Breaking free of limiting messaging in children's rooms

PHOTOGRAPHY FRANÇOISE BAUDET

WORDS KATHRYN BOWN @ LIFELONGLEARNING

“IF WE DON'T PLACE THE STRAITJACKET OF GENDER ROLES ON YOUNG CHILDREN, WE GIVE THEM SPACE TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.”

- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

We now know how important it is for children to be exposed to a range of different learning op- portunities, environments and play materials to expand their knowledge and build a foundation that gives them many choices in their lives. Of course, there are many places that children receive messages about how they should ‘be’ in the world, and many of those messages can be constraining and restricting. So, it might be of particular importance to many parents to ensure that children receive positive, reinforcing and world-expanding messages in their homes and in the spaces designed and created just for them.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s quote above is an important reminder that messages about gender roles can have lifelong impacts on children as they come to believe and embody the rigid roles they might observe in media, in schools, in the wider community and between peers. On the other hand, children who are exposed to a wide variety of roles, interests, activities and learning op- portunities, regardless of gender, are more likely to have an expansive out- look on what they can attempt and achieve in their lives. This outlook will also affect how they perceive others and embrace diversity in the world.

Children who are exposed to a wide variety of roles, interests, activities and learning opportunities, regardless of gender, are more likely to have an expansive outlook on what they can attempt and achieve in their lives.

So, when it comes to designing a bedroom or playroom for the young people in your life, careful considera- tion of the messages you are sending to your children through the use of colour, materials, toys, and equip- ment is prudent. Some of these decisions might be obvious, such as the use of traditional ‘gendered’ colours, which might not even re- flect the tastes of your children but reinforce gender stereotypes. Other decisions might be less obvious, such as subtle messages about gross motor play being encouraged for boys and more quiet activities ex- pected of girls.

It’s hard not to have pre-conceived ideas about who our children are and who they should be. The media, popular culture and other influen- tial platforms can play a powerful role in reinforcing stereotypes of all kinds and persuading society to maintain rigid roles and expecta- tions. However, the good news is that, according to Anne Glover in the third edition of the Anti-Bias Ap- proach in Early Childhood, “Parents, siblings, extended family members, friends, carers and teachers all play an important role in the development of children’s attitudes. Together, they provide much of the social informa- tion from which children make sense of their diverse world.” So, breaking free of the limiting messages children might be seeing in the media and elsewhere by looking inward to our home environment and relationships is a radical act of love and compas- sion. It can sometimes take a bit of confidence and courage to support our children to embrace their true selves when they are resisting gender roles that are traditionally expected, especially if it means we have to reflect on some of the biases we might consciously and unconsciously hold as parents. But in the words of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in doing so, we are giving our children the gift of space to reach their full potential. This is a pursuit worthy of our time and effort.