Educate Children about Racism

[00:00:00] It can be hard to talk to your children about a raisesile. Some parents worry about exposing

[00:00:06] the children to issues like racism and discrimination at an early age. Others shy away from talking

[00:00:13] about something they themselves might not fully understand or don't feel comfortable discussing.

[00:00:18] Ketadas especially those who have experienced racism simply do not have such choices.

[00:00:26] Hello and welcome to the Baby Brain Show and today we are going to talk about very important

[00:00:31] topic that we need to educate our children about racism. Conversations about racism and

[00:00:39] discrimination will look different for each family. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach,

[00:00:46] the science is clear. The earlier parents start the conversation with their children, the better.

[00:00:52] Baby's notice physical differences including skin colour from as early as six months.

[00:00:58] Tadi has shown that by age 5 children can show signs of racial bias such as treating people

[00:01:05] from one racial group more favourably than the other. Ignoring or avoiding the topic is not

[00:01:11] protecting children, it's leaving them exposed to bias that exist wherever we live.

[00:01:17] Children who encounter racism can be the left feeling lost while trying to understand

[00:01:22] why they are being treated a saddened way which in turn can impact their long-term development

[00:01:28] and well-being. Being silent cannot be an option. How to talk to a child about racism?

[00:01:35] Let's find that out. The way children understand the world evolves as they grow,

[00:01:40] but it's not too late to talk to them about equality and racism.

[00:01:46] Here let me explain some of the age-appropriate ways to start that conversation and explain

[00:01:52] that racism is always wrong. Now if your child is below five years, this is what you can do.

[00:01:59] At this age children may begin to notice and point out differences in people they say around them.

[00:02:06] As a parent you have the opportunity to gently lay the foundation of their world view.

[00:02:13] Use language that is age-appropriate and easy for them to understand.

[00:02:18] The first thing is recognize and celebrate differences. If your child asks about someone's

[00:02:24] kin carol, you can use it as an opportunity to acknowledge that people do indeed look different

[00:02:31] but to point out things we have in common. You could say, we're all human but we are all unique

[00:02:38] isn't that amazing? Now the second one is to be open. Make it clear that you're only open to

[00:02:45] your child's questions and encourage them to come to you with them. If your children point

[00:02:51] out people who look different as young children can often do from curiosity, avoid showing them or

[00:02:59] they will start to believe that it's too a taboo topic. Instead just welcome them with all the

[00:03:06] questions they may have so they get to know that this is where I go to wherever I'm having some

[00:03:11] questions. Number three, use fairness. Children especially those who around five

[00:03:18] tend to understand the concept of fairness quite well. Talk about racism as unfair and unacceptable

[00:03:26] and that's why we need to work together to make it better. And it's okay not to have all the

[00:03:32] answers even if you're not very much aware of the answers to all the questions that they may ask

[00:03:37] but you being yourself more authentic and telling them and communicating them that racism is unfair

[00:03:45] and unacceptable at any cost. Now if your child is between the age of six and eleven years what

[00:03:52] you can do. Children this age are better at talking about their feelings and are eager for answers.

[00:03:59] They're also becoming more exposed to information they will find hard to process, taboo understanding

[00:04:05] what they know. First thing that be curious, listening and asking questions is the first thing. For

[00:04:12] example you can ask what they are hearing at school on television and through social media.

[00:04:18] Discuss the media together. Social media and the internet maybe one of your children's main sources

[00:04:24] of information. Show interest in what they are reading and the conversations they are having online.

[00:04:31] Find opportunities to explore examples of stereotypes and racial bias in the media such as why

[00:04:37] are certain people depicted as villains while certain others are not. Now talk openly with your child.

[00:04:44] Having honest and open discussions about racism, diversity and inclusivity builds trust with your

[00:04:51] children. It encourages them to come to you with questions and worries. If they see you as a

[00:04:57] trusted source of advice they are likely to engage with you on this topic more. If your child is

[00:05:03] about twelve years this is what you can do. Teenagers are able to understand abstract concepts

[00:05:10] more clearly and express their views. They may know more than you think they do and have strong

[00:05:17] emotions on the topic. Try to understand how they feel and what they know and keep the conversations

[00:05:24] going. Know what they know, find out what your children know about racism and discrimination.

[00:05:31] What have they heard on the news or are from school or from their friends? Ask a lot of

[00:05:38] questions, find opportunities such as events and the news for conversations with your children

[00:05:42] about racism. Ask what they think about it and introduce them to different perspectives to help

[00:05:48] expand their understanding and also encourage taking action. Being active on social media is

[00:05:55] important for many teenagers. Some may have begin to think about participating in an online activism.

