Skinner North April Diversity Discussion: Our Impact at Home

Good afternoon!  Please see below for our April Diversity Discussion note.  It focuses on our impact at home and talking to kids about racism.  Thank you to the diversity committee for putting these resources together.

Also, remember that there is a virtual workshop entitled Anti-Asian American Racism Listening Session scheduled this Thursday from 6:30 - 8:30 pm for 6th-8th grade students and grownups of students in ALL grades (see the information below).  The session will be led by an external facilitator and accessible via this link, https://zoom.us/j/5252634982. 

Have a great day,
Katie​The key takeaway from this University of Michigan’s health blog, Raising Race-Conscious Children: How to Talk to Kids about Race and Racism is to not ignore our differences. When race comes up, use it as an opportunity to promote diversity and how it helps make the world better. Parenting actions suggested in the article:

• acknowledge, intentionally highlight, and value differences in a positive way
  
• with younger kids, use child-friendly language in diverse books as conversation starters
  
• for older kids, consider a book or movie club and invite people from diverse religious, racial, and cultural backgrounds
  
• safely (in person) or virtually participate in family activities that celebrate different cultures
  
• call out racism with non-confrontational statements like, “I’m uncomfortable with what you said,” or “I don’t think that’s right or nice to say”
  
• model relationships with an authentic, diverse social circle of adults
  
• talk about racial privilege with an explanation like, “Privilege doesn’t mean you’ve never struggled or had an easy life. There are people who are poor or ill or have other troubles. Privilege just means race is not one of those struggles.”
  
• encourage questions, seek answers together, and keep the family conversation about race going over time
  

Recognizing that the conversation should be age-appropriate, PBS resources like Talking About Race and Racism (hosted by Amanda Gorman) highlights the fact that children as young as 3-months old begin to notice the differences between individuals. Another great resource is Common Sense Media’s dive into How White Parents Can Use Media to Raise Anti-Racist Kids.

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