You may have seen the news about protests and demonstrations taking place around the globe in recent weeks and people talking about removing old statues and it's likely you've heard the word 'racism' a lot recently.

Racism is where someone treats another person differently because their skin colour is not the same as theirs, they speak a different language or have different religious beliefs, for example.

Racism can be most simply understood as someone behaving differently to another person based on the colour of their skin or culture.

Some people are picked on because they look different or speak a different language.

Some people wear certain styles of clothing because of their religion and may get bullied because of this.

Many grown-ups are realising they need to listen, understand and educate themselves about racism. This short video from the Blue Peter team excellently shows how more adults are now sharing their stories, and more adults are now listening carefully to understand what needs to change.  

You may know that we have rules in school about racism and our British Values Statement is centred around tolerance and respect. There is no place for racism at school, or anywhere else.

You can find more information about racism on the CBBC Newsround website. 

If you need to talk to someone about how this subject may have affected you, if you can't speak to a trusted adult at home you can always call or live-chat with childline for help and support. You can also look through some of the letters written to childline using their "Ask Sam" online letter writing service - and read the replies from childline. In this letter, this person feels really guilty about their past racist behaviour, and this one shows just how horrible people can be sometimes. 

Together, we are better and stronger, constantly learning from mistakes of the past and all learning together for a better, fairer future for everyone. 

 "I have a dream that one day my children will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character."
(Martin Luther King)