Teacher tells first graders that there's a "skin color" color (peach, that is)... !?

My stepson and I were painting pumpkins today, when he told me he wanted the "skin color" paint (the last time I checked, there is a HUGE spectrum of 'skin colorS').





He goes to a predominately white... I mean almost completely white rural country school. I asked him who told him that this peach color was "skin color" and he told me his teacher. I told him that his teacher is wrong, and I showed him lots of pictures of people with lots of different skin tones (as well as variations of what SEEMS like one skin color).





How do I go about handling this? I'd love to go up to the teacher and go off on her, but I don't want her taking anything out on the kid. I just feel like I'm part of the problem if I keep my mouth shut. So how should I approach her?

Teacher tells first graders that there's a "skin color" color (peach, that is)... !?
If it were me (since I hate conflict), I wouldn't blame the teacher, but I'd act like it was a problem with my kid (not in front of my kid, of course). I'd tell the teacher that I had realized that my child, living in a not very diverse area, didn't know much about people with other cultures, skin colors, religions, etc. I'd give one example of how he had "somehow" gotten the misimpression that "skin color" had to mean "peach". I'd say I was trying to correct that at home, but since the town isn't very diverse, it "occurred to me" that it would be great if the teachers could also help the kids out by teaching them more about diversity. I'd ask the teacher for her "tips" on teaching about diversity that she "uses" at school, so that I can use some of them at home, too. And I'd hope from all of that the teacher would get the point and start being a little more clued in about the world!
Reply:I try to teach my kids the same thing and have experienced the 'skin color' situation(band aids as well)! I never thought to ask the kids if that is what the teacher called it. Usually my kids want to color someone's face and need it.( We are also white but want them to know it's proper name of the color is peach) It's a great everyday opportunity to teach a small lesson empathy open mindedness and diversity.Good for you on that point. I don't understand where your anger is from. No need to go off. There is no problem. You can mention to your stepson calmly your teacher is mistaken.Don't show harsh disapproval toward the teacher. Sometime I'll hand my kids a brown color when they ask for skin color as a gentle reminder. Just let your teacher know your trying to teach open mindedness and please refer to it as peach. I'll bet you a million to one she's with you on this one! It slips sometime. I still will forget and say Indian instead of Native American. People will know what kind of person you are by how you act. I'm sure you can gather what sort of teacher your son has. Just show him how to stand up friendly. firmly and in a healthy non aggressive way and you'll have accomplished 2 lessons in one!
Reply:wow talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill...
Reply:Hrm.... Well, teachers usually say peach is skin color because they don't want kids going off and thinking people have purple skin- that's what my impression is anyway.





you're right, there isn't just one skin color, from where I see it, there are two things you can do.





1. you can just let his teacher preach on about skin color or whatever, but make sure your stepson knows that there isn't just one skin color





2. you could talk to his teacher, and ask her not to use the term 'skin color' anymore, seeing as there isn't just one skin color, there are tons of colors-- if she takes anything out on your stepson, talk to teh principal, and have him switch classes.


___





Where I went to school we had so many different people that we couldn't say skin color is peach with out offending someone. you could mention that saying 'skin color' is peach could be offending to some people.





Good Luck
Reply:well..... white rural country school says a lot to me. i think rural country folks don't pay much attention to what's deemed politically correct these days. poor thing probably didn't even think twice about what she said. in any even, YOU are completely correct that there is no such thing as skin color paint or crayons. i would politely discuss it with the teacher, tell her tactfully that you were suprised at his skin color comment, that you believe there is a huge spectrum of skin colors. good luck
Reply:I agree, don't go off on her...how many shades for skin color are in a normal box of school crayons???...I'm sure she didn't mean to be so ethnically insensitive as you are making out...make sure your stepson learns not everyone has peach colored skin, but that green and blue are the colors of grass and sky...
Reply:I'm not sure that a first grader is the most reliable reporter of what actually was said. While I'm sure that your teacher probably said peach was a "skin color," she was likely referring to your son's self-portrait.





Self-portraits are one of the most common projects done early in first grade, since teachers are evaluating the children for reading readiness, number awareness, verbal communication, etc. The detail to which a kindergartener or first grader can make a self-portrait is a good quantitative measure of their development.





If you have other reasons to doubt your teacher, by all means speak with her about diversity. However, if this is the only reason to have questions about the appropriateness of her comments, I would most definitely give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she was advising your son specifically on a self-portrait.





If you want to know more, by all means volunteer to help out at school. I'm sure you will get a lot of information that way.





Good luck to you.
Reply:I think that a lot of your stepsons world views will come from ya'll. As long as you explain your point of view to him and expose him to different cultures, he will learn to make up his own mind about things. Trust your parenting skills and he'll do the right thing.
Reply:You need to relax first of all. YOU are the parent. Your son may have misinterpreted something his teacher said, after all, he is a child. You corrected your son already. He is going to learn in life that sometimes people will not be as "PC" as one might hope, but you can't go yelling at everybody because of it. Teach him the ways of the world, mom.
Reply:Dude, it's no big deal.





I'm sure you freak out if your son has a cold, right?





Chill!
Reply:Crayola actually has a packet of crayons/pencils that are "skin colors." They are a little more expensive to find but most classrooms have them. The teacher could have given him his "skin color" crayon to use and he thinks it looks peach?


Crayola has many MANY different shades in this skin color pack.





Wow, I can't believe the nerve of you to assume that some of these people are racist just because they aren't ready to go all flippin loony on some teacher without knowing all the facts. Lady, you take things to the extremes. After calling us all racist I'm inclined to believe that, in fact, you ARE exaggerating the entire skin color scenario.


Grow up!
Reply:His teacher was probably comparing the color to his own skin color.





My art teacher still says that, and she doesn't have people going like "OMG RACISMMMM".
Reply:I think you might be overreacting. It's good that you want your stepson to appreciate diversity, however the teacher might have only been referring to your stepson's/his classmates' "skin color" when referring him to a peach crayon. She might tell an African American student to reach for his skin color crayon, and hand him a chocolate or tan crayon.





If you want to approach her, mention that you had talked to your stepson about using a skin color. Mention that you were wondering if she used this with him because of his individual coloring, and jokingly say that there is a Crayola box full of "skin colors"!
Reply:Is your stepson caucasian? I just ask because the teacher may have identified the peach color as his skintone. First graders still tend to take things very literally, so what was said may have been taken in a very literal context. I would try to find out what the teacher actually said before jumping all over her.





I can recall at one point that the peachy colored crayon was actually called fleshtone or something similar. Now they have a special skin tones pack of crayons that cover almost every shade of skin there is. The peach color is skin tone, it's just not everyone's skin tone.
Reply:Don't go off on her! She may have said this to one child who was white and your son may have overheard her. I would ask her how she teaches about diversity in the classroom. Having been a teacher, I know how things get distorted between the classroom and home. No one can be completely politically correct 100% of the time. Be calm and don't assume that she's a racist, because of this one comment that she may or may not have made.



online payday loans