Photo Courtesy of LA Times
At Cultures of Dignity we are always working to uphold the dignity of all. Given the events of this past weekend in Charlottesville, we, like so many, are managing our own feelings of fear for our country and profound disappointment that President Trump abdicated his responsibility as an ethical leader and demonstrated support of xenophobic nationalism and ignorance of the sacrifice hundreds of thousands of Americans made fighting Hitler in World War 2.
There’s a saying some of us were raised with: “You don’t start the fight but you do finish it.” We have been and will always continue to fight for what matters the most: the right for each and every one of us to be treated with dignity. We are building a defense against hatred, anxiety, and fear. We are working with young people to address their concerns. And we know it can be daunting to know where to start having these conversations with young people but we are in this together.
Over the weekend, educators and social justice organizations showed up, shared lesson plans, articles, and resources on how to discuss these tough topics with young people in and outside of the classroom through the viral #CharlottesvilleCurriclum on Twitter and this amazing Google Doc.
Below are some of our favorite resources.
The Anti-Defamation League put together a list of the teachable moments from the Charlottesville protest and violence in Lessons to Teach and Learn from “Unite the Right”.
Facing History and Ourselves has an excellent list of 17 Lessons for teaching students decision-making in times of injustice packed with evidence based curriculum for middle and high school students.
Teaching Tolerance published Lesson Plans on the basics of social justice for children as young as kindergarten.
Edutopia shared a powerful article by Jinne Spiegler on Teaching Young Children About Bias, Diversity, & Social Justice for elementary level children.
Article from the LA Times How to talk to your kids about the violence in Charlottesville full of tips and tools for young people of all ages.
Share My Lesson’s compilation of civil rights and social justice lessons and activities from organizations like Teaching Tolerance, ADL, and Peace First.
National Network of State Teachers’ pulled together a Social Justice Book List broken down by grade level.
Common Sense Media’s guide to Explaining the News to Our Kids breaks down how to speak to kids about what they are seeing by age group.
And as always, our curriculum Owning Up: Empowering Adolescents to Confront Bullying, Social Cruelty Bigotry is available.
If you feel we have missed any resources, please email us at curious@culturesofdignity.com
If you need additional support, reach out at curious@culturesofdignity.com
