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When Injustice Goes Unchecked and Concealed, What Message Does This Send to Children?

Article
Laquan McDonald Chicago Memorial from Protestors
December 07, 2015 The Killing of Laquan McDonald In October 2014, Laquan McDonald was shot and skilled by police officer Jason Van Dyke.  Thirteen months later, the recorded incident was released to the public. The day before its release, Van Dyke was arrested for first-degree murder. The disturbing video shows seventeen-year-old McDonald being shot for fifteen seconds—the majority for which he was down on the ground. At the time of the shooting, a spokesperson for Chicago…
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Gun Violence and Mass Shootings

Tools and Strategies
A Sandy Hook Elementary School makeshift memorial on Berkshire Road in Newtown, CT 12 days after shooting of 26 people who were killed, twenty were children.
Table Talk: Family Conversations About Current Events For Parents, Families, and Caregivers | 12 and up Talking with Children about Gun Violence The issue of gun violence and mass shootings is in the news frequently. Young people are usually aware of what is happening and will want to talk about it. However, it is a sensitive, scary, and potentially painful topic. Before raising the matter with young people, consider your child’s personality. To what extent will the…
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Jonathan Greenblatt: The Jewish Diaspora and Israel

News
November 01, 2015 For many years, a consensus existed in the organized American Jewish community that we should support the democratically-elected government of Israel, whether Labor or Likud, on a non-partisan basis, particularly on matters of Israeli security. The logic was twofold:  Moral – Israelis put their lives on the line every day in a dangerous neighborhood and we, sitting in the comfort of America, should respect Israel’s democratic process regarding the safety and…
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Now More Than Ever: Why We Need to Address Inequity and Justice in Schools

Article
Diverse Students Holding Sign, "Can We Talk About Equity"
October 28, 2015 We live in an increasingly pluralistic, multicultural and connected world. In order to prepare students to live, learn and eventually work successfully in society, we need to prepare them.  Diversity in the United States is rapidly increasing, especially among young people entering our school system. 2014 was the first school year when more children of color were enrolled in U.S. public schools than white children. However, the diversity of our teaching force is…
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What Ahmed Mohamed Can Teach Us About Having ‘A Wrong Impression’

Article
by: Jinnie Array September 18, 2015   On Monday, Ahmed Mohamed, a fourteen year old high school freshman with a talent for tinkering and technology, brought a homemade digital clock he constructed to school to show his teachers. His engineering teacher was impressed but later in the day when it beeped during English class, Ahmed’s troubles began. He showed the device to his English teacher who notified school officials who then notified the police. “She thought it was…
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Recursos educativos en español

Tools and Strategies
Word web concept of learning Spanish
Para fomentar escuelas y aulas respetuosas, inclusivas y equitativas, es importante reconocer la lengua que hablan los alumnos y sus familias. Esas lenguas reflejan y afirman su origen étnico, su cultura y su herencia. Según datos recientes del Censo, 63,7 millones de personas (o el 19,1% del total de la población) que viven en Estados Unidos se identifican como hispanos/latinoamericanos. Además, la mayoría de los hispanos (75%) afirman ser capaces de…
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Race Talk: Engaging Young People in Conversations about Race and Racism

Tools and Strategies
High School Students Taking Part in Group Discussion Circle
For Educators Because discussions of race and racism are part of our public discourse, educators feel a sense of responsibility to bring these topics into their classrooms—because young people want to be part of the conversation and should be.  If handled effectively, these discussions provide opportunities for timely learning. Below are suggestions and strategies for having classroom conversations with young people about race and racism. Prior to these discussions and…
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What Should We Tell Our Children About Charleston?

Article
DC Vigil for Charleston Murders
June 22, 2015   As we grieve, protest and further investigate the horrific murder of nine African American parishioners at the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, many people are asking: What should we tell the children? Parents, family members and others are sometimes uneasy about discussing issues of violence and injustice with children because they want to protect them from terrible and scary topics. However, it is important that children have a language for…
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The Rachel Dolezal Teachable Moment

Article
by: Jinnie Array June 19, 2015   Rachel Dolezal, President of the Spokane, Washington chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), made headlines and became the top trending item on Twitter last week when it was discovered that she had been posing as Black for many years. In her interview on the Today Show, she continued to assert: “I identify as Black.” These events have sparked strong emotions—anger, confusion, sympathy,…
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Swimming Pools and Segregation: A Long History

Article
Pullen Park public pool in Raleigh, NC closed in 1962 because of four Black male swimmers
June 15, 2015 In Summer 2015, an incident caught on video captured a police officer outside a community pool who appears to be waving his gun at young partygoers who approached him as he tried to subdue and eventually hold down a teenage girl. She was wearing a bikini because she was at a pool party. The party was held at the community pool in the Craig Ranch North subdivision, which is predominately white although McKinney, Texas is racially diverse. A group of African American…
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How Do I Limit Children’s Exposure to Bias in Media?

