The act of learning is inherently vulnerable. There are emotional, social and physical risks involved in the process, and it is imperative that students feel a sense of safety and trust in their teachers. Utah schools have work to do to maximize the academic and emotional success of its diverse students, and Utah families can and should offer support to school leadership as they proceed.
Racism is a current and ongoing issue that undermines safety in schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2019 policy statement on the impacts of racism on youth health cited research noting that the victims, perpetrators and observers of racism all experience adverse effects. They note that children and adolescents who are victims and bystanders of racism experience profound physiological and psychological effects when asked to recall the memory of an event. The results are like those experienced by first responders after a major disaster.
The AAP calls for “universal interventions to eliminate racism from the lives of children and to engage in active societal antiracism bystander behavioral interventions.”
Some school districts in Utah have been identified by parents, news organizations and the federal government for incidents of racism within the schools and inaction on the part of employees. These instances of racism are not isolated to one school district in Utah and represent institutional racism that must be abandoned.
As Russell M. Nelson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stated on Oct. 5, 2020, “I call upon our members everywhere to lead out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice.”
Institutional racism is defined by social psychologists James M. Jones, John F. Dovidio and Deborah L. Vietze in their 2013 book, “The Psychology of Diversity,” as any customs, practices or laws that systematically reflect and produce racial inequalities.
In Utah schools, many stories have exposed the lack of a sensitive procedure for handling reports of racism that protects the victim. The lack of a system or training on the system perpetuates a culture of silence and inactivity in response to institutional racism. As our school leaders make plans and begin the complex and vital work of dismantling institutional racism, they need our help.
Utah families can support our school leaders by taking steps at home to ensure these attitudes and actions have been abandoned. Teaching in the home will improve and support school leaders’ attempts to address these complicated issues of institutional racism in Utah schools. Working in our families and homes, we can teach our children to be more inclusive and value diversity.
The United States has been described as a “melting pot,” where diversity abounds. It has always been that way. Instead of keeping to our homogenous groups, families can seek opportunities to learn about different people and their experiences in the United States.
Social psychologists have studied intergroup interaction for decades. A 1954 hypothesis by Gordon Allport, expanded upon by Thomas F. Pettigrew in 1998, can provide a framework for families as they seek to engage with and learn more about diverse groups in the United States. The hypothesis outlines six conditions that must be present for an interaction to reduce bias. They are equal status within the contact situation; intergroup cooperation; shared goals; support of authorities, laws or customs; exchange of information that allows us to make a personal connection during interactions; and having at least one friend who is a member of the other group.
In other words, seek out your neighbors and become their friends. Learn about their lives and include them in yours. Treat them with respect.
Another way to teach our children to be inclusive and value diversity is to read books about diverse groups. There are persistent gaps in racial and ethnic representation in children’s literature, but diverse children’s literature does exist. By reading and sharing books about diverse groups with our children, we can help to overcome implicit bias, particularly if these books represent diverse characters without stereotyping, caricature, or marginalization.
When evaluating literature for your family, ask yourself the following questions outlined by Ebony Thomas: “What (or whose) views of the world are presented as normal in the text? What assumptions does the text make about age, gender, class, and culture? Who is silenced (and heard) here? Whose interests might best be served by this text?”
By exposing children to diverse texts, we can teach our children to embrace the stories of others and humanize those who are different from us. Thus, supporting our school leaders in abandoning any attitude of prejudice, known to us or not.
Making Utah schools safe so that learning can occur for all students is an immense task for our school leaders. It will not happen without the support of Utah families. Learning does not happen in a vacuum, and while there is a burden on school leadership to create safety, they are much more likely to succeed if inclusivity teaching begins at home.
Sara Mathis
Sara N. Mathis, M.Ed., Woods Cross, is a mother and a third-year school psychology doctoral student at the University of Utah.
