Is Your Kid Aware of Racism? Few Tips for Parents to Handle It

By priya bhoje - Updated: December 6, 2018

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Here are the Few Tips to Address Racism in Young Children

One day evening, I saw my neighbour’s 10-year-old daughter, Nisha, running towards her house, sobbing. I was worried about what could the matter be as she was happily playing with her friends few minutes before. Later, I came to know from her mother that her friends who stay in the other apartment said some mean things about her family background and economic condition. It made me think how can such a young kid be so mean to his friends and will the girl take it as another normal fight with her friends or will it affect her self-confidence hereafter. As a parent, we need to teach our kids not to be part of racial, or any other form of discrimination. We must also guide them and make them understand how to tackle it.

Here are the Few Tips to Address Racism in Young Children

As a parent, it is very much necessary to watch our behaviour when we communicate with our house help, watchman or the salesman, etc. We don’t realise this at the moment but it does influence the attitude of our kids towards the less privileged people.

Whenever your kid comes across people from different cultures, talk to them about the positive side of that culture and always tell them to show respect towards it.

Let your kid choose his/her friends, do not force the societal norms on their friendships.

When you find your kid being unfair or mean towards someone, correct them. Explain with an example how we all are unique and special.

Observe your child’s behaviour if he/she is being a victim of discrimination or bullying. Talk to your kid as a friend, visit your kid’s school frequently and enquire if there are any significant changes in your child’s behaviour.

If your kid opens up about being bullied, then make them realise how special they are and rebuild their confidence. Encourage them to stand up against bullying, whether it is for themselves or for a friend.

Let the teacher or the parents of the kids know about the bullying and ask them to take necessary actions against it.

Since childhood stress or trauma can deeply impact as adults, it makes them prone to depression, anxiety and other psychological problems. So let us raise racism free children and make our society a stress free environment for our kids.

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