Teaching Children Fairness: Decreasing Gender Prejudice Among Children

Abstract

Elementary school children (66 girls and 55 boys, aged 10–13 years) in the Western United States participated in a program designed to teach them about fairness and to decrease their engagement in gender-prejudice behaviors. The study utilized a pretest/posttest design comparing students in the treatment group to students in a control group. Children and teachers completed measures regarding the children’s engagement of gender prejudice among their classmates, and students participated in focus groups after completing the program. At posttest, students in the treatment group reported experiencing less gender-prejudice by their classmates than students in the control group. Teachers also reported fewer gender-prejudice behaviors by the students in the treatment group. Qualitative analyses of the focus groups revealed that the students reported learning to challenge gender role stereotypes and endorsed a commitment to treating boys and girls fairly. Although much is known about the potentially detrimental impacts of gender prejudice and restrictive gender role socialization on children and adolescents (Norman, 2000; Pollack, 1999; Turner, Norman, & Zunz, 1995; Werner & Smith, 1982), most education and intervention efforts have historically targeted adults. However, a number of social justice theories assert the importance of the role kindergarten–12th grade schools can have in helping students recognize, resist, ∗ Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Britney G Brinkman,