Teen Moms and Religion

Class Tuesday we went over the importance of cultural sensitivity. We were asked the question "what strategies do we use to help ourselves with cultural diversity?" We went around and there were a wide variety of answers. Some of the ones mentioned more often were patience, communication/asking questions to learn, and suspending judgment. Some other strategies mentioned in the book were acknowledging each individual, recognizing language barriers, consistency, respect, and showing empathy. Each are important in building and maintaining relationships with others, and even to build a cohesive community within our sections and throughout campus.

Cory and Jenna had us participate in an activity where we were each "tagged" something different. It was to represent how diverse people could be, not only by culture, but by things not easily recognized or seen by others. We had to go around and talk to others to deduce what made us different from a "normal" person basing it off comments and reactions. I was a teen mother. I think the activity could have been a little more realistic in that most of the time we don't see some characteristics in people, like being a teen mom, that would cause us to judge them or treat them differently than ourselves. Most times it's caused by looking or sounding different.

The tags were still really good though because it made the impression that diversity really isn't just about appearance. It's everything different between people that make us unique from where and how we grew up to religion to skin color. But these differences in us are what make us unique and should be encouraged and cherished. I don't think we should look for differences from ourselves in people we meet but rather look for similarities and be open to and willing to learn about all the rest. Suspending judgment and asking questions is what I try to do, but I struggle with it many times as I know others do too. I just need to make more of an effort to be careful of what I say and how I phrase things so I don't take the risk of hurting someone else.

I don't believe we can ever put ourselves in another's shoes for the fact that we will never know what all is incorporated with them. But we can stop to think about how we would feel if the situation were reversed and we were the one's being judged, or shown limited patience, or whatever it is. Being sensitive to diversity is a leaned trait that we all need to work on. Wherever we go in life we will always be met with diversity in one way or another. It's better that we learn about it now so we know how to handle it and make the most of it later in life. (I mean, what better time to become comfortable with it when we have so much on campus?)

Have a good one and see you all in class Tuesday! :)