By: Shyaan Manki
Fifty-eight percent of Canadian youth report seeing others at school insulted, bullied or excluded based on their race or ethnicity, says new data from UBC and the Angus Reid Institute.
Many children of colour have encountered some type of racism throughout their time in school, some from teachers, some from their peers. So, what can our peers do to prevent this from happening? And how can you make school a safer space for everyone?
An important part of many students’ lives is their physical health and playing sports and to feel safe and have fun, but a report made by in CBC sports in 2020, examining key positions in sports teams in 56 universities in Canada shows that “of the nearly 400 positions examined, only about 10 percent were held by Black, Indigenous or persons of colour (BIPOC). Only one of the 56 schools has a non-white athletic director.”
The numbers of how many people of colour are being rejected from sports teams in their own schools are frightening and show how school athletics teams need to be more inclusive and more accepting of diversity in their teams.
CBC sports also suggested ways schools can improve on being more inclusive, such as “publicly celebrating the achievements of racialized athletes so potential recruits know they wouldn’t be alone on a team;” as well as, “mandatory and continuous anti-racism training, and a shift in how athletes and coaches are recruited.”
Another area where schools can improve to prevent racism is how much school districts are teaching about historical racism. A Study made by UBC and the Angus Reid Institute examines how much historical discrimination is being taught to children, stated that: “One-third [of students] said they never learned anything about slavery in Canada; half said they didn’t learn of the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War; 60% said schools didn’t teach them about the Chinese immigrant head tax, and 80% said the topic of the SS Komagata Maru which carried refugees from India and was turned away in Vancouver never came up in their classrooms.”
This study shows how much of an influence school districts, teachers, and coaches have on the younger generations, and how much of a positive or negative impact they have on our awareness and mitigation of racism and the way we think towards others. Fortunately, we can take that to our advantage if society teaches children that every person is equal and that no person, regardless of colour, or wealth status, etc. is above another. The study also shows how if seniors and adults of communities expose racism at an early age it will help prevent racism in schools.
It is important to teach young teens and children to be careful in what they say, as they will soon be the future of society. We can also make our schools a safer environment if school councils take initiative to prevent racism in our schools. Parents and guardians also need to realize that they also hold a profound amount of power to teach their children about how to talk to others with kindness and as equals and to prevent their children from speaking racist comments in the school.