We Don't Say Those Words in Class

I am the youngest of 3 children and over the past years I have spent a lot of time with my nieces and nephews. I remember one day as we were at the mall hanging out, we were in the food court when a older woman was feeding what looked to be her son, but he was in his 20s or so. He had some type of mental retardation. My 7 year old nephew who is more of the curious type, asked me out loud as we were walking by the mother and son what was wrong with him and why was she feeding him. As I pulled him by his arm quickly and continued to move, I told him I would explain it to him at a different time.

The lesson I hoped to teach him at that moment is to recognize different things happening, but not speak about it to their face and be rude. When we talked about the situation later, he had a lot of questions. I answered them all as best as possible, and then I asked him about different things he has been noticing. As we talked about it all, I started informing him about why it is polite not to stare, point or talk about others that may be different.

As an anti-bias educator, I would explain it to my class the same. I would give them the opportunity to express and ask about previous encounters with differences they have seen. Then after I answer all of their questions as best as possible, I would then begin to explain why it is best and most polite not to point, and stare at those with differences.