Centering Black Youth Wellbeing
This virtual community of practice explores ways to center the wellbeing of Black young people and... View more
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Let Black children be children
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Let Black children be children
Through the Engaging with Research About Black Youth one of the most startling concepts for me was the experience Black Youth Face at schools, particularly the Adult-ifcation of Black Youth. Overall, the field of child development and mental health has leaned so heavily on the importance of children being allowed to be children, children being expected to behave and think like children and NOT expected to behave and think like tiny adults.
We have endless amounts of data that suggests that when children cannot meet unrealistic expectations put on them, symptoms of depression, anxiety, acting out etc will emerge. It should then not be shocking to see the presented data of mental health needs as Black children age.
Personally, my first step here will be going through the “White supremacy and me” workbook. From a organizational level, does anyone have experience bringing this concept forward when addressing individual interactions or simply presenting it as a concern?
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2 Replies
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I haven’t read the book and can’t find the workbook of “White Supremacy and Me”, although it does sound interesting. I’ve noticed there’s a young readers edition. Have you read it? Wondering if the content is within reach for grades 7-12 students.
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I’d wait until grade 9 or 10 to introduce it. There are some very complex topics and it prompts some very serious self reflection. I know criticisms (not surprisingly) have been a sense of blame it places on white people in general. I’m sure there are specific activities and explanations you could take from the book for students that age, but probably not the whole book.
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