<p>Has anyone else been watching Anderson Cooper this week? </p>
<p>I am usually reluctant to discuss race on this board, but I am genuinely stunned by the reports that he has been doing on racial prejudice in kids this week. </p>
<p>The test subjects are children in two age groups: 4&5 AND 9&10. In a special study AC360 commissioned, the children are shown a row of cartoon like drawings of children who are exactly the same except for their color. The cartoons are in a row, with the lightest on the left and the darkest on the right. The figures were shown to black and white children --and only black and white kids. No Hispanics, Asians, etc. </p>
<p>The children were asked questions like “Which is the smart child?” “Which is the dumb child?” Which is the mean child?" “which is the nice child?” </p>
<p>The results were APPALLING. 70% of the white 4&5 year olds were “white biased.” That means that they consistently picked one of the two lightest figures for every good answer and the two darkest figures for every bad answer. </p>
<p>It was stunning to see these beautiful little kids spitting out the most racist stuff with angelic smiles. White child after white child picked the darkest child as the dumb child. When asked why, they smiled at the tester and the camera and said “because he’s black” or “because he has dark skin.” </p>
<p>One white parent whose child was tested was shown the video of her kid’s responses. She was obviously upset. I give her a LOT of credit; I’m sure many other parents refused to discuss it. </p>
<p>It was really heart-breaking. (The results of testing the black kids were more complex, so I’m not going to summarize). There were a few heartwarming moments–kids who said things like “I’d have to talk to them to find out if they are smart.” </p>
<p>I didn’t see it- but I have heard similar comments from children who used to attend private schools with diversity- after they switched to public schools with bigger classrooms which impacted everyone. ( from both white and black kids)</p>
<p>Especially in middle schools- behavior can be an issue- and if you don’t have good support from parents- and the school doesn’t have a way to assess/support kids with learning/behavior challenges ( plus you have some districts that insist all classrooms use same material regardless of students interests/needs), they stay in the classroom and the day deteriorates into containment.</p>
<p>Of course often times the parents deny that their child has a problem.
Sad.</p>
<p>The black kids showed some bias, but not to the degree that the white kids did. There was at least one black kid and one white kid who said that the color didn’t matter and they would have to ask the child questions to find out if they were smart or dumb, good or bad, etc. THis links shows some of the interviews. You have to scroll down to see both clips.</p>
<p>I work with 4 an 5 year olds and I must live in a bubble, because this is not what I experience. Was it a cross section of children from the US? I honestly feel that most of my young students over the years have not seen racial color. There have been some who were taught to see it, but they do not come by it naturally. </p>
<p>In my class we talk about our uniqueness and how we all have different hair, eye, and skin color. The children are very accepting. They see and talk about the differences, but as a matter of fact, not predjudice. </p>
<p>I have questioned some of our diversity topics for this young age because they can point out conflicts that young children aren’t even aware of yet. I try to look at each topic separately with my young age group in mind.</p>
<p>On Martin Luther King Day I read a children’s story about Dr. King that brought up a lot of questions. It was a difficult discussion and many of my students were upset. I’m guessing some of them went home and continued the discussion with their parents.</p>
<p>I wonder why they used cartoons?
I also wonder why they used questions that would evoke a " black/white" answer
Why not just show them pictures and ask them to describe?</p>
<p>I don’t know if racism is an inherent response that humans need to be taught to ignore, or if it’s a taught response from culture. But if kids this young are choosing questions like this . . . then either way, some serious discussions need to go on with kids. Because whether they’re getting it from the environment around them or not, it was “there” in this study.</p>
<p>emeraldkity, my guess would be that they used cartoons because with cartoons, you can make all the pictures identical EXCEPT for skin color. With real photos, there are more variables. Is the kid choosing that picture as “the mean kid” because of skin color, or is it because the girl in the picture is wearing a green shirt and some kid with a green shirt picked on him, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t think the point was to “indict” the kids; the point was to find out if kids this young are connecting “badness/meanness/goodness/intelligence” with skin colors. If they weren’t, then the answer selection should have been a lot more random . . . about the same percent of kids choosing the darkest, lightest, “medium”, etc kids for each answer. When you ask all these kids which picture is “bad” and so many point to the darkest picture . . . that’s not random.</p>
<p>I read the article, but couldn’t get the video to play on my laptop (from either link). I guess I’ll need to go to my desktop.</p>
<p>The thought of predjudice at this age is very unsettling. The information in the article would suggest I am wrong to not let my young students participate in all of our school’s diversity discussions. I’m not ready to get completely on board with that, but I’ll reconsider my thinking.</p>
<p>“most of my young students over the years have not seen racial color. There have been some who were taught to see it, but they do not come by it naturally.”</p>
<p>What makes you say that? Kids aren’t dumb. Are you really arguing that 4 and 5 year-olds can’t distinguish people by race, or just that they don’t make assumptions based on race? They could easily come by this kind of prejudice “naturally” just by noticing that their teachers are white, their doctor is white, etc., and the darkest-skinned people they see are athletes and criminals on TV.</p>
<p>Hanna - I know kids aren’t dumb. I know they see color. We talk about the difference all the time in my class. By saying “racial color” I meant looking at skin color as a racist. I’m sorry that wasn’t clear. MY experience with young children has not shown them to be racist. I don’t think they are born with predjudice. I never said they couldn’t learn it.</p>