Stereotypes

Last week third graders were given a true/false quiz. They were asked to answer the following:

All mechanics are boys.
All nurses are girls
All doctors are boys.
All football players are boys.
All ballet dancers are girls.

Their responses were fantastic! I asked them to complete the "quiz" the best they could and be sure to raise their questions and concerns during our discussion.

I was very impressed with the children's response. Most of them answered false to every statement. They felt strongly that you can't say anything about a person's abilities or likes/dislikes because of their gender.

The point of this experience of course was to introduce the children to the concept of stereotypes. A stereotype is when we make an assumption about a person based on the group they belong to - in this case 'boys' or 'girls.' We will have more conversations about stereotypes. You can have some interesting conversations about this with your child at home. :o)