We Need Tolerance, Now More Than Ever  

An article from The Guidance Channel Newsletter
www.GuidanceChannel.com

By Kathleen A. Shea, Ph.D., for the Living Values Educational Program, Inc.

On September 11th, at the exact hour of the attack on the World Trade Center, a Miami middle school teacher was at the studio of a local public television station receiving training in a global values education program called Living Values . Like most educators, one of her first thoughts was how best to help her students understand and cope with one of the most horrific events of a lifetime. "I was in the right place at the right time," she says. "I opened the Living Values Activities for Children Ages 8-14, and the first section was on the value of Peace. I walked into the classroom on September 12th, confident that I knew what to do!"

The events of September 11th have given rise to increased incidents of ethnic harassment in schools. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and federally funded Regional Equity Assistance Centers, have all issued memoranda to remind schools about their legal responsibilities to protect the rights of persons in our educational communities. According to Dr. Nancy Peck, Director of the Southeastern Equity Center:

"In an ironic way, this tragedy has provided both a checkpoint and a teachable moment for educators. It is a checkpoint because it has become a barometer of the progress or lack of progress that we have made in valuing differences in skin color, culture, and beliefs. It is an outstanding teachable moment, in that our children can see first-hand the results of the fear that intolerance, oppression, and powerlessness produce. Our children are fearful and very vulnerable at this point, and can easily be led to imitate the inappropriate acts of adults."

However, it's not just the recent tragedies that make tolerance more important than ever. The Southern Poverty Law Center has identified 602 active hate groups located throughout the United States. As children both in the United States and abroad are increasingly exposed to violence and growing social problems, educators, counselors, and parents are asking for help to turn around these alarming trends. Most feel that part of the solution lies in an emphasis on values.

If Peace Is The Goal, Then Tolerance Is the Method! 
 
 Tolerance is a powerful, but often-misunderstood value. There are three levels of tolerance:

  • Enduring a situation which you don't like anyway. From long checkout lines and highway gridlock, to physical illness, some situations demand tolerance. Simply enduring only increases feelings of anger, hostility, and pent up stress. Many people see tolerance in only this way!

  • Finding a way to adapt and deal with a situation; i.e. making some kind of a deal with yourself to take action, so that you don't feel out of control and victimized by the situation. "White flight" from changing neighborhoods is an example of this. Taking medication for an illness is an action that helps people tolerate pain.

  • Being open and receptive to the beauty of differences. Through understanding, and with a genuine appreciation for the value of diversity, a person demonstrates tolerance in a practical way. A person has no need to endure or make a deal. As a result, relationships bloom and a civil society is the result.

Diversity Is Our Destiny

By 2025, no racial or ethnic group will form the majority of school students. Even traditionally homogeneous schools are changing. For example, at a single public high school in Annandale, Virginia, there are 2,200 students, speaking 34 different languages, from 72 countries. Each of the 200+ nations on the globe is represented in US schools today!

UNESCO proclaimed 1995 as the "Year for Tolerance." As we reflect on the value of tolerance, the Director General's words help us to realize why we must promote this value to our children:

"Tolerance is not concession, not indifference. Tolerance is the knowledge of the other. It is mutual respect through mutual understanding. Let's throw out the old myths and take up the results of current research. Man is not violent by nature. Intolerance is not ' in our genes.' Fear and ignorance are the root causes of intolerance, and its patterns can be imprinted on the human psyche from an early age."