Normally I live without television, but on weekends, when I take care of a lady who has a disability, at night, when she is asleep, I have access to one.
One Sunday evening, I tuned into an interesting series called 'My Kid Would Never Do That'. Essentially, parents who feel strongly about a topic in American culture sign their teenage child up to participate in a blind test while they discuss what they think their child would do on national television.
The episode was about Racism. The teens were on a panel to select one of 5 singers to move onto the next level to represent America. Two actors sat on the outer sides of the panel and made racist remarks to the two in-the-dark teens to try and sway their opinion of the singers.
The parents were asked to describe what kind of discussions they had with their children at home and what they thought their child would say or do while in the hot seat. Some of the parents were surprised by what their children said and how they handled it. Some were proud.
Parents are the primary influencer in a child's life. They really are the experts of their own child and have the most impact on their child's beliefs. Parent's may discuss what racial stereotyping looks like with their child and teach them skills to advocate.
Eight teens participated in the study and went two at once, for four sets. One of the boys in the first group said he did not like the racial stereotyping he was hearing, and chose the teen who was the best singer, who is Latino.
One of the girls in the last group got upset because in the moment she felt powerless to the actors racist comments and both of them were swayed in opinion by the actors comments. When she found out what the show was really looking at--racism--she was quite upset and could not be comforted. When the cameras were turned off, she felt empathy for the singer who she had felt unable to defend and asked to say sorry and give him a hug.
I felt NBC's method did not adequately protect the child's developing self esteem I would hope that NBC allowed her to see the completed footage before it was aired and to personally (not only her parents) give them permission asked permission from that girl who became upset (not only her parents) to include her in the episode. That would respect her human rights.
NBC did their best to portray her holistically and many of her actions became a positive example to learn from. It was obvious that she was uncomfortable with the racist remarks during the video. They also filmed her together with her diverse group of friends at a later date and interviewed some of her friends.
The host explained, that sometimes we may react to racist remarks by laughing or by agreeing with the comment. However, as soon as we realise it, we need to say "I am sorry, it was inappropriate for me to laugh at that. I don't think it is funny and please don't make remarks like that around me or my child." It is not an easy thing to say to friends, acquaintances, or strangers around us, but as educators, actions speak louder than words. To show children that we are willing to be anti-racist, we are teaching them the skills to be as well.
One Sunday evening, I tuned into an interesting series called 'My Kid Would Never Do That'. Essentially, parents who feel strongly about a topic in American culture sign their teenage child up to participate in a blind test while they discuss what they think their child would do on national television.
The episode was about Racism. The teens were on a panel to select one of 5 singers to move onto the next level to represent America. Two actors sat on the outer sides of the panel and made racist remarks to the two in-the-dark teens to try and sway their opinion of the singers.
The parents were asked to describe what kind of discussions they had with their children at home and what they thought their child would say or do while in the hot seat. Some of the parents were surprised by what their children said and how they handled it. Some were proud.
Parents are the primary influencer in a child's life. They really are the experts of their own child and have the most impact on their child's beliefs. Parent's may discuss what racial stereotyping looks like with their child and teach them skills to advocate.
Eight teens participated in the study and went two at once, for four sets. One of the boys in the first group said he did not like the racial stereotyping he was hearing, and chose the teen who was the best singer, who is Latino.
One of the girls in the last group got upset because in the moment she felt powerless to the actors racist comments and both of them were swayed in opinion by the actors comments. When she found out what the show was really looking at--racism--she was quite upset and could not be comforted. When the cameras were turned off, she felt empathy for the singer who she had felt unable to defend and asked to say sorry and give him a hug.
I felt NBC's method did not adequately protect the child's developing self esteem I would hope that NBC allowed her to see the completed footage before it was aired and to personally (not only her parents) give them permission asked permission from that girl who became upset (not only her parents) to include her in the episode. That would respect her human rights.
NBC did their best to portray her holistically and many of her actions became a positive example to learn from. It was obvious that she was uncomfortable with the racist remarks during the video. They also filmed her together with her diverse group of friends at a later date and interviewed some of her friends.
The host explained, that sometimes we may react to racist remarks by laughing or by agreeing with the comment. However, as soon as we realise it, we need to say "I am sorry, it was inappropriate for me to laugh at that. I don't think it is funny and please don't make remarks like that around me or my child." It is not an easy thing to say to friends, acquaintances, or strangers around us, but as educators, actions speak louder than words. To show children that we are willing to be anti-racist, we are teaching them the skills to be as well.
