Discrimination

A time that I recall when I was discriminated against stems all the way back to middle school. I was the first person in my fifth grade class to get braces, and everyone noticed the moment I arrived at school. Since I was the first person to don this new contraption (or at least new to my peers and I) I felt awkward, vulnerable, and nervous to see my peers. And also let me add that in addition to the metal monstrosity in my mouth, I also at four rubber bands binding my mouth shut, as well as unflattering glasses..... I won't even get into the large plastic retanater that was cemented into my mouth a year later leaving me with a lysp for six months. At any rate, my friends teased me about it because they didn't yet have any of these things, and I was the first to, ergo, the target.

A time that I discriminated against someone was during my high school years. We received a new group of transfers from the next town over that were rumored to be drug dealers because of the area they came from. The school that they had been attending was rougher and these transfer students did have some drug dealers as their peers, but not all of these students were fitting the stereotype everyone seemed to be giving them. As I got to know some of these transfer students, I found out that they had requested to be transferred because of the school they were attending, some of them wanted to go back to their friends, etc.....but all of these students were very bright and polite individuals. The more and more my peers got to know these students the more we learned about them and I remember being angry at myself for assuming what someone would be like based on what I had heard.

I think that if we incorporate opportunities that allow our students to get to know one another, we will be combating discrimination. If we as teachers stop discrimination the moment we hear or see it beginning, we will be helping our students. Also, as teachers, we need to be careful to not discrimintae or judge students prematurely based on what we think we know based on what students look like, what rumors we've heard about them, or what experiences other teachers have had with students.