No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
Nelson Mandela
Young Hearts Open Minds™ is based on the fundamental belief that reaching and teaching young children at their very earliest stages of social-emotional, cognitive, and language development helps prevent the development of bias and race bias for the long-term. Teaching very young children to understand, respect and be comfortable with differences is an important part of building racial equity in this country.
Research suggests “that efforts to challenge negative attitudes and promote positive attitudes toward other racial groups need to begin early in a child’s life. Because teachers are important socialization agents, their behaviors and the curriculum they implement can play an important role in the formation of positive attitudes in children even in very early childhood” (Sutterby, 2015).
This significant research frames the nature and scope of both our challenge and opportunity: to help shape and deliver early childhood learning experiences that will have a lasting impact on children’s attitudes and behaviors toward others. Young Hearts Open Minds™ answers a strong call from the early childhood field for a comprehensive, integrated and focused program to prevent the development of bias and race bias within the early childcare and preschool settings.
Five core premises represent both the impetus that led to the formation of Young Hearts Open Minds™ and the foundation on which our work is based.
- Children are not born racist.
- Children begin to notice differences between themselves and others at a very young age and begin to make judgments and develop biases about those differences soon thereafter.
- We all, in particular white people, need to take action to actively address and prevent the development of racial bias and racism.
- The content of Young Hearts Open Minds™ is informed and shaped in consultation with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) communities.
- The Young Hearts Open Minds™ program is based on the integration of science and developmentally-appropriate early childhood educational practices.
Learn more about what is included in the Young Hearts Open Minds™ program through this brief video.