The rise of the microaggression culture on college campuses has taken many Americans, both Democrat and Republican, by surprise. Now, several psychology professors are calling for teachers to do more to address microaggressions in kindergarten through 8th grade classrooms.
In a new article published in Children and Youth Services Review, three psychology professors in the Simmons College School of Social Work are calling the existence of microaggressions in K-8 schools a real problem. They believe that school administrators must take steps to protect students from “the dire consequences of microaggressions.”
In their study, the authors interviewed ten clinical school social workers about their perceptions of microaggressions that they observed in day-to day interactions between children.
Researchers noted that students who engage in bullying activity focus on any weak point they can find in other students. Their subjects recalled observing microaggressions in a variety of forms, including attacks on “race and ethnicity, class, family structure, ability and disability, weight or size, appearance, and religion.”
Based on their findings, the authors claim that “bias awareness strategies aimed at students and staff” might be “crucial component of effective microaggression prevention” in the K-8 setting.
This isn’t the first time that psychology researchers have attempted to assume the role of parents for children in the K-8 setting. Last year, Bank Street School for Children, an affluent Manhattan charter school received significant publicity for segregating children based on race.
According to an investigation by the NY Post, Bank Street administrators created a safe space for students of color, where they were comforted and even given cupcakes, while white students were placed into classrooms and lectured about “awareness of the prevalence of Whiteness and privilege.”
When confronted about segregating minority children by race, Bank Street Director of Diversity Anshu Wahi defended the practice as necessary because students of color needed to be able to share their “ouch moments,” including passive but offensive white comments known as “microaggressions.”
While some educators would love to spend all their time addressing microaggressions, it seems that Betsy DeVos will steer the Department of Education and public education towards addressing things more substantial issues for K-8 students, such as increasing math and science test scores.
