Discrimination is one of the main burdens that occur in educational centers in recent years. World globalization that has been taking place in recent decades is making it increasingly common to live with races and ethnic groups that are truly different from ours. For this reason, teaching the main habits of coexistence and respect has become one of the main challenges in the classroom for the entire educational sector since children enter schools when they are young. In fact, this problem is one of the causes that lead to bullying in schools and institutes and that can end really badly, including the possibility of suicide.
What is discrimination?
Discrimination is one of the main problems, as well as the object of study by many sociologists. Currently, we live in a society that is very carried away by prejudices. For example, if we suffer any type of robbery by a person who comes from Latin America, or from any other continent or race different from ours, we may think that everyone who belongs to the same place as the author of our robbery is the same. This means that from then on we do not see these types of people with the same eyes, and even our dealings with them can become unpleasant. However, in most cases we forget that in our race there are also people that they can also carry out any type of violent action or that violates the Penal Code, and that for this reason, not all are equal. They are called prejudices and they are becoming more frequent. In Europe, in fact, there are groups that suffer high degrees of marginalization due to discrimination. The field of social sciences that studies the phenomena of discrimination is that of social behavior. Experts in this field determine that there are different circumstances that may end up leading to an act of rejection. Some of these are related to reasons of sex, race or ethnicity while others are related to some aspect of our physique such as hairstyle, appearance or body weight.
Obviously, our sexual orientation, our musical or film tastes are also other reasons why we can be discriminated against. These reasons for discrimination can cause some disadvantages in some areas of life. For example, because we are a woman we can feel discriminated against in some sports like soccer for different reasons. On the one hand, it is considered that women can be worse playing this sport. At school, when teams are made, if a girl wants to play soccer she may end up being outcast due to her orientation. On a social level, a girl who plays soccer can be considered tomboyish and, in that sense, her sexual orientation can be conspired with. Due to being a much more masculine sport, this girl can be considered a lesbian, despite the fact that at the end of it all, both men and women have the same rights as women. Once the school stage has been abandoned, discrimination can also be caused in the rights of access to a job position, or even within the same company due to salary, and it may be that men earn more than women. In the United States, access to public services such as healthcare may also be threatened. People of black skin color may see their equality with whites reduced, in a country with a large presence of African-American people.
Some philosophers have also come to reflect on the term discrimination and all that it can surround and entail. Some conclude that in the end a person when discriminated against receives a disadvantage compared to the rest. If we compare it with the examples presented above, we can see that it is a reality either because they receive worse treatment among colleagues, or because they cannot access something that would be theirs compared to the rest for reasons in different areas. Obviously, in some case this person can be harmed by bullying. For example, insults, physical or moral aggressions can come from discrimination. In this case, the recipient may suffer some kind of damage. On the other hand, the African-American black who is denied medical attention because of his skin color does not receive any physical harm but rather disadvantaged treatment. In fact, in the North American country it can also come to be considered that those who suffer discrimination are a part of the so-called minorities, although in some States African-American people are the majority. However, in European countries, those people who suffer discrimination are considered a minority. It can be by race, mainly Arabs, blacks or Asians. By physical or sexual condition. Homosexuals, obese or disabled people are usually a minority compared to the rest. In this sense, there are numerous types of discrimination that can be direct, indirect or cognitive, among others. Thus, educational centers and governments invest a lot of money to prevent this type of situation from occurring regularly, including people with diseases such as acetone. Suicides for reasons of discrimination and violence for this reason have not stopped increasing in recent years, putting social and government entities in check.
Advantages of fighting discrimination
However, fighting discrimination and trying to eradicate it will also bring numerous benefits, if we put ourselves in the shoes of the rulers. The most prominent are the following:
- Greater possibilities of immigration. A government that fights for the rights of its citizens and for trying to make everyone equal before the law will raise the desire of people to travel to live in our country in search of better living conditions than they may have in their country of origin.
- Improve coexistence. Obviously, if the appropriate values are taught when people are growing up, that is, from a very young age, we will make coexistence between different races easier.
- Greater security. Security will also be higher in the given country. The values will reduce the degrees of delinquency, and therefore, the security that the citizens will perceive will be greater. This will also allow raising the level of tourism, especially for those countries where it is a fundamental sector for their economy.
- Better productivity. Better mood, greater happiness also means a higher degree of work performance, or what is the same, better productivity. In the end, by investing in ending discrimination we all end up winning.
This money that may seem like a useless expense is actually not. It is a long-term investment where we hope to reap the benefits soon. It is true that it is necessary to spend on educational and social personnel to educate children and the elderly in values of coexistence. However, this will later have repercussions in lower healthcare spending due to assaults, and also in the maintenance of prisons for crimes that may be committed. And, in the end, as we have seen before, we will also collect it in taxes. Greater immigration and a higher degree of labor profitability.
How to avoid discrimination?
Avoiding discrimination and making the world more just and equal is one of the main challenges for governments. However, achieving this goal involves giving people the necessary values and education from a very young age. For this reason, schools play a fundamental role, whether public or private. In addition, private companies have a handicap against them and that is that since they do not have any type of financing from the State, they are the closest thing to a private company. Their way of making money is to get conversions from students who enroll. Otherwise, you cannot pay salaries or obtain benefits for the center. For this reason, there are people who work exclusively on the design of plans with the sole objective of ending the discrimination that may occur in schools. An educational center with a discriminatory image will not have followers to get hooked through marketing to potential new students. In the school environment, parents also play a fundamental role in knowing if their son or daughter could be suffering from bullying. Unless there are scratches or different circumstances that lead us to think that they may be discriminated against, the only option will be to create that environment of trust in which our loved ones feel capable of talking about such a controversial and uncomfortable topic for them. Despite the anger we may feel, we should never try to take justice on our own. If they hit our son, let’s not do the same with the aggressor. Without a doubt, you have to contact the school itself so that they can start their own investigation and take action on the matter. As we have said previously, they are the first to be interested in ensuring that these situations end and do not occur again.
Beyond bullying or bullying, unfortunately so common discrimination also includes other ages and social strata. Discrimination can also occur among those who are wealthier, especially with those who have somewhat less economic power.
Money, in addition to giving us economic capacity, also brings status. People do not want to associate with those who have less money because they consider that they are not up to their standards. In this sense, the government to avoid this situation carries out a progressive tax system, dividing the population by categories based on the money they can collect.
Be that as it may, we must be aware that there are numerous specialists who are exclusively dedicated to the care and treatment of all these people who may have sequelae due to being discriminated against in the past. If days go by and you see that your situation or that of your loved ones is not improving, go to a specialist to find a way to regain joy and optimism. He tries to handle all of this with the utmost discretion, and only talks to those people with whom you trust, as if it spreads you can feel even more uncomfortable.
We must also be able to overcome discrimination. What bullies want is to end up affecting us, and they take advantage of any kind of sign of weakness that we can show. Going to krav maga classes, the quintessential self-defense arts, can also provide us with that security that we may need in case of any kind of trouble. Discrimination slows down many social relationships and the globalization that is trying to achieve worldwide. We live in an interconnected way and, therefore, a person from South America should not be inferior to someone of African, European or Asian origin.