Communicating Differences to Children

At a school I used to work at, there was a young girl who had only 2 fingers on one hand. The children would ask her questions about her hand, for example "why is your hand like that?" and she would simply reply "because I was born that way." When asked how she is able to play the piano, a teacher assistant overheard and stepped in to confront the children. She spoke with a harsh tone and told the children to leave the girl alone and that one should not ask questions such as those. 

By dismissing the children's natural curiosity, the teacher assistant, let's call her Anne, was giving the idea that there was something wrong with this child and actually highlighting her differences to a negative degree. Anne also provides children with the opportunity to ostracize the girl because of her difference. By dismissing their questions, instead of allowing appropriate questions and the ability to gain more information about other individuals, Anne has in a sense created a potential bias about someone by allowing the children to develop a judgment based on limited information and on a face value basis (Avoiding bias, n.d.).

In a similar situation, it would be more ideal to address the children's curiosity and put the discussion on hold but get back to the topic once one has gained more information from the parents and the child, given their permission to discuss it as well and allow an open discussion to be had about various differences in general so as not to single out the girl as well. 

Resources:

Avoiding bias. (n.d.). Walden University. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/774.htm