I can remember a time not too long ago when I was in Wal-Mart with my son. We were working on our weekly shopping list and there was a man who had prosthetic legs. He was also completing his weekly shopping list as well. He was wearing a Vietnam Vet vest that displayed many different patches. I can only assume that he was injured during the war. As I was scanning the aisles for what I needed I see out of the corner of my eye my son gazing at the man’s legs and reaching out to touch them. I quickly grabbed his hands and shook my head “no” and we walked down the aisle. The man was not the friendliest and glared at us as we continued on our way.
The message that I was hoping to convey to my son was that we don’t reach out and grab people. Especially we don’t grab at people when they are not expecting it. The message that could have been received by my son was that we don’t touch people who have plastic legs. He could have received the message that people who have legs that are different than his are not to be touched.
How, as an anti-biased educator, I should have handled it was to quietly explain that we don’t just reach out and grab at people. I would have to explain that we don’t want to startle people by grabbing them. We should keep our hands to ourselves and look with our eyes. Then if he had questions about the man’s legs we could discuss why they look different than his.
Leslie,
ReplyDeleteEvery situation a child is in, in general and that is different is a learning experience. We have to be careful how we handle the situation and what we say. Its tough to decide how to react and what to do, sometimes there is not enough time or the proper moment to react the correct way.