JULY 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 39
Parents should be prepared to have the race talk with their kids. (Getty Images)
RAISING UNBIASED CHILDREN
BY DIANA AMAYA
New York Family
A recent string of police killings of African Americans confounded with years of racial
inequality have prompted hundreds of protests all over the world and exploded into a media
hailstorm that’s impossible to ignore.
Considering this is already a difficult time for many families in light of COVID-19, parents’
first instincts may be to avoid causing further stress with difficult conversations. But that
would be ill advised.
“Children and adolescents are experiencing the collateral consequences of the publicized
murders of Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and George Floyd, whether they have a
smartphone in their direct possession or not,” pediatrician Dr. Rhea Boyd told CNN.
Children are always watching, taking note of parents’ distress as they watch the news
or scroll through social media. And despite parents’ best wishes and intentions,
children are not colorblind: They absorb implicit bias in the world and institutions
around them, with or without parental input, internalizing racial bias by age 2 to 4,
according to Maryland Pediatrician Dr. Jaqueline Dougé.
WHAT’S INSIDE continued on page 40
42 ACTS OF
43 PARENTING
KINDNESS
TIPS
44 PETS
PRESS
FAMILY & EDUCATION
HOW TO TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT RACISM AND UNREST
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