In my time as an educator I have been faced with many different cultures and situations. This week being a short week, I had less students and less things were happening. However, one major microagression that I saw was with two students. After the beginning of our program they spent some time arguing over some toy but as the fight continued name calling began. At this time one of the students was sent in to see me regarding what they said. I was a little confused, as an administrator I don't normally deal with name calling situations. This is when I found out the student called another student "White Girl." Now this other student is lighter skin but not white. The little boy didn't understand what he said wrong, he is 7.
I was a little hurt by the comment, as he used the term as a form of negative name calling. He obviously heard someone say it but he didn't understand what he said wrong.
My observations within programs is that parents perceive the program and staff in a certain way. Stereotyping their behaviors and actions. Most parents will walk into a situation in attack mode to counter any prejudice they perceive.
Megan
ReplyDeleteIt is sad but true that children learn most negative behaviors from their parents. This is where we as educators must not only educate the children but their families too. It must be a collaborative effort in order to teach prevention.