We shelter our children from controversy. And yet, we don't. Kids grow up hearing the news in the background, and no one ever explains it to them. They know there is conflict all over Africa and the Middle East, and they have no understanding of it beyond, "Those people are bad and we're fighting them." They also know those people have a different skin color than the majority of the U.S.
As a child in the land of plenty, in which no recent war has been fought on our soil, seeing conflict and suffering must be anxiety-provoking. I know I prayed all through the Cold War that the bad guys would drop the bomb right on our house so I wouldn't have to live through the nuclear winter. That was the extent of my understanding, because no one talked about it with me.
Kids are ready for controversy. They need the opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns. They need someone to listen, and to give them the tools to investigate the issues that feel important to them. Giving them these opportunities enables them to feel powerful and useful. I believe they crave a purpose.
Last night I met fourteen sixth through eighth graders from Southside Family Charter School in Minneapolis. This school has a social justice curriculum. That does not mean they have a social justice unit once a year; the entire curriculum is built around social justice and being agents of change. It begins in Kindergarten.
These middle schoolers told us about their preparations for a civil rights tour of the South. They leave in two weeks. This trip is a Southside tradition. Every three years, grades 6-8 visit historic sites from the civil rights movement and meet with survivors of the struggle. They meet people who were central to the struggle, like Hollis Watkins. They protest unfair treatment in these Southern cities, when possible, right alongside historic civil rights leaders.
The trip is a culmination of their years studying social justice. It is not the only aspect of social justice they examine. Each student spoke about the issues close to their hearts, and they had interests all over the map, from Global Warming and deforestation, to sexism in the workplace, to fair and accessible voter registration! They attend protests, they lobby at the capital, they raise awareness about environmental injustices in their neighborhoods. They are working hard!
There are a lot of people who believe that anti-bias education is wishy washy, feel good propaganda. And it is, in most schools, but Southside is doing it right. It is not a separate unit, compartmentalized to meet some standard. It is integrated into every aspect of their schooling from the age of five! They do not teach to the NCLB tests, and guess what? They are doing fine. They score ahead of Minneapolis Public Schools. They are, in fact, on par with the wealthier, whiter schools on the edge of the city. Southside is an inner city, low-socioeconomic (low-SES), racially diverse school with no Achievement Gap!
Their Executive Director reports that the Achievement Gap has no power over these students, because they understand the societal influence on their socioeconomic status and the societal and institutional responsibility for racism. She says that understanding these issues externalizes problems for them. They are able to see their poverty, for example, as a situation they are in as a result of societal influences, and not as a definition of who they are. They also know how to work as an agent for change, and have a sense of efficacy that raises their expectations of themselves. The curriculum is interesting to them because it is actually important.
Kids don't need kid gloves. They need something to sink their teeth into. They need to be treated as people who will take the reigns someday.
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