In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, kids all across America have been learning about Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. Around this time and in February (Black History Month), there’s a lot of discussion about celebrating diversity. That’s a good thing. And fortunately, there’s no shortage of biographies for children. If you’re looking for great picture books, check out My Brother Martin (written from a child’s point of view by Dr. King’s older sister) and Martin’s Big Words (a Caldecott Honor book).
But what about the rest of the year? It’s not as if we stop believing in what Dr. King stood for. So how do we continue to teach our kids to embrace and respect people’s differences? By the way, I decided not to use the word “tolerance” here because, when you think about it, it’s often associated with something unpleasant or uncomfortable. For example, you tolerate the heat or loud noise. So why use “tolerate” when talking about racial equality? Why not choose a more positive word for something so important?
That got me thinking that as parents, we end up teaching our kids every day how to behave and how to treat others by how we interact with the people in our world, the discussions we have at the dinner table, and the media we expose them to. From the moment they’re born, children watch what we do and learn from our actions. Studies have shown that even infants under 12 months notice differences in skin color. The other day, my toddler started naming the colors of the animals in one of her books and when she got to the little boy in the story, she declared he was “orange.” But at her age, there’s no judgment attached to her observations. It’s just a fact. That will soon change though. And I’ll be there to guide her. Whether or not you live in an area where there is a lot of diversity, I believe as parents we can always plant the seed and teach our kids to be open-minded and accepting of differences.
What do you think? What are some ways we can teach children about diversity?
Sandra Lee Rella, mother of two, is a freelance editor and writer, and a former children's book review editor.
