Racism is prejudice, discrimination or hostility towards individuals of a different racial or ethnic origin. In many parts of the world, people can feed on prejudices for no reason due to factors such as language, religion and race. A Dutch researcher studied the origins of this purely learned behavior.
Academician Ymke de Brujin conducted a doctoral study examining how children perceive diversity in society. With the research titled “Prejudice among Ethnic Children in the Netherlands: Social Learning from Parents and Picture Books”, it was revealed that children develop prejudices against ethnic origins from an early age.
Children do not prefer to play with children of different ethnic origins
Emphasizing the importance of preventing the development of prejudice at the earliest possible stage, Bruijn conducted a research to understand how prejudice arises in children in the Netherlands. It examined the behaviors and ideologies to which children aged 6 to 10 and their families are exposed. He examined how parents or books contribute positively or negatively to children. In the research, which started in 2017, interviews, games and computer assignments were made with nearly 300 children and their families. With Bruijn’s study, the factors that affect children’s attitudes and prejudices towards people of different ethnic origins were determined.
Within the scope of the research, children from different ethnic origins; Photos of children with a white or black skin color and a middle eastern appearance were shown and questions such as “Who would you like to invite to your birthday, who would you like to sit next to, who would you like to play with?” were asked. Most of the participants chose children with white skin color. When the questions were asked negatively, children with white skin color were less selected.
The results showed that white-skinned children living in the Netherlands began to develop prejudices against individuals of different origins from an early age.
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