Do You Care About Diversity in Schools?

Both Montessori preschools my daughter has attended in Florida and now in Maryland have been incredibly diverse. Quite different from my public education. Most of my classmates were white. Thank goodness she is meeting people from all walks of life at such an early age!

Tracy

Thu, 2009-08-27 10:33

Diverstiy is a good thing.

Having lived in several cities including Miami diverstiy is a way of life. It's not a curse it's a blessing.

"Piraterose is misguided in seeing it as a problem. A problem found in poor neighborhoods. That's simply not true.

My daughter was fortunate to go to a very diverse Montissori school in an affluent area of Davie, Florida just fifteen minutes from Ft. Lauderdale. When we recently moved to the Washington D.C. area I was worried that the preschools here might be lacking culturally. Boy, was I wrong. D.C. is even more diverse than when we initially lived here fifteen years ago. It now rivals South Florida!

We consider ourselves lucky that our daughter will continue to be exposed to people from all walks of life.

Tracy

Fri, 2009-03-20 18:39

I care very much about having diversity in my children's schools. Part of their education comes from learning about different cultures and religions and practices from around the world. We are so lucky to have a Montessori school nearby which is diverse in its student body, as well as in its staff.
My kids came home from preschool with a 3rd eye and told me all about Eid and Diwali. They brought home a dreidel and we played the dreidel game. They sang Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa songs at the holiday party. They made a Chinese Zodiac calendar for Chinese New Year. The older kids made a Chinese dragon and had a parade. They were shown the clothing that people wear in Saudi Arabia and were taught how to dance to Saudi Arabian music. They also sing one particular friendship song in Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, and English. It's just so amazing to me, and I love it.

Wed, 2009-03-11 22:25

So, I know that diversity in this particular post is more specifically geared toward racial diversity, but when I searched for "gay" or "lesbian" on the momversation site, this was the only real post to which I was directed, which, I have to say is a little disconcerting as a lesbian mother of two 5-year-olds who also happens to be Latina.

And I guess I'm wondering why that is -- why lesbian moms don't appear to have much of a presence on mainstream sites and blogs. Not that we're being EXcluded by anyone, but I guess I'm wondering if there's a general feeling out there from lesbian moms that they would not be as accepted, that their opinions would not be considered as valid, that their contributions to raising our next generation of children would not be as appreciated, let alone welcomed by the straight parenting community?

And so they relegate themselves to gay blogs and communities, creating a sort of plastic bubble around their lives and the experiences of their children, insulated from threats of discrimination and bigotry, that I wonder how could that actually not be more detrimental to a child once they hit public school age and begin to realize for themselves that they are actually in a minority?

And I could just be making sweeping generalizations here, and I apologize in advance if I've offended anyone by doing so, but I think that that's actually intrinsic to this problem. There is just no real lesbian mother voice to speak of -- or listen to -- or learn from -- or share with. And s to the m began to touch on sexuality as a piece of the diversity conversation, but it never went any further, and I do think it warrants more than that. Is actually crucial to include in conversations about parenting and motherhood and what it means to be a woman.

And not just from the perspective of being gay and raising children in a world that doesn't fully accept us. But also from the perspective of straight parents who's children may be exhibiting "signs" or who may even have children strong enough, brave enough, or raised in an environment open enough to allow them to come out to them.

I love the momversations on this site. I'm a new convert, for sure, but an old blogger. And except for the fact that my partner is also a woman, I can relate to, have experienced personally, or would like more information about almost every single topic discussed on this site to date. And have been blogging about them for years.

We are more alike than we are different. But our differences, like the differences between races, can enrich our culture and broaden our horizons in ways I think we haven't even begun to contemplate because the discussion, just begging to be had, just hasn't...yet.

Wed, 2009-03-11 16:18

Do I care about diversity in schools?

Has anyone flat out said no? That would be funny:)

Yes, I care about diversity in schools. I care about diversity in our nation, in our ecosystem & in our world. In fact, it doesn't matter how much I care about diversity because it exists so I might as well get used to it. Even if I were to close myself off from it, it would still affect me.

God knows, if it weren't for diversity everyone would be like my dad and say things like, "you-uns" and buy plastic apples for their kitchen while constantly complaining how scary it is "out there." And then my eyes would fall out because I would constantly be rolling them to the back of my head.

Bring it on, is my request. Bring on the "diversity" and the complexity and the wounds. Because confronting wounds means opportunity (not certainty) for healing. I love diversity but I still believe there is only 1 race - the human race (yeah, if Darwin said it, i believe it!).

