Start Seeing Diversity

I witnessed an adult reprimand and silence a child after he asked, “Why are those two ladies holding hands?”  The adult said, “Shhhhh, don’t say that”.  The message that might have been communicated to this child by the adult’s response is that it is not okay to talk about it and makes the topic of homosexuality seem taboo.  The adult’s response conveys to the child that this not acceptable to talk about and that it is out of the norm.  Although the child and all children are naturally curious, they learn that they are not allowed to be curious about some things when they are silenced.  Reprimanding them reinforces the idea that it is inappropriate to talk about.  When we tell children, “We don’t say those words in class!” or “don’t say that” we give them the impression that it is a “bad word” or a bad thing to speak about which is not supportive of anti-bias.  An anti-bias educator might have responded to support the child’s understanding by not reprimanding them but addressing their concerns and thoughts.  The first thing to do is let the child know that we do not want to hurt people’s feelings when we talk about them.  Then talk to the child about diversity and how couples and families can be different and just because they’re different does not mean that they are wrong.  Using a direct positive statement about diversity both addresses the child’s comment and redirects them towards new information (Laureate Education, n.d.).  This way they can build their own ideas from a more knowledgeable standpoint.

Reference

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Start seeing diversity: Physical ability and characteristics [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu