Tda 2.1 Essay

Unit number TDA 2.4
2.1
When you work in a school environment it is very important to know the ways in which children can suffer prejudice and discrimination. Very often they can happen due to ignorance, such as assuming that all people in wheelchairs have learning difficulties. It is a sad fact that peoples assumptions about groups of individuals very often lead to discrimination about that group.
Different types of prejudice include:
Racism – discrimination based on skin colour or race
Sexism – based on gender
Religion – each different religion may feel that their faith is superior
Social – this is usually directed towards the poor
Homophobic – Directed towards gay people
Transgender – Directed towards transsexuals
There are two types of
discrimination that CYP can undergo
Direct discrimination – This is when CYP are denied access to parts of education due to their race, sex or disability, e.g.
a schools refusal to accept a wheelchair student due to a lack of ramps or a group of pupils not letting a another pupil join in because of their skin colour.
Indirect discrimination - This is harder to spot and generally occurs because of a lack of planning. An example of this is the boy refused entry on his first day at school in 2009 because of his cornrow braids which the school considered a “badge of gang membership”. The high court called this indirect racial discrimination.
2.2
Prejudice and discrimination can affect CYP in a number of ways that can adversely affect their performance in school. CYP that experience these factors generally suffer from low self esteem feeling that they are being picked on and outnumbered. This can lead to a lack of enthusiasm for academic work which affects their standing in class leading to depression and sometimes they have a tendency to be angry and “lash out” at their tormentors getting them, not the tormentor, into trouble. The feeling of exclusion leads to confusion and is not very nice and teachers should look out for this happening.
2.3
When I am in school I have a duty to make sure my own beliefs do not affect the way that I treat the children in my care. I must make sure that I try to understand about the children, namely their background, religion and upbringing and not to show favouritism to the children with the same beliefs as my own.
It is important not to make assumptions about any child because finding out things about them will enhance your relationship with them, help with better support structure and lead to a more harmonious classroom.
2.4
It is important to have an anti-discriminatory policy active within schools so that every child feels safe and valued while they are at school no matter what their race, background, disability, religion or sexual orientation. Long gone are the days when it was possible to say that something would be done and then do nothing until something awful happens.
The school must be seen to be proactively discouraging discrimination and it is the duty of all members of staff to recognise when discriminatory practice is happening.

2.5

Discrimination, whether it is sexual, racial, social or disability, needs to be deal with quickly by stopping the culprit and tell them what they are doing is wrong and why! You should explain that such comments or actions have a harmful effect on the victim, then you could try to change the way that the perpetrator thinks by talking to them and maybe asking them how they would feel if it was done to them.
If I were to witness a discriminatory comment or action by a child then I would feel free to discuss it with the child and reach an amicable solution, if, however, it were a parent making a comment I would feel it necessary to pass the matter to a higher level of authority.