“Kids are born open-minded.”
Many people (including me) believed this for years. The idea was that a kid who was afraid of people who were different must be raised by bigots. That kids are naturally “color blind” and welcoming to all diversity.
Not true.
The child development research just doesn’t bear that out. Many kids are skeptical of new situations and new people. Many of us – and toddlers especially – fear change and difference. If we want to raise kids who are actually open-minded, actually interested in diversity? We have to actually teach them to do that.
Teach Kids Not to Hate?
It doesn’t sound like a fun weekend activity, or car ride conversation. That’s why it can be a layer of some fun activity, or other conversation. It just has to be intentional.
2 thoughts on “Kids and Racism – How to Teach them Not to Hate”
Excellent job explaining a topic that many won’t touch. It is a dis-service to parents and society to tell folks that children are color blind and do not show biases. I shared an example of an incident that happened in my family on my husbands blog because I wanted to push our readers to talk to their kids about differences. I wish this tape had been available at that time, as I did not have the hard evidence that you do.
If you are interested in reading my post which supports what you said in your video, you can find it at:
http://daddylibrium.com/talking-children-racism/
Thanks so much Julie! If you decide to write more or edit your old post to republish, please feel free to link to my video.
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