An after-school competition took a disturbing turn last Tuesday at Lyles Crouch Traditional Academy in Alexandria.
Mother Kathryn Kelley says a group of white students allegedly told her fifth-grade son, who is half Asian, that he couldn’t sit with them.
“[They were] saying that mixed-race children had to sit at a table far away from the white children, and that African American and black children had to sit even further away,” Kelley told News4. “They said they were segregated and they couldn’t play with the white kids.”
Kelley says some students also allegedly teased students of color, based on race and class.
“It was of course very difficult, it was confusing. He was trying to understand what was going on, while also standing up for his friends and trying to diffuse the situation, but he didn’t really know what to do,” Kelley said.
News4 received a letter from the school’s principal sent to parents last Friday, acknowledging an “inappropriate play” that made some students feel uncomfortable as part of a “role-playing part of a social studies lesson.”
The letter said: ‘Students often want to discuss difficult classroom topics in a variety of ways, some of which may be offensive. This is certainly a challenge in educating our students and one that we must be keenly aware of when difficult topics are presented.”
Kelley believes there are steps that should have been taken.
“When kids learn these things, like about segregation, about the history of white supremacy in the US – they have to learn that, they have to learn that, but it’s not a game, and they have to learn the seriousness of it. these things.”
In the letter to families, the school’s principal said she plans to work with her team to incorporate lessons about thinking before you speak and act into the curriculum. The principal also said that the school community has a collective responsibility to ensure that all students feel valued and respected.
“I think we do this by maybe starting with what kids know,” said Greg Carr, professor of African American studies at Howard University.
Carr said lessons about inclusion can be simple, such as asking children how they feel when they see TV characters who look like them. He also says guest speakers can be helpful.
“So a lesson on segregation could include older people who lived through that period,” Carr said. “You know the implications now, from an elder who can tell you how much it hurts to be separated.”
It is not yet clear whether students involved in the game faced discipline. The principle said in her letter to parents that she could not say.
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
