The same, but different: a guide to avoid social discrimination

The discrimination It remains a worrying problem throughout the world. Thousands of foreigners go to other countries in search of work and decent living conditions. At the same time, many young people today think that immigrants are threatening their future and their job expectations, and believe that they must fight against this "invasion" that allegedly attacks their rights. Channeling these ideas is a task for everyone, parents, educators, friends, etc.

"To discriminate is to hierarchize human beings by reason of any pretext, contrary to what is usually believed, it is not the opposite of equality, if by that it is understood that we should all be equal." Luckily we are not, but we all have the right to be considered and respected equally, with our differences, this is that the opposite of discrimination is the right to be different, which is the same in each one of us ". With this phrase Raul Zaffaroni, Argentine jurist, expressed his idea about discrimination.


Youth and discrimination

What are the main causes of the increase in discrimination among young people? The strong tendency to individualism, inherent in modernity, implies a strong disorientation and a sensitive decoupling of institutions like the family, the vocation for work, religious beliefs, unions or political parties. But, above all, it opens a deep contradiction with the culture of solidarity, so established in our society.

All of the above makes the young man more permeable to external intolerant approaches. The comfort culture, or the search for strong sensations, makes the tendency of youth come closer to positions of not feeling discomfort, or being bothered by "the others", by their ideas, their ways of being, their work or their peculiar characteristics.


In short, it can be said that the fall of traditional social values, moral rules and patterns of behavior that can be considered habitual, has made a young individualistic society and, to some extent, anti-solidarity.

A big problem with some young people today: the lack of a vital project. That makes them fall frequently in this search for strong sensations such as alcohol, designer drugs, etc. Therefore, it will be necessary to open horizons of the future, of a solid vital and social project.

How to remedy discrimination?

The first thing that will have to be done will be to detect those ideas. This is achieved by talking with the children and observing their comments about immigrants, gypsies, etc. They are usually generalizations drawn from the school, the street or the media.


It is important that we talk with the teachers to know their friendships at school. Certainly, everything is summarized in speaking, speaking, speaking ... to be able to engage in sincere and trusting conversations with our son. It will be necessary to understand and excuse their crises and their euphoria. And everything to prevent the seed of violence or intolerance from growing in him, which could have been planted in the school, in the street ... In any case, there are many NGOs that offer their help to parents to detect and correct racist ideas and attitudes.

Tips to avoid discrimination

- Let's take advantage of conversation topics with children to channel their attitudes of contempt towards other people of different colors, religions, continents or ethnic groups.

- You will have to know your friends, their places of leisure, their favorite activities, to put us on alert if we detect signs of some kind of support for violence, such as knives, fascist symbols, etc.

- Sometimes we will have to rectify our approach and behavior guidelines, and not encourage our children to violence. Encourage him to fix disagreements with his colleagues or teachers through dialogue and agreed solutions.

- Let's help our children to create future expectations, Exciting projects that are worth fighting for. A clear horizon can be your best help to see things from a different perspective.

- A great help may be to encourage them to participate in NGOs * s, youth associations, cultural and sports groups. That is the best way to channel their leisure, since otherwise they can acquire little educational habits such as alcohol, gangs misunderstood, etc.

- Avoid derogatory attitudes at home against people of different color, ethnicity, sex or religion. Even though we are not going to do anything against them, our children can feed the seed of violence.

A good way to channel your exclusionary ideas will be to foster empathy, that is, to put yourself in the role of the other. And let our children know how hard it is to leave the family in another country.Through participation in solidarity activities, trips abroad, collaboration with NGOs, documentaries about other countries, etc., feelings of solidarity, responsibility, helping others in difficult times can be made to them.

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