Fostering Healthy Humans, Begins with Us
Amid a pandemic and now the protests that have erupted all around the United States of America following the death of George Floyd, it’s obvious that our country requires a lot of healing. People are deeply hurting amid acts of racism. Pain turned to anger is evident. As a mom and educator, I believe that it’s part of my role to identify how to help in any way possible. We can engage in crucial conversations, share articles, quotes, and demonstrate respect for all individuals. However, one of the best ways to cultivate change is through education. I talk a lot about the importance of culture, relationships, fostering empathy and understanding, and social emotional learning as a means to empower a culture of innovation. However, within this, has to be learning about race and racism. We need to engage learners in understanding history, be able to empathize and understand, connect and relate to individual needs. As educators, we have the opportunity to teach acceptance and create change in our society.
Prioritizing the Growth of Healthy Humans
As much as content and curriculum are important, our world needs us to prioritize growing healthy humans; ones who can step back and do their best to step into someone else’s shoes, demonstrating compassion. We need our children to learn to walk alongside others, listen with empathy and understanding, and how to engage as effective, compassionate leaders in society. I’m not going to claim to be an expert in the area teaching about race and racism, but we need every educator to join hands and take steps to create a better society through working with our youth. We can integrate activities, picture books, history, and current news to foster a better understanding.
I say all the time that as a mom, that I care much more about the people my children become over how they do academically. That’s not to say that academics aren’t important, it’s just that our priority is to raise healthy, well-adjusted children who are compassionate and respectful towards others. Children learn, not through being told how to act, but through experiences and engaging in conversations that foster empathy and understanding. There are a few ways that as parents, we’ve worked to develop these skills in our own children. Throughout the years, we’ve read a wide variety of picture books that incorporate life lessons. We discuss what’s happening in the world and what we can do to make a difference. However, it’s not easy.
Conversations Lead to Deeper Understanding
Even though I have teens and they’re not young ones, watching the police officer kneel on George Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 whole minutes, was an awful thing to try to explain. Our thirteen year old watched it first on TikTok. He wasn’t sure if it was even real or made up. Where does one even begin? It’s televised murder. It’s a man repeatedly stating that he cannot breath. Other officers look on, not saying anything. There’s so much there between racism, murder, a lack of empathy or compassion, and the awful reality that these things actually occur in life. It’s unsettling, to say the least. But, learning typically begins with family and I think that we can do even more as individuals. I want my children to grasp how they can be a part of the solution and to never stand back and remain quiet about issues that are flat out wrong. We have to identify how to have conversations appropriately with our children and be role-models in how we live.
We Have a Responsibility as Educators
As educators, we cannot make the assumption that all families are engaging in conversations about race and racism. We know that some are teaching the opposite, and instead, modeling that racism is okay. Some, just don’t discuss it at all. That means that we have to take steps to teach about love, kindness, respect, and how to embrace the unique differences of every individual. Understanding the complexities in our world in connection with race and racism is essential. Throughout this time of emergency remote teaching and learning, we’ve all agreed that social emotional learning needs to be a greater priority. Within SEL, we need to incorporate more intentional teaching about race and racism, the long standing history of it, and how to resist and dismantle oppression. We need to empower future generations to be a part of ongoing and continuous change and know that their voices matter in creating a better world. I believe that a large part of this is fostering empathy and understanding for others and developing deeper compassion as a society. We absolutely have to do better.
I hope that you’ll join me in doing everything we can to create change; cultivating a healthier world for all. I’m sharing resources below for both parents and educators that I’ve utilized in the past and some have been shared recently through social media. If you have additional resources you think should be added, please message me with the resource and I will credit you as well. Peace, health and love to all.
Resources to Support Learning About Race and Racism
31 Children’s books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance
Wide range of anti-racism resources
