Introduction

Ask people to define "diversity" and many will explain that it has to do with race, ethnicity, religion, or, perhaps, language. Look inside a typical middle school classroom, however, and the definition also would have to include gender, learning style, physical maturity, family background, and many other factors that shape young adolescents.

These distinctive qualities make each student unique and worthy of respect. But each characteristic also can draw negative attention from peers who have not yet learned to appreciate diversity in the human population. We know that name-calling, stereotyping, and bullying escalate just as adolescents begin searching for a strong identity and a safe place to belong.

Teaching children about diversity is not a way for schools to be "politically correct." It's a way for everyone to survive. Unchecked, ignorance can grow into intolerance, harden into hatred, and explode into violence. The mass murders in schools across America are a tragic testament to this evolution. In 1997 the FBI counted more than 8,000 hate crimes in this country.

We can help break that pattern. As middle level educators, we have the opportunity to reach adolescents at the peak of their curiosity about the world. Intellectually, they recognize the different ways people treat each other, and they wonder why: "Why do rich people get better service?" "How come all the U.S. presidents have been men?" "Why did Hitler persecute the Jews?"

Developmentally, young adolescents are at an age where they can, with careful guidance, recognize discrimination and apathy in themselves and others. They can learn positive alternatives to those behaviors. But emotionally, they no longer will accept platitudes or dictums from adults. "Be nice to each other" will not placate them. They need opportunities to discuss controversial issues and to try out new responses in a climate that is safe enough for them to be open and caring enough for them to be honest.

Teachers can establish this kind of climate from the first day of school. It is critically important that we as educators counter bias and harassment whenever we hear or see it. Young adolescents carefully observe the actions of adults. Silence in the face of injustice suggests acceptance of these negative behaviors and sends potentially life-changing messages to the victims, the perpetrators, and any observers. Conversely, by taking a stand against prejudice and discrimination, we show our students that our classrooms and our schools will safeguard diversity in all its forms.

As USA Today reminded us in a 1999 editorial: "The First Amendment demands that the nation's haters be allowed to hold and express their poisonous views. But that doesn't require others to be silent against them."
 

"We have learned through the grim realities of life and history that hate and violence solve nothing. They only serve to push us deeper and deeper into the mire...Along the way of life, someone must have enough sense and morality to cut off the chain of hate."

- Martin Luther King Jr.