Life Skills: Tolerance: Celebrating Differences

Robert Wandberg, PhD, 2002

Social tolerance is the ability to respect other people's beliefs, characteristics, and behavior.

A continuing, irrational fear of an object, activity, or situation is called a phobia.

A stereotype is an oversimplified belief about an entire group of people.

“People aren't prejudiced when they are born. They learn behavior that unfairly prejudges people. It can be learned iat home, in school, from friends, during sports activities, and in neighborhoods. Jobs, churches, music, TV, radio, advertisements, jokes, and movies may communicate prejudice.

Fear is often the basis of violence and hate crimes, which may include physical attacks and property damage.

Prejudice is an attitude. Discrimination is the action that is based on prejudice.

The key to social tolerance is information. When we receive correct, accurate information about other people, our tolerance usually is increased.

1. Learn to evaluation information critically.

2. Learn to locate accurate information.

3. Learn what influences you toward prejudice and discrimination.

Ethics are standards of right and wrong that guide a person's thinking and behavior. Universal ethics include responsibility, caring, fairness, respect, citizenship, and trustworthiness.

Hate crimes may include hate mail, physical attacks, threatening phone calls, or destruction of property.

Hate groups: easier to hate when a person is in a group; they feel more anonymous.

“It's estimated that by age 18, the average person has watched 32,000 murders and 40,000 attempted murders on TV.”

Know enough information to reject harmful myths and stereotypes. Learn about other cultures. Support anti-hate groups. Help teach young children tolerance.

In materials you see on TV or in the newspaper or in books or on the net, question the reasons behind the sources of information; question assumptions and theories; look for lack of logic and internal contradictions

Martin Niemoeller (German preacher, 1930's /1940's)

”In Germany they came first for the communists, but I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”