When I was in preschool, I came one day very upset. Another kid told me they weren't allowed to play with "black" people. This boggled my mind. I kept insisting to my mother "I am not black. I am brown. I have brown skin" My mother likes to tell this story to demonstrate my attention to details.
As you all know, I am adopted. I was adopted when i was a baby. I was born in India but i have lived in Virginia my whole life.
I do not feel like racism infiltrated my mind until i was much older and could reflect on it. My parents did an amazing job of protecting me from that. They also promoted being adopted as an awesome, wonderful gift from God. One of my favorite book growing up (I still have it on my bookshelf) was Adopted and Loved Forever by Annetta E. Dellinger. Looking back on my life I feel like I was loved through the potential stress. I never felt it. I Thank The Lord for My Family everyday.
Mom, Me, and Dad
I spent time in the library and on google looking up global childhood stress. I found an interesting article about Greece and their preschool policy change. Basically Greece was changing from a central control of preschool and daycare to a more local approach and the article was about parental expectations. I know it is not typically what we think of as childhood stress but I kept thinking about it. I think that going to preschool can be a stressor in a child's life as it is a major change. Then I thought if a parent is worried about the change as well, what kind of services will they provide, how will i leave my child in the care of someone else, will i be able to pay etc., the child will pick up on it thus creating more stress. Hopefully the family and the teachers will work together (that was a concern) and the child will be successful.
Laloumi-Vidali, E. (1998). Parental Expectations of Early Childhood Services for Preschool Children: The case of policy change in Greece. International Journal of Early Years Education,6(1), 19-30.
It's funny when I think about racism. I grew up in predominately white schools and a lot of my friends were white, but I never experienced racism until I was in 3rd grade and one of my friends called me the "n" word. I was really hurt by it because it was one of my close friends that said and I couldn't fathom why she would ever say when a lot of her friends were black. With everything going on today racism is becoming a hot topic. It is kind of sad when you think about it.
ReplyDeleteHi Koni,
ReplyDeleteIn my afternoon class, I have 16 Latino children, and only one African-American, and I am very proud to say that I have never heard anybody talking about skin color. Every day when children arrive to school, I say to each one of my students a positive comment about their appearance, because I want them to know and feel I care about them, and I have heard them doing the same among themselves.
Thank you for sharing such a personal experience!
Koni,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your personal experience. I think you must have a wonderful family!
Kristi
Yay adoption!!! I don't know if you've been following my blog, but I talk a lot about my nephew, Micah, who was adopted from South Korea. He's a special little boy, you should check it out!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that acceptance based upon race as being a stressor during early childhood. Throughout my years I have experienced similar experiences, but not as earlier as your memory. My best friend has been my best friend since we could say best friend. We are different ethnic backgrounds and she told her dad when we were young that I had a better tan than her! LOL! Gotta love childhood innocence! LOL
ReplyDelete