Society And Schooling
Discrimination has many different meanings, but
the most specific meaning is the exclusion from
membership in any group. This
results in unfair treatment or judgements. Any
type of person can be
discriminated against from women to minorities. Also,
there are many
different areas where one can run into discrimination such as
public
facilities or even just trying to get onto the bus. One of the first
places
that one learns about discrimination is in the school systems. Children
do
not usually know what discrimination is, and a lot of adults do not
even
realize that they are discriminating against others. I believe
that
discrimination is one of the major problems in the schools today,
because no one
realizes that it is a problem. Children in schools have their
own clicks or
groups that they like to be around. When a student is not
involved with this
group a lot of times they will be made fun of. Kids can be
really harsh with one
another, and they just continue to be rude and mean. A
lot of kids get made fun
of if they are not considered as "cool" as the other
kids. There are
so many different kinds of groups from the "preps",
and
"nerds", to the "jocks". Also, children can be made fun of
for being
overweight or just not pretty enough. Most of the time, students
discriminate
against other races or origins. They do this because the outside
looks
different, and most of the times they do not get to know the real
person.
Discrimination against different races has been a problem for a
very long time.
I think that since it has been a problem for such a long
period of time that a
lot of kids just learn to act that way. Handicapped are
also discriminated a lot
because they are different. These students can be
physically, mentally, or just
emotionally handicapped, but still students
will not give them the time of day.
The teachers themselves can also
discriminate against their students with out
even knowing it. Students are
discriminated against for their gender or their
grades. Teachers will put
students in groups with the same types of people, so
that the children who
have difficulty learning do not have the opportunity. When
I get my own
classroom, I will try my hardest to not have discrimination in it.
When I
assign them group projects, I will pick their groups to give them
the
opportunity to get to know their fellow classmates. Also, I will make
sure that
there are no friends in the same group. The groups will remain the
same for a
couple of weeks, and then they will get new groups. Another option
I would try
is teaching them about the other nationalities, races, and
religions. I would do
this by devoting one day a week to the students to tell
something about their
origins, race, religion, etc.. Discrimination is a
major problem in today's
society, but we can do something about it by
beginning in the schools. We need
to educate these children about the
different cultures in society so they will
give people a chance.