Question

Chapter 14: Put It in Writing Activity:

Suppose that a survey reveals that first-graders from various ethnic groups in a local school hold prejudiced attitudes toward one another. Imagine that you have been hired to develop a program to help these children become less prejudiced and more accepting of members of other ethnic groups.

Write a one-page description of two or three classroom activities that would help you accomplish this goal and tell why you think they would work. Do you think these activities could be successful in eliminating all prejudiced thinking in the children? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Prejudice is a preconceived opinion or prejudgement about others or things. Nobody is born prejudiced against one another and is a child forms that kind of attitude towards ethnicity, the adults that surround him/her needs serious introspection.

The first activity to eliminate prejudice could be one which requires teamwork. The pupils are divided into small groups, making sure each group consists of varied ethnicity. For instance, tug of war wherein all the members of the group need to combine their strength and the focus is not on how one looks like physically but the combined effort of each member that will matter.

Secondly, a showcase of creativity wherein each pupil perform individually to showcase their talent such as singing, drawing, etc. This can highlight the strength of each one of them and further make the pupil develop friendship based on common interest rather than how they look like.

The third activity can be a fun one in which each pupil get to dress up as other ethnic pupil. This can help the pupil learn more about other culture and develop appreciation for each other for their own individuality.

Last but not the least, adults play the most important role in the attitude and morals that we instill on our children. Children are keen observers as much as they are talkers. A silent child observe more or less the same. Our behaviors and action towards each other moulds our child's beliefs. These activities may eliminate prejudice thinking to a certain level but that is not where the duty of an adult ends. Parents and teachers should be more conscious of our attitude towards each other. No matter how many pro ethnic apprecaition activity we promote in the classroom, we must make sure the primary caregivers reflect the same attitude outside the school premises as well.