Teaching Tolerance Raising Open-Minded, Empathetic Children

Teaching Toleranceis an invitation to parents and teachers: an invitation to examine their own habits and attitudes toward the community around them. Sara Bullard believes that once a parent is aware of the attitudes they were raised with, it is easier for them to teach their children true tolerance toward others. The first chapters ofTeaching Tolerancefocus on the humanness of intolerance-no one is truly exempt from the habit of judging others. The fourth chapter outlines the work required to alter intolerant instincts. The last four chapters walk parents through children's need for security, self-expression and moral guidance; needs which, if respectfully met, will free them to be comfortable both with themselves and with people of different backgrounds. Bullard concludes each chapter with questions and suggestions for journal writing to help parents further explore their own attitudes. Also included is an extensive list of books, toys, games and music that explore ethnicity and promote tolerance.

Sara Bullard is the founding director of Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, and the author of Teaching Tolerance: Raising Open-Minded, Empathetic Children, a thoughtful guide to fostering the open-minded attitudes necessary in today’s world. She is a freelance writer living in New York City.