Learning about slavery in preschool ???

[summerbabe]

My son attends a play-based co-op preschool.  He is 4 1/2 and is in the 4 y.o. class.  His teacher is a real pro--she's been there 30 years since the school's inception, but she's not burned out at all--we've been really impressed with her and the program.  A music teacher comes in once a week.  From his teacher's weekly email about what they did that week (which we love!), I learned that the music teacher introduced a discussion about slavery in the context of the slaves using music and singing to help them feel better while they were forced to work hard.  I was shocked--this seemed to me a very heavy topic for this age group.  I don't want my 4 year old son worrying about stuff like this at this age.  I wouldn't expect this from any preschool, but especially not a play-based program. 

I asked ds what he learned in music class this week.  This is a kid who I usually can't get much information out of about school--lots of "I don't remember" , but this must have made an impression because he said "Why did some people take African people from their homes?"  Now, why introduce a topic which, even if the information given is general and in simplistic terms, provokes questions like that?  The answers to which can't really be tailored to a 4 year old?  I pretty much told him that some sad things have happened in the past, and this is something he will understand more about when he is older, and I don't want him to worry about this.

I voiced my concern to the teacher and the co-op President, and his teacher disagrees with me.  She basically said the subject is dealt with in a general manner without terrible details, that children are capable of understanding it on the 4-year-old level at which they present it....that the point is that music is powerful and can make you feel better, help you work, feel connected to others, and "could even help these people plan their escape." (!)  She said it's important to learn about past inequities to teach tolerance, etc.  She also said it would be wonderful if we could sheild children from all the bad things in life, but since we cannot, best to help them understand it. 

Well, I know I can't sheild him from all bad things in life, although frankly I think it's worth the effort to minimize it at this age. I believe that when children do become exposed to things like this in the course of daily life, of course we should help them understand it.  That doesn't mean we should intentionally present them with all of it, for pete's sake. 

I think it's just not an age-appropriate subject, period.  I pretty much left it with his teacher that we can agree to disagree, so the issue is done with the school.  I am just curious what others think about this.  Thanks for any thoughts. 

[laohaire]

Personally, I started talking with DD about slavery when she turned 5. She does not understand how deep and broad this subject is at all. I think you and I would agree that it's a big, big topic. But I do think that it's appropriate to tell a small child about the concept of slavery and our history of it. Absolutely, there are details that I wouldn't dream of touching at this age, but I think painting in broad strokes is very appropriate.

I'm going to guess that you are not (knowingly) descended from slaves. Consider whether a slave descendant would think it was inappropriate to talk about to their 4 year old? I imagine this is not such a taboo subject as you may see it. You may have the luxury of ignoring it, but not everybody does. If many people must discuss it with their 4 year olds, I think it's reasonable for others to do so as well.

One other thought: I know some children are very sensitive. But most don't seem to be nearly as sensitive as we adults think they are. My DD is not disturbed by our history of slavery yet. Her reaction is more like "oh, that's too bad" and that's it. It's very far from her experience, thankfully. As she matures she will move through different stages of thought about it: indignation next, maybe, but horror only later. And then there's the continuing (if invisible) horror of slavery today. Is your son extremely sensitive?

[hopefulfaith]

I started talking about slavery with my kids over the past week, actually.  They're 5 and 4.  I have begun thinking about things that I want to make sure that _I_ teach them about (as well as them hearing about stuff at school and all), and social justice topics are high on my list.  The kids had heard briefly about slavery at school - Christian schools touching briefly on Israelites leaving Pharaoh/crossing Red Sea, etc. - and I did tell the kids about that.  We watched Disney's "Prince of Egypt" last week, and I explained a lot of the things that were happening.

Because my kids are young, things are very black and white, so to speak, with my explanations.  I spoke in terms of how the powerful people made other people do the work that the powerful people did not want to do (e.g., building pyramids) and then mentioned that this happened in our own country....that after the settlers came over, etc., and the country started growing and people started having large farms...that they also decided that they didn't want to do all that hard work, either, and brought people from across the ocean to do it.  The kids asked why they didn't just say no, and I told them that they weren't allowed to because the powerful people Were Mean People and told them they had to.  The simplistic explanation continued from there (I'll spare you), and the kids basically decided that That Is Terrible.

We left it at that, but I intend to build on that over the coming years with more informative/accurate/complete information.  It has really just been over the past year that my kids are learning that there are mean people in the world who do mean things (I've sheltered them sufficiently over the vast majority of their young childhoods so that this was a surprise to them.) and I want their world views on these things to be shaped by me.

We have a children's book by Jamie Lee Curtis in which there's a line:  "Take what's inside you and make big bold choices.  And, for those who can't speak for themselves, use bold voices."  I want my kids' bold voices developed early, and righteously.  Social justice issues are near and dear to my heart, and I think that racism (for example, in the context of slavery) is something that kids can be taught is _not_ ever acceptable .... and I want that sort of view formed early before they start hearing crass remarks on the bus and whatnot and believe that those sorts of things are fine.

I have started intentionally presenting issues like this because I think that young children are capable of understanding some concepts of right and wrong and I would like to be the one to form their opinions on these things at this point in their lives.  I think there is a way to do it in an age-appropriate manner, however, without putting too broad of a burden on their tiny shoulders at this point in their lives.

[summerbabe]

I really appreciate these replies.  Mostly, I am relieved to feel less at odds with the school because I love them otherwise!  Laohaire, you are right, I do not have any slaves in my ancestry (as far as I know)...good question--I thought about this before and i was thinking I'd be even MORE hesitant to address it at a young age if my heritage was at the receiving end of these atrocities.  Of course, that's pure speculation, and I have no way of knowing how I'd feel/think differently if I came at it from another perspective.  I'm certainly willing to entertain the possibility that I'd feel more willing to "go there" at an earlier age, or may even feel forced to if I had to explain discriminatory events in teh present to my child.  I will say, though, that we are a mixed race and bicultural family--my husband is a turbaned Sikh from India, and we have had slurs shouted at us in the presence of my children, unfortunately.   This actually happened recently, and thankfully my son did not comprehend what was said, so I was able to protect him from this by just saying this was an angry person, adn sometimes people are angry and shout things for reasons we don't always understand.  Actually, there is a pretty bloody history of persecution of Sikhs in India in the 1980's.  My husband,  who was not bothered by the slavery topic at preschool, by the way, said he grew up seeing bloody depictions of this via paintings in the temple.  Still, neither of us has felt he is ready to hear about the history quite yet.   

Hopefulfaith, it also resonates for me that I should be the one to frame these issues for him early on.  I guess I had hoped that he could be concerned only with things like dinosaurs and fire trucks for just a little longer!  I still lean toward feeling this way, but your replies have certainly given me food for thought.