A Guide for Counselors and Camp Administrators For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Summer camp is a wonderful time in children’s lives when they get to spend time outdoors, meet new people, have novel experiences and gain insight into themselves. There are about 12,000 day and resident camps in the U.S. and each year more than 11 million children and adults attend camp. According to an American Camp Association (ACA) report, parents cite the following reasons as the…
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Table Talk: Family Conversations About Current Events For Parents, Families, and Caregivers | 10 and upTopic Summary
Election years usually present rich opportunities for parents and educators to talk with young people about civics, the electoral process, how government works and politics. This presidential election year, however, has left many feeling hesitant about how to raise the topic and specifically, how to approach the…
For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers | For Students Here are some simple things you can do to be an ally to targets of name-calling and bullying. And remember—always think about your safety first when deciding the best way to respond.
1. Support targets, whether you know them or not.
Show compassion and encouragement to those who are the targets of bullying behavior by asking if they’re okay, going with them to get help and letting them know you are there…
Young people are exposed to discussions of extremism every day through social media, news and overheard conversations between adults. As an educators, the topic can be challenging to teach because the situation is always changing and evolving and worse, classroom conversations can themselves lead to stereotyping, bias and bigotry when discussing perpetrators and victims.
The following resources will help you teach about extremism while ensuring that the threat is…
Rosalind's Classroom Conversations, April 2016 For Educators By Rosalind Wiseman
When I first started teaching high school students, the term “politically correct” routinely came up. Especially when I covered sexual harassment, it was not uncommon for a male student to declare that he had the right to make offensive statements because the constitution protected his free speech. Further, he would proclaim that anyone who disagreed with him wasn’t worthy of his respect…
Table Talk: Family Conversations About Current Events For Parents, Families, and Caregivers | 10 and upTopic Summary
Over the past several years, the lack of diversity in the Academy Awards has prompted a public and important conversation about implicit bias and the role it plays in the movie industry—from what films get made and by whom to who plays the starring roles and the extent to which people of color and women receive awards for their roles.
When the 2016 Academy Award…
Rosalind's Classroom Conversations, February 2016 For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers By Rosalind Wiseman
What would high school be without photographs? Smiling couples at the homecoming dance, athletes racing down fields to win games, actors performing in the spring play. It’s ironic that as much as people describe the awkwardness, drama and sometimes misery of high school, the official school pictures only show the best and happiest of moments.
Official…
For Elementary Age Children For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers | K-5The following definitions include words relating to bias, diversity, bullying and social justice concepts and are written for elementary-age children.
Aggressor
Someone who says or does hurtful things.
Ally
Someone who helps or stands up for someone who is being bullied or the target of prejudice.
Bias
A preference either for or against an individual or group that affects fair judgment.
…
Rosalind's Classroom Conversations, January 2016 For Educators By Rosalind Wiseman
Words matter. Our words can comfort and express that we understand or that we “see” the other person in front of us. And of course, our words can do the opposite: they can hurt, isolate and make someone feel insignificant.
For better and for worse, our words signal our values and beliefs.
For the past several years, I’ve been hearing students use the word “terrorist” to…
Table Talk: Family Conversations About Current Events For Parents, Families, and Caregivers | 11 and upTopic Summary
According to a new study from the Pew Research Center, 24% of teenagers (ages 13–17) are online “almost constantly.” The intense way in which young people are connected is enabled largely by the use of smartphones. Nearly 75% of teens have access to a smartphone and 30% have a basic phone. These phones and other mobile devices have become a primary driver…
Rosalind's Classroom Conversations, August 2015 For Educators By Rosalind Wiseman
In the upcoming weeks, welcome banners will be hung on high school walls around the country. A few days later, before the official first day of school, administrators and volunteer students from the senior and junior classes will enthusiastically greet the new ninth grade students. They’ll tour them around the school, play name games with them, do some ice-breakers and send them home hopefully a little…
Rosalind's Classroom Conversations, June/July 2015 For Educators By Rosalind Wiseman
For this edition of Rosalind’s Classroom Conversations, I asked ADL education staff across the country what issues they were hearing about from teachers and students to address in my next essay. Not surprisingly, I received many thought provoking questions. The subject I chose for this article is a topic I have struggled with myself: When you see a young person mistreated by their peers, how do you…
Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Although children are not born with prejudice, by early childhood they have already acquired stereotypes or negative attitudes toward those that they perceive as “others.” An article in The Buffalo News reports that about 85 percent of the brain develops between ages 3 and 5, and that impressions and ideas formed between ages 2 and 4 are lasting (Lessons in Respect, 2003). Researchers tracking the…
For Educators Educational environments that reflect the rich diversity of the community, nation and world assist in opening students' minds and actively engaging them in their learning. Research has shown that prejudice is countered when educational environments foster critical thinking, empathy development and positive self-esteem in students. Review a self-assessment checklist for some criteria for creating positive, anti-bias environments where respect for diversity is taught, modeled, and…
For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Hate is learned and can be "unlearned"
No child is born a bigot. Hate is learned, and there is no doubt it can be unlearned. Leading experts on child development argue that the problem begins as early as preschool, where children have already learned stereotypes or acquired negative attitudes toward "others:" The process of countering those negatives with positives begins at an early age.
Louise Derman-Sparks, an educator and…
Early Childhood Question Corner For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Children’s outdoor play offers many opportunities to teach and reinforce anti-bias behavior. To get you started, incorporate some of the below tips excerpted from Bias-Free Foundations: Early Childhood Activities for Educators (2005, 28):
Take advantage of these opportunities by helping children to learn skills such as taking turns, sharing toys, and inviting new children to play. For…
Rosalind’s Classroom Conversations, January 2015 For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers By Rosalind Wiseman
I hate how people keep getting into my business and judging me before they talk to me and find out the real story. “Michael”, age 16
It doesn’t matter what people say. Sure, someone’s reputation gets trashed for a few weeks but then the gossip moves on to someone else. “Ana”, age14
These two quotes reflect what most…
No Name-Calling Week (NNCW), sponsored by GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), is a week organized by K-12 educators and students to call attention to and end name-calling and bullying in schools.
No Name-Calling Week takes place January 15-19, 2024. Below are educational resources to help you create a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students, teach students to understand and counter bias and bullying and inspire young people to do…
Rosalind's Classroom Conversations, November/December 2014 For Educators By Rosalind Wiseman
What do you do if you if think you hear one of your students make a racist, homophobic or sexist remark? Or more difficult, what if you hear it or think you hear it, but you’re not absolutely sure who said it?
This is one of those common yet incredibly difficult moments in a classroom that matter: Handle it wrong and your authority in the class is compromised; handle it right and you…
When autumn blows in, Halloween fun is close behind. And yet sometimes, it is the opposite of fun.
Parents sometimes cringe in anticipation of what their child’s costume will be. Teachers may worry about stereotyped costumes and playground taunts. College campuses gear up for the parties and resulting bias, conflict and controversy.
Halloween should be festive and exciting. When approached thoughtfully, the holiday can bring not just candy and costumes, but creativity, learning…