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Syd's elementary school is very diverse compared to the rest of the elementary schools in our district. Most of the schools have primarily white students on our end of town, so the fact that our neighborhood school is one of the oldest and most diverse is great.
Since it is so diverse, it surprised me when Syd came home a couple of weeks ago and told me what she overheard a new classmate saying.
This new kid was telling someone that he wished T and T would go back to where they belong. One T is black and the other is mixed.
Syd went to the teacher and told her what she had overheard, which resulted in talking to the counselor and principal. She was really nervous about talking to the principal but I told her that everyone is nervous about that :-)
We are so very proud of Syd for making the right decision in telling a teacher.
Telling on a classmate can be a tough thing to do but she knew that what she had overheard was wrong.
We have always taught her that every single person is the same, we just look different on the outside. We know that some day, as hard as it will be, someone will make a comment about our daughter's beautiful eyes or tease her because she is so tiny or pet her head because they love her silky Asian hair (she has classmates that have done that for years). We talk about stereotypes and racism because it's present each and every day in the news, in her classroom and every place in between.
Talking about it is what made her do the right thing. Many conversations we have are not easy but we are giving her the tools to be able to handle situations like this one. It makes me sad that 8 and 9 year old kids have to deal with racism at all but at least I know that my 9 year old is strong enough to make the right decisions on how to deal with these issues.
