- Ask all the children with January to June birthdays to sit on one side of the room, and the ones with July to December birthdays to sit on the other side. (Or, divide by gender, eye color, height, etc.) For a day, give special treatment to one group of children. Process the experience at the end of the day by having the children from each group share their thoughts and feelings. List their reactions on the board.
- Ask questions such as: "What do you know about African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans, Mexican American or other peoples?" List the ideas and discuss. Then ask the students to name things all children have in common. Some ideas are:
- Everyone feels sad, angry, jealous, lonely, embarrassed, scared at times.
- Everyone wants to have a good life.
- Everyone needs healthy food to eat and clean water to drink.
- Everyone wants love and respect. Put the list on a poster to display in the room.
- Have the students close their eyes and picture a "bum." Then have them open their eyes and write down a description of the person. Ask the children to do the same thing for a nurse, doctor, rock star, scientist, etc. Discuss their stereotypes.
- Lead a discussion on how media, especially television and movies, reinforce stereotyping of various groups. Together have the children watch a prerecorded video of an age-appropriate cartoon or popular television show. Have them name the stereotypes they observed. Then have them watch it again and rate each one on a 1 to 3 point scale, 1 = little and 3 = extreme.
- Develop an awareness of which holiday celebrations are appropriate for inclusion in your classroom. For example, at a Thanksgiving celebration, the settlers celebrated a plentiful harvest, but to Native Americans Thanksgiving may be a reminder of broken promises. Try to emphasize what various religious groups have in common. For example, the idea that people should treat others the way they would like to be treated.
- After studying immigration to the United States, create a bulletin board of faces cut out of magazines that represent the diversity of our citizens.
- Discuss the problem-solving skills necessary for children to get along. Some examples are:
- Never make fun of a child's comments or the way he/she looks or speaks.
- Show respect by listening carefully to each other.
- Let everyone have a turn to talk.
- Work out a solution to a problem together.
- Have a poster contest depicting the skills needed. Entitle it, "Live Together in Harmony." Display posters at school or at a business location. Find a sponsor who will donate a grand prize for the best poster, or a multicultural field trip for the entire class.
- Have your students visit a Holocaust Exhibit, serve a meal at the homeless shelter, or partner with a class in a school whose majority of students are of a different race or culture. Have the students write and exchange letters, e-mail and/or participate in an exchange project.
- Read aloud an example of hate literature found on the internet. Discuss the truthfulness of the reading. Ask the students why certain individuals or groups hate other groups. Have older students report on hate groups that dehumanize certain minorities and glorify violence against them. The reports may include an examination of speeches, music, symbols and/or slogans of extremists.
- Read biographies about leaders from various ethnic groups or books concerning racial or biased topics. To raise awareness of diversity issues and to further communication, sponsor a program where the members of a class, school or community read and discuss the same controversial book.
- Celebrate diversity by inviting parents and others representing different cultural groups to share their customs and/or traditional foods in the classroom or during a school multicultural event.
- Encourage your students to form friendship clubs that seek diversity. Foster active involvement in groups that stand against racism, discrimination, and prejudice. For older students, encourage them to sponsor nonviolent, racial awareness activities in their school or community.
For more ideas, visit tolerance.org at www.tolerance.org.
Used by permission of the author, Leah Davies, and selected from the Kelly Bear website [www.kellybear.com]. 6/01
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About Leah Davies...
Leah Davies received her Master's Degree from the Department of Counseling and Counseling Psychology, Auburn University. She has been dedicated to the well-being of children for 44 years as a certified teacher, counselor, prevention specialist, parent, and grandparent. Her professional experience includes teaching, counseling, consulting, instructing at Auburn University, and directing educational and prevention services at a mental health agency.
Besides the Kelly Bear materials, Leah has written articles that have appeared in The American School Counseling Association Counselor, The School Counselor, Elementary School Guidance and Counseling Journal, Early Childhood News, and National Head Start Association Journal. She has presented workshops at the following national professional meetings: American School Counselor Association; Association for Childhood Education International; National Association for the Education of Young Children; National Child Care Association; National Head Start Association; National School-Age Child Care Alliance Conference.
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