What is prejudice?

It’s hard to have an opinion or an idea about something if you’ve never tried it. Brussels sprouts might not look or smell tasty, but how do you know unless you’ve tried them? Baseball might not seem like it’s fun to play, but until you’ve picked up a bat and taken a swing, it wouldn’t really be fair to call baseball a snooze.

An opinion formed without any real reason or knowledge is known as a prejudice. Usually “prejudice” refers to an unfair opinion about a person or a group of people. Have you ever heard someone say “all girls are bad at sports”? That’s a prejudice! Plenty of girls are good at sports (some are even better than boys!) so a person who believes that all girls are bad at sports is being unfair and prejudiced.

Prejudices take ideas that aren’t true and can’t be proven and act like they are facts. When people base their actions off prejudices, it hurts others. Let’s say someone who owns an ice-cream shop has a prejudice against kids. Maybe this person had a bad experience with one mean kid who stole from him, or maybe he believed someone who told him all kids are troublemakers. Now he has a prejudiced belief that ALL kids cause problems. He doesn’t let any kids come inside his store and turns you away even though you’re polite and well-behaved. It probably wouldn’t feel very good to be treated this way! His belief that all kids are naughty isn’t fair. You deserve to be given a chance and treated like an individual!

It’s important to avoid prejudiced ideas, even if you hear other people using them. Stand up for what you know is right! Everybody is a unique person and deserves an equal and unprejudiced chance. Show respect and treat others the same way you’d want to be treated too!

 

Lots of prejudices begin with the word “ALL.” When you’re trying to avoid thinking or acting in a prejudiced way, you can look out for this word as a warning signal!

Try to think of some examples of prejudices that start with the word “all.” Some ideas might include:

“All teachers are mean.”

“All boys are bad at art.” 

“All kids who wear glasses are shy.” 

Then, think about why each statement is a prejudice by thinking of an example that goes against it! – A nice teacher, a boy who draws beautiful pictures, and a talkative kid who wears glasses!