12 Apr How to Talk with Young Children About Race
Families that have been with TLC for awhile know that one of the many advantages of being enrolled in a semester of Developmental Play & Parenting classes is: we do the parenting research for you. Our hope is you will feel less likely to visit Google to search for support and information around a parenting topic. Feel assured that we take this job very seriously- we attempt to find the best parent-friendly and evidence-based information and resources for our weekly parenting topics.
Finding information for this week’s topic- How to Talk with Young Children About Race– was not easy. Yes, we could located hundreds of articles about talking with school-age children about race, racism, and diversity. Unfortunately, resources for parents of toddlers and preschoolers was limited. Simply- this is extremely unfortunate! NOW is the time to visit play grounds with children of all backgrounds running, climbing and playing together. NOW is the time to purchase and/or borrow from your library picture books with illustrations of multi-ethnic children and families. NOW is the time to talk about differences.
When researchers presented 30-month-olds with pictures of children of various races and asked them to pick who they would want to play with, the toddlers were more likely to pick kids of their race.
Please take a moment before class and review the following articles: 1. How to Talk To Your Child About Race and 2. How White Parents Should Talk to Their Children About Race.