One day I was in Walmart in the check-out line there was a
mother and her two children in front of me.
The two children were laughing and pointing at the woman that was in
front of their mother. She was obese and
was wearing a pair of shorts. Their
mother noticed them laughing and pointing and said to them to be quiet and stop
it and shot them a very stern look. The
children stopped.
I am quite sure the children realized that they should not
laugh at people in public due to the way their mother responded to them. I don’t know if she later sat down and had a
conversation with them about the woman.
If I were their mother I would have talked to them about other people’s
feelings and that giggling and pointing at someone could cause them to feel sad
or it might make them cry.
If I were these children’s teacher I would have discussed
with them about people having different body types and that each of us is
different from each other. I would also have the children look in books and
magazines and have them find people that are skinny, tall, short, big,
etc. I would have them identify their
own body type and the body types of their family so that they are familiar with
what body types mean. I would have discussed treating everyone with
respect because everyone deserves to be treated this way. I would have discussed how the other person
might have felt when they realized they were being laughed at.
Your example is an example that we see far too often! It is one that we often push aside as a normal experience instead of seeing it for what it is. I love your suggestions of what you would do if it were your children that had been laughing and if it were the children in your classroom. Opening up a discussion on how different people have different body parts would be helpful to young children. Often times we don't stop and discuss the differences in life that children observe. I love the suggestions you would implement! The children and families would benefit greatly!
ReplyDeleteIt is embarrassing that in such of young age children are disrespectful. You know what? I do not blame the child I blame the parents. The child is the reflection of a parent and I always had think of it this way.
ReplyDelete