父母如何帮助孩子理解警察的暴行和街头抗议? 我们怎样才能了解那些在今天的头条新闻中被忽视的美国历史呢? 

As Black Lives Matter protests filled streets across America this spring, 保利的“消除偏见”(FFB)家长小组介入进来，帮助保利家长了解这一运动和背景. 阅读和讨论小组组织了近40名家长的在线聚会，进行了90分钟的讨论. They shared resources, 问问题, 和 strategized steps forward–for our families 和 for our school.

“我们对消除偏见的愿景是，保利社区的每个人都将被包括在内, 同时也参与其中,创始人之一说。 Jeff M和elbaum P’27. “We are not a group, but rather a movement, an initiative to raise awareness. I am a parent of a child who identifies as Latinx-Jewish, 和 I wanted to help foster a safe 和 progressive school environment, which welcomes diversity, 和 prioritizes 包容 以及社会公正.”

A 社区-Driven Initiative

“消除偏见自由”始于大约五年前，“当时我想为低年级学生家长发起一项多元化阅读倡议。,曼德尔鲍姆说.  联合创始人 艾琳·特塞拉，25岁 wrote its mission statement:

“‘无偏见’培养了学校和保利家庭在多元化问题上的伙伴关系, 股本, 以及社会公正. 在课堂上，保利学院的教职员工正在处理从公民权利到性别偏见等重大话题. FFB旨在帮助家长获得洞察力和灵感，在家里继续这些对话.”

“Over the past four plus years we have selected books, 文章, 还有一些视频, covering sexism 和 the impact of living in a patriarchal society, as well as girls’ 和 boys’ challenges facing harmful stereotypes,曼德尔鲍姆说. “我们探索了种族主义以及存在于白人至上主义文化中的种种考验. 我们已经找到了揭示“他者”所有形式的主题.”

“We dove in with gusto, gathering once a month, offering various reading materials on race, 性别, 和 socio-economic issues,他补充道. Among the readings were: Parenting Beyond Pink 和 Blue, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” 重新定义女人, “Ten Ways to Fight Hate, A 社区 Response Guide,” Cinderella Ate My Daughter, “How to Talk to Your Children 博彩网站排名 Bias 和 Prejudice,” Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Lives of Boys, “The Problem of Othering,” Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, 和 The First R: How Children Learn Race 和 Racism.

社区 Conversations Build Underst和ing

“无偏见自由为家长和社区成员创造了一个安全的空间，让他们讨论和教育自己的多样性, 包容, 股本 以及社会公正,” Indhira阿灵顿 P’29, ’31. “能成为一个愿意公开讨论一些棘手和敏感话题的社区的一员，真是太棒了. I have learned so much from our readings, 播客, 和 films through the years 和 from my fellow parents’ experiences. 我们有很多团契的时刻，使我们走得更近，帮助我们了解不同的经历和世界观.”

苏珊娜·陈，29岁 添加, “The conversations around bias 和 more importantly, learning about a new ‘language’ 和 way of speaking 和 communicating, which is not just reading, 和听力, but also reflecting 和 ultimately considering your words carefully, 是非常深刻的，并在一个安全的空间里进行了真正的讨论.”

“I’ve been exposed to the reality of how families, 特别是有色人种或其他背景的人看到了他们自己和他们在世界上的位置，也重新评估了我自己在抚养孩子方面的情况,成龙说。.  “我很感激能接触到这些对话，因为它确实帮助我更好地理解了与孩子沟通的方式, especially as it relates to fairness, instead of just referring to things as polarized ‘right or wrong.’ It has given me hope that my child will have better empathy, 技能, 和 underst和ing for a pluralistic 和 challenging society that lies in a world that she will inherit.”

New 领导 和 Plans for 2020-21

随着戴克高地校区家长协会的复兴，“消除偏见自由”运动的参与者扩大到了中学和高中的家长. “FFB是另一种让家长支持保利的好方法，因为它继续推动多元化作为其关键支柱之一,阿灵顿说.

In 2019-20, 玛戈·弗拉格P ' 31 和 Blake Foote P’27, ’29 took on the roles of facilitators for Freedom from Bias. “As a diverse group of parents,弗拉格说。, “我们觉得我们可以理解彼此的挑战，并诚实地谈论解决种族问题的最佳方法, 社会正义, 和不平等.  这些问题经常出现在新闻中——更不用说我们的社区和我们自己的家庭所面临的问题了——最近的一次是疫情期间对亚洲人的强烈反对，以及警察杀害乔治·弗洛伊德(George Floyd)引发的全国范围内对警察暴行的抗议. 当然，这些复杂的问题也在保利的课堂上得到了解决.  即使是我们最小的孩子带着这些问题回家，因为他们试图理解这些课程, their own experiences, 和 of current events.”

At the first gathering of the past school year, using How to Be an Anti-Racist  作者:Ibram X. Kendi, discussion focused on white privilege. In February, they focused on the NYC 股本 for 父母 Conference on Racial 股本 Literacy 在家长主导的研讨会上，保利家长分享了他们促进学校公平的经验. During Virtual Poly in May, 家长们参加了今年博彩网站排名DESJ发展的联合报告，讨论家长如何在下一学年推进这项工作.

“另一个挑战是主持一个虚拟的家长论坛，帮助彼此学习, talk to their children about, 和 take action against anti-Black racism,弗拉格说。. 

“在讨论中，种族在美国可以被视为‘第三者’，最近的事件突显出种族主义在我们的历史中根深蒂固, with repercussions that many of us have not acknowledged 和 examined,富特说。.  “因此，创建一个诚实开放的论坛来讨论这些问题是很困难的.”

Virtual Events in the New School Year

富特说:“我们正在计划举办虚拟的第一次‘摆脱偏见’活动. 定于9月30日、12月2日、2月24日和5月5日举行四次周三会议. 虚拟会议似乎比面对面的会议更容易接受，参加率也更高.

Chan encourages all parents to participate. “这是令人瞠目结舌的, 看, 和 nobody is above self-reflection leading to mindful growth,”她说。.

“健康的校园环境有利于所有背景的学生，我们希望‘无偏见自由’能够帮助确保这种环境的存在.”

艾琳·特塞拉，25岁

“It’s been difficult to face, 再一次, 残酷的事实是，我们的校园环境并不像我们想要的那样包容.  Many students of color, past 和 present, don’t feel welcome at Poly.特谢拉说. “Students have been speaking out with honesty 和 bravery, 和 we are truly seeing the next generation of leaders finding their voices.”

The goals for the 2020-21 school year are to: “provide a useful learning 和 action community for parents seeking to deepen their knowledge about systemic anti-Black racism 和 how to fight it; work closely with the new Diversity, 股本, 包容 (DEI) Director, Historically Underrepresented Groups (HUGs), 父母’ Association (PA), 和 faculty to help amplify the voices of parents seeking to enhance Poly’s DESJ mission; co-host an event with HUGs Asian Pacific Isl和er (API) to address anti-Asian racism especially in the context of COVID; 和 provide a forum for parents to suggest 和 lead discussion about additional DESJ-related topics of their choosing.”

“A healthy campus environment benefits students of all backgrounds,特谢拉说, “和 we want Freedom from Bias to help ensure that environment exists.” Foote 添加, “We are grateful that Mr. Barzdukas 和 his team have been responsive to students’ concerns, 我们期待参加8月11日中午12点举行的三场社区活动中的第一场, which will focus on anti-racism at Poly.“保利家族” 可以在这里注册.

For more information about Freedom from Bias,  Poly families are welcome to reach out to Blake Foote 和 Margo Flug. Please visit the 家长门户 directory for email addresses.