Comments | ivy_chan: postracial america my ass

ivy_chan

postracial america my ass

Jan 26, 2011 00:14

Today in the daycare, I had a few kindergartners sent back to me. I usually do when my numbers are low, but today we had no school, so I had about three or four in the back for our activities. We were doing free play and I was on the other side of our giant, L-shaped classroom when I heard one of the little girls yelling at one of the little boys ( Read more... )

real life, racism, daycare, race

Comments 24

upstart_crow January 26 2011, 05:18:10 UTC

Good for you for sending her to the principal and comforting the other kids. While white privilege is definitely inherent, I still wonder exactly what she's hearing at home.

ivy_chan January 26 2011, 05:21:18 UTC

Me too. I didn't get a chance to talk to the parents about it. The one other time I had a student make a comment like that, I talked to the parents and they were appropriately mortified.

The little girl in question is extremely bossy and doesn't like to be wrong or to get pesky things like other people's views get in the way of how she thinks things are supposed to work. she had another fight with this same kid and tried to have him ostracized because he didn't believe in Santa Claus. I don't see good things in her future.

upstart_crow January 26 2011, 05:23:35 UTC

oh yeah. Damn. She definitely needs to get that attitude changed. :/

Did the principal explain why this was wrong?

ivy_chan January 26 2011, 05:26:27 UTC

I wasn't there for that, since I basically just sent her up, had the boy tell her what happened, and then brought my class back to their room, but I should hope she did. I'm going to have a talk with the kindergartners tomorrow about it, anyway.

Thread 8

obsessive0514 January 26 2011, 05:20:21 UTC

That's just awful! :(

ivy_chan January 26 2011, 05:22:43 UTC

I was just. SHIT. I was comforting the kid while being upset that I HAD to comfort the kid because black is not an insult but do I need to say that right now and shit the little girl whose race was used as an insult is right there, what kind of message am I sending? A whole mess.

lindentreeisle January 26 2011, 05:46:35 UTC

Yikes. Sounds like you dealt with it ably, but...this is one of the many reasons I'm glad I don't have to 'do' kids. I would have noooo idea what to do with that kind of situation, in terms of how you explain racism and prejudice on an age-appropriate level, explaining why racism is wrong without over-simplifying it to the point of misrepresentation.

ivy_chan January 26 2011, 05:51:40 UTC

Oh god, it's stuff like this that worries me. I'm getting them at an age where something that I do, something I don't even think about, might cause them to feel upset or hurt their self esteem, so I can't balls it up. I was trying very hard to get everything right, but it's still worrying, wondering if I got it right.

Occasionally, though, I feel like I got through to some of them. Like when another teacher came back and split them by gender and they explained to her that separation by gender was unfair and prejudiced. Or when one of them says: "There's no such thing as boy or girl toys!" when a kindergartner says something is for girls/boys. I hope I'm setting up a foundation.

aerodactylus January 26 2011, 05:47:42 UTC

What. That kid must have some messed up parents to be that absorbed in her...insults...at five. I mean, I went to a daycare at that age that was racially diverse, and we never had any of that happen.

Shit is fucked up, man.

ivy_chan January 26 2011, 05:54:03 UTC

It really is. I don't remember exactly how racially diverse the daycares I went to were, but I remember Asian and black kids, if not other Latin@s. I do NOT remember kids yelling out stuff like that, though, but I was also in a position of privilege, being light-skinned enough to pass.

aerodactylus January 26 2011, 05:58:08 UTC

Man, we had white kids, Asian kids, black kids, latinos...I remember there were more black teachers than white, and at least one woman who was hispanic. I mean, it was suburban Baltimore, pretty damn diverse. And we got along. No one ever used race as a point of contention, that's for sure.

Although I do remember thinking that kids from each race smelled distinct. Make of that what you will.

iki_teru January 26 2011, 06:12:21 UTC

Gggnnnh. seriously??? I really have nothing to say because I'm imagining this in my head and the problem with kids who do this kind of bullshit: you can't just slap them for being an ass. You have to Give them a Chance and Explain things to them.

God. I hope the director got through to her :<

ivy_chan January 26 2011, 21:54:49 UTC

Ugh, this girl is the kind who is adorable sometimes and horrible other times but mainly is spoiled. Her parents are going through a divorce, which is definitely affecting her, but there's no excuse for the racial shit. I feel like the director is giving her a pass for this because 'she's acting out due to the divorce' and I'm like: 'um, there is aggressiveness and there is RACISM and this is RACISM kthx.'