Research shows that young children tend to accept diversity effortlessly. They form friendships with “different” children. However, as the children get older, this situation does not remain the same and the reason it differs is because the perceptions of adults, whether they are the children’s parents or the teachers and in general the wider society. Discrimination is nothing more than the projections of adults, which are sometimes overtly and sometimes more covertly presented to children. No child has a problem with being different. If we take the example of people with disabilities themselves, we will clearly see that the people themselves do not consider themselves disabled, they simply consider them different. However, the very society in which they live, comes today to create their disability, because this is exactly how it sees them. In other words, disability is a creation of a social perception. Thus, diversity acquires a negative dimension (Χατζηχρήστου, 2015).
The first thing you can do, is to consider whether you, as a parent are ready to expand your “safety zone”, the so-called “comfort zone” and risk accepting something new in your life, beyond everything that is stereotypical you met through your own family and your cultural environment. What a parent achieves by helping himself and the child to accept diversity, to act in interculturality, is the opportunity to respect, recognize and highlight his own multifaceted separate entity. Acceptance starts with the mood, the desire to help, to cooperate and why not to make the life of these people easier, simpler and more pleasant.
Smart ways to teach your child about diversity:
- Talk to your child about the differences that exist even in the people of your own family circle (external appearance, interests, habits, abilities).
- Do not ignore the observation that the child made spontaneously, encourage your child to talk about what he observes.
- Calmly give clear and non-judgmental answers to your child. Help the child develop empathy. Do not cultivate in your child the idea of flawless, ideal….
- Read related stories to the child (“Elmer the Elephant”, “The Green Wolf”, etc.).
- Aim to visit children’s museums and cultural festivals and try different tastes together, e.g., cuisines of the world.
- Invite all the children of your child’s classroom to his/her birthday party, not just few.
- Travel with your child, get to know new destinations, cultures and people, tastes, ideas (Smith & Chowdhuri Tyler, 2019).
Bibliography
Smith, D.D. & Chowdhuri Tyler, N. (2019). Εισαγωγή στην Ειδική Αγωγή και Εκπαίδευση, Φέρνοντας την Αλλαγή. (Α. Γρίβα, Μτφρ.). Αθήνα: Gutenberg.
Χατζηχρήστου, Γ.Χ. (2015). Πρόληψη και Προαγωγή της Ψυχικής Υγείας στο Σχολείο και Την Οικογένεια. Αθήνα: Gutenberg.