Kids Say the Darnedest Things

Kids often are open values. Adults have a gauge that prevents them from always truly speaking their minds in most cases. However, if you ask a child a question, they will most likely give you an honest answer. We see adults every day on television or just in our every day lives saying and doing things that might catch some of us off guard. One such action that might cause one to gasp is a racial viewpoint. Whether we want to admit it or not, regardless of the progress made in civil rights; racism still exists and not minimally.

Racial issues are one of the complex issues or topics of our time and discussion on them are often pushed aside as they are feared to be almost too controversial for our media times. I find that hard to believe with reality television and tabloids dominating many Americans' attention and focus. But we never seem to gather what the true open values (children) think about racial issues. We often just assume we make racial decisions when we become adults, but as I will discuss; that is far from true.

I came across a feature by Anderson Cooper and CNN. CNN did a study with children of different races to access their racial beliefs, attitudes, and preferences based off of 5 skin-toned model that ranged from light skin to dark skin children. The children sampled were mostly from kindergarten age to late elementary. The results were almost shocking to me when I saw the report on CNN.

Furthermore, an example would be a white girl from Georgia who pointed to a light-skinned picture when asked who was smartest or good and then in turn pointed to a black-skinned picture when asked who was bad or ugly. Parents watched results of the study as they were taking place and what parents saw brought shock and tears to their faces. This was not a rarity as more and more children would echo similar reactions. White children displayed bias towards white models and black children showed a similar bias towards white models to a slightly lesser scale.

And this was not a handful of kids at one school. 133 children were tested from different schools featuring students with a certain economic and demographic background.

The study reveals a harsh reality: parents and children are not having enough of a discussion regarding the issue of race. The study showed that between white and black parents; black parents are more likely to talk to their children on racial issues. The number in studies in recent years are practically reversed. Much of the different comes from how white parents hope their children make the right choices as they see them. While black parents are very much aware of the obstacles of being an African American and try to brace their children for that future.

This study and what I saw was behind eye opening. I can vouch that growing up, my parents never brought up the issue of race and various aspects that are linked to it in our society. I was able to gain a perspective as I grew up and who I hung out with. I always had a multicultural collection of friends and that has probably played a major role in how I perceive race. However, white children on average just assume that white children are better than black children. And black children on average are brought up to believe certain perceptions regarding white vs black.

As we see, race is still a major debate topic. But, at the most basic level; what parents do and say at home can play a great role in how their children develop. I would like to think that all those involved in this study have come out of it with a new outlook. Talking to children about race is not something taboo as this study shows. Plus, all races must teach their children to be unique and not allow the color of their skin hold them back or being a way of judging someone.

This study is a just another example of kids saying the darnedest things. However, this time; something can be learned from what comes out of their mouths.

For more on this study, below is the link to the article as well as the detailed study. Definitely worth looking into!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/18/doll.study.parents/index.html

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/13/expanded_results_methods_cnn.pdf