Talking With Children About Race and Social Justice

This Saturday, in response to the death of George Floyd and the ensuing events, the National Association for the Education of Young Children sent an email on behalf of the incoming president, Ann McClain Terrell, and Chief Executive Officer, Rhian Evans Allvin. Here is an excerpt from their statement:

“NAEYC’s core values uphold the dignity and worth of each individual. As we identify in our Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education position statement, our goal is to nurture a more diverse and inclusive generation of young children who thrive through their experience of equitable learning opportunities in early learning programs. We aim for each child to ‘express comfort and joy with human diversity; to increasingly recognize injustice; and to have the will and the skills to act against prejudice.’ We find ourselves pressing for the same for each adult in our nation today.”

John Nimmo, one of the authors of the book, Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs: A Guide for Change, and a Dimensions Foundation Board of Directors member (Dimensions is the parent organization for Exchange), offers these words of wisdom to the early childhood community:

“Now is not the time to be silent.

Now is the time to listen carefully to the meaning children are giving to the events around. Young children are seeing and hearing the justifiable anger of people across this nation. Yes, limit children’s exposure to media that is not designed for them, but accept that they have the right and capacity to understand the reality of racism in our country.

Now is the time to respond to their questions and observations with authenticity. Find the language and words that are developmentally meaningful for your children, but don’t shy away from using words that children are seeking to understand like protest, police brutality, and White supremacy.

While we need to reassure children about their world, it is okay to express that you don’t know everything and that you want to learn more. Reflect visibly on your own social identities and values and their relationship to race and racism. As a White parent and teacher, I accept responsibility to not only be aware of who I am, but to also model the everyday and concrete ways I can confront my privilege and be an ally for social justice.

We can reassure our children that good people can feel angry and frustrated, while also emphasizing values of care, kindness and community. I need to be careful not to confuse ‘safety’ with the White privilege to not talk about racism. Attend to your child’s protection from the trauma that is racism.”

And finally, in the book, You Can’t Celebrate That: Navigating the Deep Waters of Social Justice Teaching, teacher and author Nadia Jaboneta reminds us: “I see firsthand how racism infuses all of our lives, White people and people of color, children and adults…I’ve begun to listen for opportunities to take up the conversation about race and religion with the children as a way to plant the seeds for a more just society.”

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.

© 2005 Child Care Information Exchange - All Rights Reserved | Contact Us | Return to Site