Race and racism have always been significant topics of discussion. However, racial discrimination and injustice are still prevalent in our societies. If you belong to a certain ethnicity, there are chances you, along with your family, might have to experience it as well.

Therefore you, as parents, should educate your children about what racism is, so they’d already be well aware as they’re growing up. The only way to break the system of racial discrimination is if more parents would invest their time in educating their kids about how to be more racially indifferent.

Here are a few ways parents can do that.

Family Values

Communicate your family values to them in an effective way to educate them on your stance on people of color. Your children should know about the set of beliefs the whole family has, so they’d know how to align their own morals and beliefs as well.

Create a Safe Place

Make sure that your kids talk to you about whatever they’re going through. An open channel of communication should be established, so your kids can engage in a healthy exchange of their thoughts and feelings. You should create a safe space that enables them to trust you enough and tell you about the things they’re facing regarding their ethnicity

Communicate Clearly

This whole topic of race culture can be complex if you go deeper into it. So, if you’re educating your child on it from the very start, do it in a way that they’d understand. Use examples they can relate to. For example, if they’re preschoolers, tell them how they would feel if they weren’t allowed to eat their favorite snack because of the color of the snacks? If they’re in middle school, make them imagine how bad it would be if they weren’t allowed to sit on the swings because they looked different.

Make Them Think

Be sure to ask them their opinions on prevalent matters. It allows parents to get an insight into their children’s minds. What they’re thinking, their stance on issues – it can help parents get an idea of their beliefs and morals. For example, if they see something on TV about racial discrimination, ask them what they think about it. Ask them if it were fair what happened to that particular individual of color. Asking such questions will force them to think and possibly form opinions on what’s right and wrong.

Encourage Them to Befriend People of Color

Let them know from a young age that all people are different, and that’s all right. This is how children will learn to be indifferent towards race and color. Encourage them to talk to other people who don’t share the same color of skin. Educate them about different cultures to enrich them with knowledge, as well as freeing them from racial unbiases. Lastly, make it a norm in your family to establish a belief that states everyone is different and beautiful in their own skin, and yet everyone is the same and has the same rights regardless of ethnicity.