Viewers of the The School That Tried To End Racism are left sobbing as 11-year-old white boy breaks down in tears and flees the classroom after being separated from his non-white friends and asked to talk about ethnicity and privilege

Viewers of The School that Tried to End Racism were left in tears after an 11-year-old boy broke down and fled the classroom as he tried to talk about white privilege with his classmates.

Pupils in Year 7 at Glenthorne High School in South London were separated into ‘affinity groups’ of white and non-white students to discuss race and ethnicity during a three-week experiment in Channel 4’s new documentary The School That Tried to End Racism, which aired tonight at 9pm.    

The segregated affinity groups took place once a week, while 24 pupils aged 11 and 12 had further workshops and lessons together on white privilege and racial inequality throughout the programme.    

But Henry, 11, became emotional after being separated from his non-white friends during the first session and, upon being asked to share what he had learnt with the class, broke down in tears and fled the room.

Many of those watching the programme were left in tears over the scene, with one commenting: ‘Henry is an absolute gem, I’m tearing up seeing how upset he gets that he was put in a group based on his race.’