Emotional - The child would feel rejected, therefore they would devalue themselves.
Social - The child wouldn’t be able to socialise as much with most of the other children because he wouldn’t want to try out any sports incase he was the last chosen again.
Disability Discrimination (Physical)
“The term disability is one which persists because of our society’s need to ‘label’ anyone who differs from the normal” (T.Bruce and C.Meggitt 1999)
Many early years services are not fitted with the essential needs a young physically disabled child need:
- Wheelchair Ramps
- Disabled Toilets
- Lifts
- Grab Rails
- Wide Entrances
- Soft Play Areas
They are essential for disabled children; unfortunately mainstream schools can not afford to provide the essential needs. Although there are specialists schools for the disabled, their parents may prefer for their child to attend a mainstream school has it would help them socialize with the “normal child”. Parents may also feel that because there is disabled and in a specialist school they are being hidden away.
Many early years services lack the resources for disabled children; this holds the child back from reaching their full potential.
Mentally Disabled
The mentally disabled children get discriminated against by other children. They are seen to ‘normal’ children as being ‘stupid’ as most children do not understand different diseases and illness’s which causes a child’s brain to work slower than it should. Unfortunately many mainstream schools are not accessible for the mentally disabled as they do not have the necessary learning equipment needed. Most early years services do not have the trained staff to individually look after a mentally disabled child, they need individual care and attention. Therefore the child’s individual needs would not be met.
Disability discrimination would affect the child’s holistic development in the following ways:
Physical - The child will not be able to take part in a lot of physical activities.
Intellectual - The children with a mental illness are unable to work intellectually with the other children.
Language - Other children might not want to talk to them incase they offend them or do not understand the disabled child, therefore their language skills would be affected.
Emotionally - The child may feel rejected as they are unable to join in with their fellow classmates.
Social - The child will not be able to socialise aswel with other children because they can not join in with them.
Gender Discrimination
Children get discriminated against because of their gender. This has developed since the bygone days, it was a males job to go to work and earn all the money to support his family and a woman’s job to stay home, look after the children, cook and clean. This still happens in early years services as a child or a group of children are treated different from the opposite sex e.g. schools may not allow girls to play football as they consider football to be a ‘boys sport’ or only letting girls play with dolls in the home corner as it is a ‘woman’s job’.
Gender discrimination would affect the child’s holistic development in the following ways:
Physical - Boys are physically stronger than girls.
Intellectual - They might think that one gender is superior to the other.
Language - They might not interact with the opposite sex, therefore wouldn’t know how to make a conversation with them.
Emotional - e.g. School sets up a boys football team, the girls may feel left out as they are not allowed to join, even though its what they enjoy and they might be really good.
Social - They would not have the chance to interact with the opposite sex.
Social Discrimination
Children in mainstream schools get discriminated a lot because of their social class. The child would have picked up from their role models’ (parents) actions. For some unfortunate children because their parents may not have a stable income this would seriously effect the child’s development. This would also decrease the opportunities the child has because their parents may not be able to afford swimming or football lessons or dance classes.
Children whose parents do have a decent income discriminate against the less fortunate children e.g. a new toy comes out at the shops, every child except Billy buys the toy, therefore because Billy does not have the toy the other children laugh and tease him about it. This could seriously damage the child’s developing sense of self-worth and self-esteem.
Social discrimination would affect the child’s holistic development in the following ways:
Physical - ‘Rich’ children might not want ‘poor’ children playing with them incase they catch ‘lurgy’ (a made up disease in schools) from the child.
Intellectual - They might not dare ask any other child for help in lessons incase they teased them as their self-esteem is very low.
Language - Children might not want to talk to them, therefore the language skills would suffer.
Emotional - The child would feel rejected, their self-esteem would be low.
Social - They would not have many friends maybe because they smell, or some children do not like the look of the child.
Size Discrimination
Many children in today’s society are overweight; therefore more children are getting discriminated against in the early year’s services for being overweight. Sizes come in various categories, i.e. small, large, tall, fat or thin. Unfortunately children suffer from discrimination about their size just as much as adults, if not more. Children small or tall of height often feel different to the ‘average’ sized child. Therefore they get discriminated against for being above or below the average height; this also applies to weight differences.
Size discrimination would affect the child’s holistic development in the following ways:
Physical - A basketball team won’t allow a boy in because he is too small.
Intellectual - The bullying which they receive might make them scared of going to school, therefore they would not be getting the education they need.
Language - They might not have any friends to talk to. Too scared to talk to teachers, their language skills would therefore be low.
Emotional - They would feel upset and alone, they wouldn’t have any self-esteem.
Social - They might rather stay indoors and watch television than going outside and risk getting stared at or being teased by other children.
The Race Relations Act 1976
“ In 1976 Race Relations Act was passed in the UK. It has not successfully combated racial inequality; it prevents people discriminating against others, based on racial origins, but it does not prevent people holding negative and discriminating attitudes towards people from other racial and ethnic groups. Laws alone can not change racism - people are responsible for bringing about changes for the better. The Race Relations Act defines ‘racial grounds’ as colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origins, but it does not include culture or religion.
The Race Relations Act refers to direct racial discrimination and indirect racial discrimination.
Direct racial discrimination means treating or telling someone that they cannot do or have something, on the grounds that they are of another ‘race’, colour or nationality. Direct racial discrimination is illegal.
Indirect racial discrimination consists of treatment which:
- May be described as equal in a formal sense, but which is discriminatory in its effects on one particular racial group.
- Occurs when regulations or rules are out into practice which are impossible for that racial group to conform to.” (H.Malik 1998)
The Disability Discrimination Act
The Disability Discrimination Act covers disabled people both physically and mentally. The act implies disability as being “a physical or mental impairment which has substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”
“All settings should have a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) who is responsible for ensuring that the special needs of children are met. In schools this would be a member of the teaching staff who liaises with parents and other staff and keeps records of the special educational needs within the school.” (S.Green 2002)
Conclusion
Children are not born prejudice; they pick up actions from their role models (parents) and imitate them. During their early years children are developing their sense of identity, self-worth and self-esteem. They are learning how others see them and treat them. They react to what they experience and see around them. The attitudes of the parents affect the child’s development. Parents should show positive images of people, lives and places, this helps to build their child’s identity and self-esteem.
Being a victim of discrimination can affect children’s life changes in many ways:
- It can damage their developing sense of self-worth and self-esteem.
- They may grow up with a view of themselves as inferior.
- They may not try out new activities for fear of failing.
- They may achieve less at school.
- They may develop serious emotional and social problems late in life e.g. finding it hard to form relationships.
Bibliography
- Diploma Child Care and Education - Penny Tassoni, Kate Beith, Harriet Eldridge and Alan Gough.
- BTEC National Early Years - Sandy Green
- A Practical Guide To Equal Opportunities - Hyacinth Malik