We Don't Say those words In Class

I have a 3 year old son and he’s playing fall ball this year. When working with children they don’t really know what not to say. My son is the only African American on the team and day one, one of his teammates told his mom that his skin is different from theirs. His mom replied very nicely and told her son” Regardless of the color of his skin, he’s human and he came to play ball”. I think the message that he got from his mom is that no matter what color a person skin is, they are still human and have feelings. The reason I say he did get something out of conversation his mom had with him is because he begin looking sad and at the end of practice he gave my son a big hug. My son was devastated behind that because he came home and asked us what’s wrong with his skin, it’s the wrong color. Sometime when he passes by the mirror he will look at his skin and frown. But I’ve talked to him over and over about his skin tone. I think that he’s really concern about is skin tone because he’s only around Americans. He go to a private school and its very few African Americans that attends his school. Another scenario that I witness was being in my classroom last year. I had a parent that only had one leg and had a dummy leg. My students would say he only has one leg, how can he walk? Or they will say his leg look scary. One student will yell and cry until that dad drops his child off sign her in and leave. He told his mom he was frightened of him because his leg doesn’t look like his leg. I try to explain to my students at the beginning of the year, NOONE IS THE SAME, WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT IN SOME WAY. What is important to remember is that all people are complex, full human beings-their disability is just one aspect of who they are(Derman- Sparks & Edwards, 2010). Children are curious and some can be frighten but as a teacher, I try and instill in my students that they have to respect each other rather they are different skin color, gender, body part different RESPECT is the key and I expect them to respect my parents the same way. Throughout my classroom , I have poster of different race, gender, and disability children so that they can be aware just in case a parent or relative comes into the classroom. We as parents has to teach our children at home that just because you think it doesn't mean say it.

Derman-Sparks, & Edwards, J.O., (2010). Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. Washington D.C. National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)