You've got the music in you ~

RM

Tue, 2009-03-10 19:49

Thanks! Well, if I'm not holding back then... just kidding! :)

Tue, 2009-03-10 18:38

I should start by admitting that I'm Caucasian and thus can get away without thinking about this issue much. That said, it was hard not to notice, when we recently toured a variety of nearby preschools, that some were very very white, others were predominantly minority, and only a few were well mixed. We expect that our daughter's (public) elementary school will be a reasonable mix of ethnicities and economic background, given the diversity of our neighborhood; however, clearly economics are skewing the distribution of kids in the (private) preschools. Part of me wants to buck that trend and send her where she'll encounter the widest range of types of kids, not least so that she's not surprised when she hits "real" school; on the other hand, I think the quality of preschool handling (especially that it be thoughtful and nurturning) is really important. In the end I fear that we're headed toward the least diverse end of the spectrum, which makes me feel better about the environment but *bad* about the diversity issue (and about the kids who are "stuck" at the schools I wouldn't want my daughter to attend).

A terrible set of choices! We've chosen to live in the city, and yet her preschool looks more like the suburbs!!! One can only hope that the other aspects of how we raise her, interact with the people we encounter, and expose her to other cultures will help counteract those parts of her life that are more homogeneous and unexamined. (And, of course, hope that college makes her reexamine everything later too.)

Tue, 2009-03-10 12:40

I am in the situation as Karen, with my daughter going to kindergarten in the fall. from 4 months old until now, my daughter has been in a diverse daycare center as is the nature of the community we live in here is South Florida. I actually believe, as a Caucasian child, she is actually in the minority in her class.

Diversity will never be an issue here. We live in the "poor side of the tracks", I think Elisabeth is the only Caucasian child in our neighborhood - mostly hispanic and African American. We bought only what we could afford at the height of the housing bubble, so while both set of (grand)parents hate where we live, we live within our means and have no credit card debt.

The only thing that concerns me and the reason that we have looked into magnet schools (or Schools of Choice, as our district puts it) is with my child being in the extreme minority in her future local school.

I feel bad feeling this way about it, but I see my niece and nephews come home from a school were they are in the minority (my older nephew only has two other Caucasian children in his class). As Asha says it there's a draw to conform to the group. And my niece and nephews come home a little more each day with the whole gang mentality and the Soulja Boy music. They might not understand the music now, but on 5 years they are going to be pretty desensitized to it.

I think there is racial/cultural diversity and then there is social diversity, I feel really bad about saying it, but is the later that I'm nervous about exposing my daughter to both socially and academically. This is not an area where the word "college" is used.

And like Kimberly - I worried about my daughter falling through the cracks academically and be behind when all the schools merge into high school.

I'll probably be flamed or disagreed with, but I'm ok with this. My fears may be unfounded - since we don't start our experience until the fall.

Tue, 2009-03-10 11:50

While it's true that most of what I talked about in the episode had to do with race/culture (as that was the overt brown/white focus when I was growing up) I agree that it means so much more than that. In some ways, that natural tendency of creating friendships with people of similar economic means is just as relevant to the conversation about diversity as race.

My mom grew up in a family of modest-to-poor means in a rich, Jewish enclave of Los Angeles. In high school, all the popular girls had the right clothes and got nose jobs, and shunned the "riff-raff." In contrast, in my circle, we're comfortably middle class and are uncomfortable with public displays of wealth. For example, none of my friends (nor I) would by an expensive, fancy car because we don't want to trumpet to the world that we've got that kind of money. We talk more about the bargains we find.

There will always be the draw to conform in order to be part of a group. That's human nature and part of the reason culture is so important. The trick is to expose our kids what it's like in other groups, and to enjoy and appreciate it ourselves.

Tue, 2009-03-10 10:34

I definitely care about diversity in schools. As a mom to two Black sons, it's very important to me that they don't "slip through the cracks". My husband and I are dealing with this topic now. Our family has a variety of friends from all racial and economic backgrounds, but there are very few schools that have similar mixes. We don't want our sons to go to an all-Black school (although there are some great charter ones in NYC). We also don't want them to go to primarily White & Hispanic schools where they are the "only one" or "one of a few".

As someone who grew up as the "only one" or "one of a few" Blacks in the majority of my classes, I wouldn't wish that on my kids. (It wasn't the school - it was the high level of the classes that I was a part of.) Anyway, I constantly found myself explaining and/or defending my culture from an early age. I'm a "debater" by nature, but even for me it became tedious at a point. Little kids shouldn't have to bear the weight of their "race" on their shoulders!

We'll see what happens (and there's always the option of homeschooling if we really don't like the school mix).

Kimberly/Mom in the City

Tue, 2009-03-10 08:17

We live in San Francisco, which is, as Asha said, is naturally hugely diverse. And like Rebecca, I feel really good raising my son in the city, knowing he will be exposed to all kinds of things as a part of his everyday life. I grew up in northern Wisconsin, in a town that was 99.9% white. Racism there was so bad, even the foreign exchange students in my high school were harassed from time to time. Also, my in-laws have three African American sons that they adopted, and they are literally the only black guys in their tiny town. They aren't outright harassed on a daily basis or anything, but there's a lot being said about them behind their backs. I don't ever want my son to learn that kind of hatred or ignorance. And I want to teach him that if he ever sees that kind of behavior, to speak out against it. I know it won't solve racism as a problem, but I'd like to think it's a tiny step towards it.

Mon, 2009-03-09 12:03