British schools are creating ‘hate registers’ to monitor boys and girls who might be accused of what used to be called schoolyard banter but is now considered “homophobic.” And the British government could soon make such lists mandatory.

Consider the case of Peter Drury. The 10-year-old was messing around with a friend and allegedly called him a “gay boy.” Peter’s mother was called to the school and was told her child would be placed on a registry and his behavior would be monitored throughout his academic career.

“He doesn’t even understand about the birds and the bees, so how can he be a homophobic?” Penny Drury told The Daily Express. “Peter is a very naïve boy who didn’t know what he was doing and is now very upset that he is in trouble.”

While a number of British school keep records of racist, homophobic or anti-disability bullying, it isn’t mandatory – but that could change later this year. The government is considering a plan to make it a “statutory duty” for all schools to register incidents and for local police to maintain a database.

One British civil liberties group said as many as 40,000 children have had racist charges added to their school records.

One children’s advocacy group, Kidscape, expressed grave concern over the report. “Children are being criminalized and singled out from a very early age when they don’t know what they are doing,” spokesman Micele Elliott told the newspaper.

The question on this side of the pond – when or if such registries and databases will be kept in American schools.

Todd Starnes is a reporter for FOX News Radio and a best-selling author. Click here to purchase a copy of his most recent book.