Tools and Strategies
Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Media, such as television, movies, videos, games, apps and websites, can have a powerful influence on your child. Children are drawn to the sights, sounds and colors that appear on the television screen, computer monitor and apps on our phones. Media can provide exciting and unique learning opportunities. Learning from and about media works best when you and your child watch and learn together and talk about…
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How Should I Respond When Children Notice Differences in Others?

Tools and Strategies
Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Young children can be blunt and direct as they notice and talk about the differences they notice among people. That can sometimes make their parent or caregiver feel uncomfortable, especially in public settings. Remember that young children’s initial observations about difference do not intend to be hurtful. Instead, it shows their developing curiosity and awareness of the diversity in the world in…
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Should I Initiate Conversations About Differences?

Tools and Strategies
Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers There is no need to wait until children ask questions about differences to begin conversations. However, these discussions will have the greatest impact when they follow from children’s interests, and when they are appropriate in length, frequency and content relative to children’s intellectual and emotional capacity. Louise Derman-Sparks (1989) writes that awareness of, and talking about,…
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Won't Discussing Differences Promote Prejudice?

Tools and Strategies
Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Many adults think that talking with children about our differences teaches prejudice. In Anti-Bias Curriculum, Louise Derman-Sparks (1989) debunks that myth and writes that talking about differences does not increase prejudice in children. Whether or not adults discuss differences with children, all children begin to notice differences among people as part of their natural development. It is the messages…
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Why Is It Important to Teach Young Children to Appreciate Diversity?

Tools and Strategies
Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Although children are not born with prejudice, by early childhood they have already acquired stereotypes or negative attitudes toward those that they perceive as “others.” An article in The Buffalo News reports that about 85 percent of the brain develops between ages 3 and 5, and that impressions and ideas formed between ages 2 and 4 are lasting (Lessons in Respect, 2003). Researchers tracking the…
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How Can “Looking at Lights” Promote Respect Among Children for Various Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions?

Tools and Strategies
Candles in the Dark
Early Childhood Question Corner   Common themes appear in holidays and celebrations across many cultures. By connecting themes, as suggested in the Question Corner installment "How can I plan inclusive holiday celebrations?" you can show children that holidays and celebrations are an expression of cultural and religious pride, and help them understand the commonality of certain human feelings, celebrations and their meaning. For example, by trying the following activity, Looking…
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Dr. Leon Bass: Educator, Advocate for Justice, and True Hero

Article
by: Naomi Mazin April 01, 2015 This week, the world lost a true hero. Dr. Leon Bass, who turned his personal and life-altering experiences with racism and anti-Semitism into opportunities to educate, inspire action in others and bear, in word, deed and character, the mandate of “Never Again,” died on Saturday, March 28th at the age of 90. ADL joins the world in mourning his loss. As a young man, Leon Bass grew up in a country divided by racial prejudice. He often shared…
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The Ripple Effect of Interfaith Dialogue

Article
by: Lorraine Array March 23, 2015 Recent incidents around the world remind us of the power of hate and vitriol to permeate our religious, cultural and national borders. ISIS continues to expand its alliances and fear-mongering tactics. The world is in many ways paralyzed to see a way forward, and the need for solutions capable of building bridges of understanding and respect has never been greater. In this spirit, in early 2013, the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) Connecticut Office…
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To Confront Racism, We Must Also Look In the Mirror

Article
by: Jinnie Array March 16, 2015 Last week, disturbing video emerged of fraternity brothers from the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) chapter at the University of Oklahoma laughing while singing a racist chant: “There will never be a ni**** SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me. There will never be a ni**** SAE.” The news comes on the heels of the recent findings from a Department of Justice investigation in Ferguson, MO which, among other things,…
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