Teach Your Children Well
Talking about terrorism, racism, and hate| You, who are on the road, Must have a code that you can live by. |
| "Teach Your Children Well," Crosby, Stills, and Nash |
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In her book, "Raising Adopted Children", author and parent Lois Melina addresses talking to our children about prejudice. She writes,
Therapist Joseph Crumbly says what stops adoptive parents from discussing these issues is not only their lack of experience with them, but their aversion to destroying their children's innocence - especially when having to lose this innocence is itself unfair.
However, the realities of our lives can bring our children face to face with differing views, childish taunts, deliberate and unintentional slurs, and the cruelty of adult prejudices and racial profiling. They see it, hear it, feel it at school, on television, on the Internet, and perhaps even within their extended families.
In addition to the resources listed in the sidebar, we hope the links below will help our families, teachers, and others open dialogs to address these sensitive issues before our children learn about them the hard way.
Talking About Terrorism
- Talking to Your Kids About Terrorism - tips for parents from Tolerance.org
- Talking About Terror - resources for teachers from Tolerance.org
Talking About Racism
- Racism - articles from PACT dealing with racism and racial identity in adoptive families
- Transracial Adoption - a selection of articles for and about adoptive families from the New York State Citizen's Coalition for Children, Inc.
Talking About Hate
- Ten Ways to Fight Hate - for parents, kids, teachers, and other communty members, from the Southern Poverty Law Center
- Four Steps for Parents - from the Southern Poverty Law Center
- Responding to Hate at School - ideas for teachers from the YWCA of Tucson
Best Reading
- "Inside Transracial Adoption"
by Gail Steinberg and Beth Hall
I can't recommend it highly enough!
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