Our Goal is to help raise prejudice-free children.
Here are 10 easy steps:
1. Create an environment at home that contrasts with biased messages of
society. Provide items that reflect diverse ethnic and cultural images.
2. Show that you value diversity in the friends you choose, and in the people you
choose for services (e.g., dentist, mechanic, teacher). What you do is more
important than what you say.
3. Make it a rule that a person's identity is never an acceptable reason for
teasing or rejecting. Support the child who has been hurt.
4. Initiate activities and discussions to build positive self-esteem. People with
positive self-esteem are less likely to show prejudice towards others.
5. Talk positively about the physical characteristics and cultural heritage of other
ethnic group. Include people who have stood up against bias and injustice.
6. Help the children learn the differences between feelings of superiority and
feelings of self-esteem and pride in their heritage.
7. Provide opportunities for children to interact with other children who are
culturally different from themselves and with people who have
various disabilities. Visit museums and cultural events that reflect diverse
heritage.
8. Educate yourself about common stereotypes in our society so that you can
evaluate your selection of children's materials and experiences. Teach the
children to recognize stereotypes and caricatures of different groups.
9. Respectfully answer children’s questions about themselves and people who
appear to be physically different.
10. Teach children to stand up for themselves when they are ridiculed because of
perceived differences. Be sensitive to children’s feelings about themselves
and immediately respond when they show signs of being affected by biases.
• From “Teaching Your Children to Resist Bias”
by the National Association for the Education of Young Children