Blue Mountain Middle School Looks at Diversity

“Yes, you can judge a book by its cover; you just can’t do it well.” So says James Childs, a widely recognized diversity consultant who has been working recently with students at Blue Mountain Middle School (in the Hendrick Hudson School District) to address the topic of diversity.

On four dates in November (with an additional two days set for December), Childs, who has worked both nationally and internationally with both students and adults, spent an entire day with middle schoolers from each grade level. The students alternated between the auditorium – where large group presentations and discussions took place, and their homeroom groups – where staff facilitators worked with the students in smaller groups to identify and discuss various aspects of diversity.

Childs likes to emphasize what he calls STAR behavior, with STAR representing Sensitivity – Trust – Appreciation – Respect. “We’re going to talk about and simplify our attitudes toward difference and figure out how we get to that STAR behavior,” he said before the program began.

Asked what diversity means to him, Childs replied, “All the similarities and differences that we carry around with us. It’s either characteristics you were born with, an experience that you’ve had, or a choice that you’ve made. It’s possible to have diversity and not have inclusion. [The question is] how do we make people feel valuable, not in spite of their differences, but because oftheir differences.”

Childs noted that one question he would help students try to answer is this: How do I assess difference? “We’re going to work with the conceptual model of the iceberg (where about 90 percent who we are is hidden beneath the surface) … and try to slow down and ask: What differences am I noticing? How do I interpret those differences? How might that impact my attitude toward those differences and affect how I treat other people?”He began the day with an energetic presentation on the meaning of diversity, and engaged the students in discussion about how we observe one another. A key aspect of his message is the inferences we almost universally make about other people based entirely on what we see. Childs calls these “flash judgments.”

In addition to “diversity,” terms that emerged throughout the day were “bias,” discrimination,” “prejudice,” and “stereotype,” among others. Childs spoke at length about Appreciation, Tolerance, and Avoidance as points on a scale that essentially measures our positive or negative attitudes toward those whom we perceive as being different from us.

Using a series of uncaptioned photos, Childs asked his audience to select a photo that conforms to a series of labels, such as someone who is “an athlete,” or “a school drop-out,” and someone I’d “expect to cause trouble,” or “want as a friend.” They later viewed videos of the young people depicted in the photos to learn more about them and see if their initial “flash judgments” had changed. Students were surprised to learn that one of the individuals to be almost universally labeled as an athlete was also gay, and that another individual who appeared to be a boy was actually a girl. This additional information can often result in changes – sometimes positive, sometimes negative – to the initial impression.

Fully recognizing that, for all kinds of reasons, some people simply will not get along, Childs also asked participants to consider the question: How do I disagree agreeably?

The Blue Mountain Middle School Counseling Center staff members are: Beth Gagne, John Morotti, and Brooke Bolen - School Counselors; Lisamaria Albanese - Student Assistance Counselor; Dr. Rick Brodsky - School Psychologist; and Stefanie Westrick - School Social Worker. In a collective statement, they said of James Childs’ work: “We feel it is important to raise our students’ awareness about the social difficulties created by stereotypes. James Childs has a unique and effective way to convey important messages about social relationships that is both engaging and empathic towards our entire school community. Mr. Childs’ program fosters respect, trust, appreciation and sensitivity.”

Not surprisingly, James Childs himself has a diverse background. In addition to work in both the public and private sectors that has taken him to 28 states in the past six years, he is an ordained minister and leads the Pointe of Praise Family Life Center in his home town of Kingston, N.Y. He served as the Director of the Human Rights Commission for the City of Kingston; worked as the Leadership Development Trainer for the Ulster YouthBuild/AmeriCorps Program and Youth Director with the Ulster County Multi-Service Center; and served on the Board of the United Way and the advisory council of Kingston Community Development, as well as the Board of Directors for the Kingston Housing Authority. He was recently named Chairman of the Board of the Ulster County housing coalition known as RUPCO, whose slogan is “Strengthening Homes, Communities and Lives.”

Photo Caption: Diversity consultant James Childs listens to his audience at Blue Mountain Middle School.