any reference to it as a racist slang term.

[Cancerian Moon]

No, it wasn't dodo.

[MrsBouquet]

Could it just be a nickname the kids are using?

I've never heard this word used as a racist word either.

If you are friendly with the mum maybe mention it to her so she could ask her kid about it.