The little Perth boy who dressed up as his football idol Nic Naitanui for a Book Week costume competition was too upset to go to school on Friday after a nation-wide backlash to his blackface.

The boy's mother told 7 News she didn't mean to cause any harm when she painted her son brown, and said the family are now too scared to leave their home.

View photos The boy's mother who posted his blackface image online. Source: 7News More

"We have been in tears and are too scared to leave the house," the mother said after copping a barrage of abuse across social media on Thursday.

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"I didn't know what blackface was until yesterday. I had to look it up."

The Gosnells mother had posted her son's photo to popular Perth blogger Constance Hall's wall where she claimed the costume was a "parenting win".

View photos Eagles star Nic Naitanui weighs into the controversy, saying education is the key. Source: 7News More

"I was a little worried about painting him (so many politically correct extremists these days)," she posted on Ms Hall's wall.

"He is pasty white and if I sent him in a wig and footy gear, no one would tell who he was.

"So I grew a set of balls and painted my boy brown and he looked fan****tastic."

View photos The boy dressed to look like his idol Nic Naitanui. Source: 7News More

The mother said her son won the best dressed parade, despite being told the idea was "horrible" by other parents.

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