Reducing Prejudice in Children, Term Paper Example

Young children also become prejudiced against other groups because they do not interact with them as much as they do with groups from similar racial or ethnic backgrounds (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2010). Sometimes they take this lack of interaction in competitive terms and form ethnocentric ideas. So one way to minimize prejudice among children is to create opportunities for inter-group interactions so they are more comfortable with each other and develop admiration for diversity rather than seeing it from a negative perspective.

Another strategy may be to engage children in intellectual discussion in which children are asked to reflect upon the possibility of being discriminated on racial basis and how it may affect them. This would force children to put themselves in others’ shoes and become more aware of the negative consequences of a prejudiced behavior. Education is another key to minimizing prejudiced thinking among children because children learn about the evolution of society in historical context and get to know the prejudice faced by different ethnicities during different periods of time (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2010).

Adults can set personal examples for children by interacting more with those from different ethnic and racial backgrounds and actively participating in cross-cultural activities. This will increase the interest of the children in other cultures as they experience new things and possibly help them get rid of few negative biases. Similarly, adults including teachers should make the effort to address children’s questions regarding prejudice and group differences as objectively as possible and not ignore uncomfortable questions (Social Psychology Network). Adults should also be careful not to express prejudice views in their conversations because if children are listening to their conversation, their belief in prejudiced notions will only strengthen.

Reference

Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2010). Expanding Social Horizons. In Human Development (p. 286). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Social Psychology Network. (n.d.). Understanding Prejudice. Retrieved January 6, 2011, from http://www.understandingprejudice.org/teach/elemtips.htm