Start Seeing Diversity Blog: "We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

There has been many times where I see a child point out or comment on another person's physical appearance to their parent or caregiver.  I often notice these comments when standing in line to check out at a store.  Just last week when I was waiting in line to check out, there was a man with no legs in a wheelchair.  Behind him, was a mother and young child.  The mother was distracted putting her groceries on the belt when the little girl pointed at the man and very loudly stated "Mom, that man has no legs."  The mom very quickly said "Emma don't say that, it's not nice."  This brought attention to the situation by other people standing in line, including the man in the wheelchair.  Obviously the mother was embarrassed and was unsure how to respond to her child.    If I was the child, I would have felt that it was not ok to talk about other people who look different.  Which would then lead to me being afraid to talk about those things.  As an anti-bias educator, I would have acknowledged what the child said as she was clearly trying to understand why this man looked different.  I would reaffirm the child's comment by saying "Yes, Emma that man has no legs and that is why he needs his wheelchair."  I would follow up with Emma later and ask if she had any questions about what we talked about earlier.  As these situations occur, they are teachable moments where we as parent's and educators have the opportunity to teach our children and help them better understand the world around them.