Social Justice

That's Not Fair!: A Teacher's Guide to Activism with Young Children
Ann Pelo and Fran Davidson, Redleaf Press, St. Paul, MN, 2000.
Reviewed by Jacqui James, Anti-Oppression Resources and Programs Director
Lifespan Faith Development, UUA, Boston, MA

If we teach children to recognize injustice, then we must also teach them that people can create positive change by working together... Through activism activities, children build the confidence and skills for becoming adults who assert, in the face of injustice, "I have the responsibility to deal with it, I know how to deal with it, I will deal with it."
—Louise Derman Sparks and The Anti-Bias Curriculum Task Force

Children's activism looks quite different from adult's activism. Young children's activism is not a way to promote an adult political or social agenda. Instead, the authors say, it encourages children to view themselves as change-makers. It is essential to help young children understand and confront the social and cultural biases so prevalent in our society.

Children's activism is not aimed at abstract systems and social structures, but at particular experiences of unfairness. Children's activism has a clear, tangible focus: helping people who are hungry, or changing the layout of the classroom to accommodate people in wheelchairs, or writing a letter to point out the stereotyped images of American Indians on the box of log-shaped blocks.

In That's Not Fair!, teachers learn to use children's sense of fairness to guide them toward changing the world and making it a better place to live. Offering what they call "guidelines rather than recipes," authors Pelo and Davidson designed That's Not Fair! to help teachers reflect on children's lives and create an anti-bias curriculum directly linked to their experiences. Real-life stories of children's experiences as activists, coupled with first-person accounts of teacher's experiences and reflections, add up to a complete guide to childhood activism.

This wonderful guide to nurturing young children's dispositions to act against unfairness includes an eleven page extensive guide to resources, including books (for adults, children and teachers), magazines, and music.

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