Schools have the unique opportunity to mold young minds and bring up a generation that with values much to their liking. When kids are younger, they are quick to absorb everything in their surroundings. So it is important especially at this young, malleable age that children are introduced to tolerance. I think that kindergarten teachers should take any chance they have to incorporate open-mindedness and acceptance into their curriculums. During story time, the teacher can read books that present foreign cultures in a positive light. An “around the world” unit could be taught so that any seeds for xenophobia or discrimination are wiped from the children’s minds before they can take root. As children get older, if the right values are promoted year after year, the values have a much better chance of sinking in. By assigning reading material having interactive units (like a cultural festival), students can see other peoples in a more favorable manner.

Until mid-high school, I attended Jewish private school where Israel and Zionism were heavily advocated. The Muslims I had heard of were all anti-Semitic and involved in terrorism (please excuse the ignorance). My school didn’t necessarily lie; it just presented its students with a very one-sided view of Muslims. This left me with the impression that all Muslims were bad. In my junior year of high school though, I attended a different school that was a bit more open-minded. That year, the school’s English department decided to assign an autobiography to the entire student body written by a Muslim who rejected her fundamentalist upbringing and chose to embrace Western ideals. The school also set up “Book Day,” where they brought in the author to speak and afterwards allowed the students to fill the day with workshops, activities, and lectures related to the book. This was really my first experience in seeing that Muslims were not so different. As ignorant as it sounds, I had always thought of them as being the “other;” I didn’t think we shared anything in common. Thanks to my high school, this outlook remedied. It took a lot more than Book Day to erase all of my biases, but it was definitely a good start. This just goes to show how much of an effect schools can have on their students. While elementary school imbued within me a strong xenophobic and to a certain extent racist attitude, high school was able to open my eyes and expose me to new, more truthful ideas.

While the school certainly carries some of the responsibility of raising unprejudiced citizens, it cannot complete the task alone. Parents also share in this role as well. A child sitting at her dinner table might excitedly repeat something she learned in class. But if her father dismissively waves it away as nonsense, the child may very likely lose enthusiasm in class. Not only should parents teach their children about justice and equality, but they should also ensure that the children are not exposed to sources that may suggest the contrary. Even if a child is bombarded with talk of loving thy neighbor all day long, if a cool television show biased toward a particular group of people, all of the lessons from teachers and parents will fall on deaf ears. Therefore, parents should monitor the youtube videos their kids watch, the books they read and the music they listen to. Various forms of entertainment can have a strong impact on children, perhaps because the entertainment is not primarily serving as a pedagogical tool.  These mediums of entertainment can serve as a blessing as much as a curse. Should children see/listen/read something that promotes positive values, they may absorb the content as readily as they might for a negative program. I think it boils down to who the children admire and respect most. If a child looks up to his father, he will take his fathers views and opinions very seriously. And if child’s hero is a character on TV, then anything the character says has the potential (and likelihood) to impact the child. As long as children are surrounded by positive role models, they have a good chance of growing up as open-minded and tolerant adults.