[00:06:01] Encourage them to do so as an active way to respond and engage with racial issues.

[00:06:06] Now, very importantly I would really want to tell you that we need to educate our children

[00:06:12] to celebrate diversity. So how you can find ways to do this? Try to find ways to introduce your

[00:06:18] child to diverse cultures and people from different races and ethnicities. Such positive interactions

[00:06:25] with other racial and social groups early on help decrease the prejudice and encourage more

[00:06:31] cross group friendships. You can also bring the outside world into your whole explore food from

[00:06:37] other cultures, read stories from different cultural backgrounds and you can also watch films

[00:06:45] on different cultures. So you get to understand what are their culture? How do they look? What is their

[00:06:50] body language? What how do they speak? Could everything you can learn from these sources?

[00:06:55] Be conscious of racial bias in books and films and seek out ones that portray people from

[00:07:03] different racial ethnic groups and varied roles. We got to be very conscious about what books

[00:07:09] are reading to our very young children because sometimes I'm seeing myself that

[00:07:15] some people are shown in dark colors especially the vegetable vendors or the bus conductors

[00:07:21] or the drivers or the people who are working under the sun. They're always being portrayed in

[00:07:25] black color or brown color and people who are very rich those people are always portrayed in

[00:07:32] in a blonde color looking at the first 10 people and people who are poor are always portrayed

[00:07:38] in brown color. So these kind of biases should be avoided in books, films and information that we

[00:07:46] are consuming. So these fiction should be very much noticed by the parents and make sure that you

[00:07:53] are considering all of these things, okay? And you can also consider the stories that feature

[00:07:59] minority actors playing complex or leading characters. You can also talk about why this is being done.

[00:08:06] Why it's always this is always a question like why they're always being portrayed as a villain

[00:08:12] and why the fair skin people are always portrayed as a hero. This can go long

[00:08:18] when confronting racial and discriminatory stereotypes. If your children are in school,

[00:08:23] find out from the teacher about how racism is covered in class and school rules and regulations

[00:08:29] to prevent and deal with it. Join parents groups to share resources and concerns with teachers

[00:08:35] and school leadership. If any of your children are having any issues like this or suffering from

[00:08:41] any kind of racism, any kind of teasing happening in the school and if the child is coming and

[00:08:46] complaining to you, the first thing that you do is to bow and talk with a teacher. You tell them

[00:08:52] this is what happening and how they can actually educate the children in the positive way.

[00:08:58] That is very crucial because the children spends a lot of time in school and our school in

[00:09:03] Iran should be supportive in increasing our education to the children above racism and we have

[00:09:12] to together work for the betterment of our children. Now also explore the past together to

[00:09:20] better understand the present. We can also talk about some of the historical events like

[00:09:26] the end of a bad hidden South Africa, the civil rights moment in the United States and other

[00:09:31] moments for equality around the world. Reminds some of the traumatic parts that societies are still

[00:09:37] recovering from so you can talk with your child if your child is very big or you can understand

[00:09:43] the teenagers kind of children who can talk about this and they can understand all of those things

[00:09:49] if they had that maturity of thinking then you can always do this understanding together.

[00:09:55] Can shine light of how far we have come and how much further we still have to go.

[00:10:00] These shared experiences can further help your child build trust and openness to different

[00:10:04] perspectives and there are no others just other people. You are the example your child follows.

[00:10:12] Parents or children's introduction to the world what they see you do is as important as what

[00:10:18] they hear you say. So like language, prejudice is learned over time in helping your child recognize

[00:10:26] and confront racial bias you should first consider your own. Does your friend circle or people

[00:10:32] you work with represent a diverse and inclusive group take every opportunity to challenge racism,

[00:10:40] demonstrate kindness and stand up for every person's right to be treated with dignity and respect.

[00:10:46] I hope you enjoyed this podcast and a lot of takeaways from this podcast. I urge you

[00:10:53] to make sure that you educate your children about racism no matter whatever the child's age is

[00:11:00] having the open conversation with the child is going to help and impact this world.

[00:11:06] If you find this podcast helpful please do share and follow my podcast The Baby Brain Show

[00:11:13] posted by Dr. Nalini so I would love to for you to come back and listen to the further

[00:11:18] podcast and I would love to read your comments. Thank you so much for listening. I'll meet you in the

[00:11:24] next episode of The Baby Brain Show. Bye bye.