Reading, Writing, 'Rithmetic and Relating

Last week on Halloween, I was outside talking to a teacher during recess when I heard one student in a Star Wars costume say to his friend after a squabble they had just had, "Let's just put the silly stuff behind us. We're friends. Let's go play."

It gave new meaning to "out of the mouths of babes" and it seemed like the perfect way to start my new blog "Diversity Dialogue" for St. Paul's.

Why diversity?

Why is it that diversity should be considered a priority in a grade school along with reading, writing and ‘rithmetic?

If you’ve ever seen as little as five minutes of the reality television show “The Amazing Race,” then you get an indication of why.

“The Amazing Race” takes contestants literally around the world in a race to beat out other contestants in each leg of a journey to eventually win a large prize.

Many of the tasks involve the contestants mastering physical feats and overcoming intense challenges involving weather and logistics.

But you know what is one of the most necessary and important skills the contestants have to address to  have a shot at winning? Learning how to deal with different people, cultures and foreign concepts.

Excelling in situations that you’ve been in over and over again with people who look like you and talk like you and think like you is easy. Even if it isn’t equally easy for everyone, it’s less challenging then dealing with other human beings where all you really have in common is shared humanity.

When there are no words you have in common with another, people operate from gut instinct. There is a reason why people say that a smile is a universal language.

Starting with children, people are very good at showing how they feel about others. Whether they are open and welcoming. Whether they are fearful or suspicious. And how people physically react and interact with others is based on what is inside their heads about others, especially when those "others" are different.

While the children of St. Paul's may not be running around the world as part of some grand adventure any time soon, being thrust in new environments or having to interact with new people or challenging situations can be an adventure just around the corner.

Once you have the skill of learning to treat every one with equal respect while still acknowledging their differences, it becomes much easier to do what that SPEDS' student said to his friend: put the silly stuff aside and just play.