Kids' College

Abstract

SUMMARY It is estimated that by the year 2010, African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans will no longer be considered an ethnic minority in our country. As our society moves toward greater cultural heterogeneity, children from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds will be interacting with one another on a larger scale in school, work, and play. This study explores the effects of the multicultural intervention program Kids' College on children's self-esteem, ethnic pride, prejudice, and stereotyping attitudes. The 10-13-year-old children enrolled in the Kids' College program were the participants of the study. Kids' College is a six-week summer program designed to increase children's understanding of and appreciation for cultural diversity. A goal of the program is to decrease children's prejudices by providing an atmosphere where positive interpersonal relationships with children of different ethnic groups can develop. Participants of the study included 14 Caucasian, 35 African-American, 27 Asian, 26 Hispanic, and 11 multi-racial children. Participants were given measures to assess their self-esteem, ethnic pride, multi-group prejudice, and stereotyping attitude. Results showed that general self-esteem increased at post-test (M = 3.08), t (37) = 8.31, p= 0.00 and across three subscales: school (t (37) = 5.89); home (t (36) = 9.128); and peer (t (37) = 6.144), p = 0.00 for all subscales. Multi-group prejudice significantly decreased at post-test (M = 0.17), t (37) = 3.65, p = 0.00. No significant differences from pre- to post-test were shown for ethnic pride. Implications for future research are discussed.