Town Hall Event with Panelists: Brenda Leaks - SGS Head of School Rosetta Lee - SGS faculty and nationally recognized anti-bias trainer for school communities, as well as the local and national educational and nonprofit sectors Janine Jones, PhD, NCSP - Professor of School Psychology at the University of Washington and expert in mental health for children and families of color Carolyn Carlson, LMHC - Psychotherapist

1. How to talk to kids
about Race and Racism
SEATTLE GIRLS’ SCHOOL TOWN HALL
JUNE 17, 2020

2. Young children notice and think about race. Adults often
worry that talking about race will encourage racial bias in children, but the
opposite is true. Silence about race reinforces racism by letting children
draw their own conclusions based on what they see. Teachers and
families can play a powerful role in helping children of all ages
develop positive attitudes about race and diversity and skills to
promote a more just future—but only if we talk about it!
At birth, babies look
equally at faces of
all races. At 3
months, babies look
more at faces that
match the race of
their caregivers.
(Kelly et al. 2005)
Children as young
as two years use
race to reason about
people's behaviors.
(Hirschfeld, 2008)
Expressions of racial
prejudice often peak
at ages 4 and 5.
(Aboud, 2008)
By 30 months, most
children use race to
choose playmates.
(Katz & Kofkin,
1997)
By kindergarten,
children show many
of the same racial
attitudes that adults
in our culture hold—
they have already
learned to associate
some groups with
higher status than
others. (Kinzler,
2016)
By five, Black and
Latinx children in
research settings
show no preference
toward their own
groups compared to
Whites; White
children at this age
remain strongly
biased in favor of
whiteness. (Dunham
et al, 2008)
Explicit
conversations with
5–7 year olds about
interracial friendship
can dramatically
improve their racial
attitudes in as little
as a single week.
(Bronson &
Merryman, 2009)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6+
They’renot tooyoung
totalk about race!
Do some learning of your own to get ready for conversations with children.
Here are some good places to seek information and training:
• Teaching Tolerance — tolerance.org
• Raising Race Conscious Children — raceconscious.org
• Embrace Race — embracerace.org
• Teaching for Change — teachingforchange.org
• AORTA Cooperative — aorta.coop
• Fortify Community Health (CA) — fortifycommunityhealth@gmail.com
• Delaware ValleyAssoc. for the Education of Young Children (PA) — dvaeyc.org
© 2018 • Updated Feb 28 2018
The Children’s Community School
1212 South 47th Street, Philadelphia PA 19143
childrenscommunityschool.org
When is a child
ready to learn
about race and
racism?

3. What is
“developmentally
appropriate?”
Age Signs
6 months Can discern racial feature differences
3 years Uses race to explain behaviors
Uses race to choose playmates
5 years Desire to categorize – self, others
Curiosity about meaning of differences
Aware of and expresses biases
7 years Can regulate biases versus behaviors
Starting to parrot adult messages
3rd grade Are aware of societal stereotypes
Adults can influence cross group play
5th grade Have internalized stereotypical messages
Adults have no effect on cross group play

4. When They’re Little
Theme: Trying to Understand the World
Curiosity based questions about difference
Find out what they’re actually saying/asking
Find out why they’re saying/asking
Answer their questions and respond straightforwardly
Model and coach humility, delight, and curiosity about difference
Be mindful of children’s media – it’s not always good for kids

5. Safety
Buffer/
Support
Embrace differences
Allow conformity
Teach about bias
Define microaggressions
Establish norms and
communicate value
Normalize confusion
Build community/elder
connections
Create counternarratives
Encourage emotion
Maintain cultural values
Positive
Racial
Identity
Self love & compassion
Know cultural heritage
Dream beyond ancestors
Empowered youth who
externalize devaluation
Confident and flexible
Preparing for reality while also empowering into positive racial identity
Racial Socialization of BIPOC youth

6. 4 Pointing out counternarratives to stereotypes whenever
possible
3 Explaining and modeling activism at home, at work,
and in social relationships
2 Being a model for antiracism with non-hierarchical
relationships with BIPOC (not token exchanges)
1 Recognizing privilege and naming unfairness
Ideas for all parents
Challenging Racial Injustice

7. Thank you for joining us