Teacher MarColor Coding?
"Color Coding: Teach kids to celebrate their differences and accept those of others"
MANILA, Philippines -- Last summer, my eldest son’s classmates came over for a playdate, and two of my other boys joined in. Later that afternoon, my second boy, Carmelo came to me in tears, asking why he was “brown”. Perplexed by this question, I asked Ino if anything had happened, and he said his classmates were asking (probably innocently) why Carmelo was dark while Ino and Matteo had fair skin. Carmelo kept pinching his skin and said he wanted to be “white”. It took some explaining on a preschool level that his brothers had my and their Daddy’s coloring, while he got his handsome brown skin from my Mom’s side of the family, and that “brown” is actually a pogi color, and I had to scour commercials with him, looking for non-mestizo showbiz personalities like Derek Ramsay, who were pogi like him. On a side note, it doesn’t really help that some performers, like this Big Brother alum, capitalize on how different they look in order to launch a career.
This incident niggled at the back of my mind, so when I found out that a visiting cousin from Australia was a teacher in a multi-racial school, I decided to ask for her advice on handling situations like this, knowing that this mestizo vs. moreno issue will again rear its ugly head once my sons hit their self-conscious teen years.
Kristina B. Ramirez, a third grade teacher at Cabramatta Public School says that the school prides itself in its programs that cater to parents and students from non-English speaking backgrounds. As of date, there are 40 different cultural groups spread out from among more than 700 students. “Most of the students are Asians, but what we are actually experiencing now is that we are getting an increasing number of African students.” This, situation, she says, is ripe for bullying and discrimination, and she shares some really heartrending stories. “We have had African kids who are teased because of the way they look, like their skin color or their hair. One child kept her lunch inside her lunch box for several days until it got really moldy. When her parent asked her why, she explained that the children were making fun of her “funny” food. We have even had a case where the children pretend to go to school but skip their classes instead, because of the teasing. These kids who have been labeled as “different” often have no friends in school, or even outside of school.”
It starts at home
To handle situations like these, the school has assemblies with the parents. Kristina says they also give out pamphlets to the parents that aim to address the acceptance of different cultures within the school. “It really has to start at home. It is hard to start teaching the kids about cultural acceptance if the parents themselves have problems about ethnicity and stereotypes. It is hard, because at some point, the children will learn from their parents and these are the views on racial differences they will bring until they grow up. So, when we have new kids enrolling in our school, we have a seminar for the parents to talk to them about how the school works, and to get them to meet each other. It is really about a change of mindset, especially on the part of the grownups.”
When talking to the kids, she says she goes down to their level and uses words and concepts that are easier for them to understand. “I talk to the kids who are doing the bullying, and ask them how they would feel if they were in their classmate’s shoes. Then with smaller kids, I ask them to draw what they would have done differently. Older kids, I ask to make an apology letter. The teachers really have to impress that the behavior is not acceptable, and ask how they could change the way they behave.”
“I also like to use a lot of picture books showing African, European, Asian children, and talk to them that everyone doesn’t have to be the same. Everyone has different features, or different ways of life, but we are also the same in many ways on the inside,” she says.
Different is special
Kristina says that growing up as a Filipina in Australia also gave her a taste of wanting to look like the others. Since she came from my mom’s side of the family, she is also morena. “Even my friends who are Filipina were mestizas, and that made me very conscious of my coloring. I was seriously considering bleaching my skin. But my mom talked to me and reassured me that my skin color was beautiful, and that God made me this way, and that I was special. She said that there are people who are actually jealous of my skin color, and they have to tan themselves to get their skin to look like mine. So, I became more confident with how I look.” This, she says, is the importance of taking the time to talk to children, and to make them feel that they can talk openly to you about anything.
Source:
> Manila Bulletin - http://mb.com.ph