Prejudice Has No Rules

Our children have an innate sense of right and wrong. They also have a willingness and desire to please us. We cannot teach our children about prejudice, without showing them the pain of what it does. We must expose prejudice for what it is, simple cowardice. We need to encourage our children to play with any friend they choose, regardless of race, creed, handicap, or learning disability. Prejudice is learned when children separate themselves. We must teach our children to be inclusive.

The following story illustrates how prejudice can be both painful, and unpredictable. It shows that children do not automatically have preconceived notions about other people. These are learned from the adults in their lives. With this in mind, we must live up to our responsibility, and treat all people with respect and dignity. Our children pay attention to everything we say and do.
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Jacob and Tim were neighbors. They used to hang out a lot until Tim's mom met Eric. She was so happy to finally have a man in her life. It had been a few years. It had taken her a long time to get over the death of her husband. She was finally starting to get used to the idea of life alone with her son. Then she met Eric.

Eric was a tall, well educated business man. His strong, muscular build showed that he cared about his appearance. He was also very respectful toward women, and made a nice living for himself. He fell madly in love with Tim's mom, Victoria. Of course, she was beautiful. Her long auburn hair was always pulled back in bouncy curls against her slender neck. Her skin remained tan for most of the year because she loved to work out in the yard. And her eyes had an unusual sadness and longing to them, probably from the loss of her husband a few years before.

Eric was in his fifties. He had always wanted a son, but never met the right woman to marry. He had pretty much given up on the idea, until he met Victoria. She was forty-four, and already had a son. Eric and Tim got along well. They spent a lot of time together, learning each other's likes and dislikes. Tim was twelve. He really enjoyed talking to Eric about girls and sports. Even though Eric could never replace his dad, he liked having a man to talk to again.

One day, Tim went over to Jacob's house because he hadn't seen him in so long. He wanted to tell him all about Eric. He was so excited to share the news that

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