{"id":142,"date":"2025-12-31T18:01:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T18:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/childguidance\/?post_type=chapter&p=142"},"modified":"2026-05-21T17:08:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:08:56","slug":"create-equity","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palomar.edu\/childguidance\/chapter\/create-equity\/","title":{"raw":"Create Equity","rendered":"Create Equity"},"content":{"raw":"There are two major ways we can counter these dynamics and support equity for all children and families in our care. One is to help children grow out of this obsession to feel \u201cbetter than\u201d others and help them desire to be constructive members of a group that considers and values everyone. The second is to consciously disrupt the mechanisms of systemic racism.\r\n

Create Equity and Equality Rather Than Hierarchies<\/h2>\r\n\"TwoHierarchies usually provide tangible benefits for those at the top. Much of the personal wealth and power of countries and individuals has relied on the subjugation and oppression of other groups.\u00a0 Hierarchies also provide emotional and psychological benefits in systems where people are identified as either superior or inferior. This is a major reason that we cannot get past maintaining systems of racism. After the Civil War and the emancipation of Blacks, Jim Crow reimplemented the system. When the Civil Rights Movement seemed to eliminate those inequities, it came back again through the \u201cWar on Drugs\u201d and mass incarceration, and is supported by much of the political dynamics today. We need to grow beyond the need for these false, external sources of self-esteem. We desperately need to feel \u201cjust as good as anyone else\u201d and \u201cno better than anyone else\u201d.\r\n\r\nFrom a scientific perspective, our interconnectedness and equal worth can be seen in both the physical and social sciences. Albert Einstein (1931\/1954) reflected that the human sense of being a separate individual is an \u201coptical delusion of consciousness,\u201d emphasizing that we are in fact equal parts of a greater whole. Modern neuroscience supports this vision through the emerging field of interpersonal neurobiology, which demonstrates that human brains are wired for connection and that relationships literally shape neural pathways (Siegel, 2012). The finding that emotional states, stress responses, and even resilience are co-created within relationships underscores that no person thrives in isolation. Together, these insights affirm that each individual is both distinct and inseparable from the larger web of humanity, making it unscientific as well as unhelpful to assign greater value to some over others.\r\n\r\nAcross the world\u2019s major religious traditions, a common theme emerges: all individuals possess inherent worth, and one\u2019s value cannot be reduced to the shifting judgments of others. Christianity teaches that all are created in the image of God and made equal in Christ (Galatians 3:28, New International Version, 2011). Judaism emphasizes that humanity\u2019s shared origin prevents anyone from claiming superiority (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5, Eider, 1988). Similarly, the Qur\u2019an affirms that distinctions among people are not markers of worth, as the only measure of nobility is righteousness (Qur\u2019an 49:13, Abdel Haleem, 2004). In Hindu thought, the Bhagavad Gita teaches that the wise see all beings with equal vision, regardless of social status (Prabhavananda & Isherwood, 1944). Buddhism underscores that purity and growth come from one\u2019s own efforts, not others\u2019 opinions (Buddharakkhita, 1985). Sikhism rejects caste and social hierarchies, affirming that all people are equal before God (Singh, 1960). Even Confucianism, though rooted in social order, reminds us that true worth lies in inner virtue rather than external recognition (Analects 15:18; Lau, 1979).\r\n\r\nTogether, these teachings provide powerful justification for practices in education that emphasize equity and cooperation over ranking and comparison. They remind us that fostering respect for each child\u2019s inherent dignity is both a spiritual and a practical foundation for justice.\r\n

Personal Reflection<\/h2>\r\nToo often, our sense of self and contentment is dependent on an assessment of our worth that we let others control, external judgments that we are valuable because we\u2019re \u201cbetter\u201d in some way than someone else. If we are low on the totem pole, we want someone else to be lower.\r\n\r\nHow free are you of the effects of this kind of external judgment? I don\u2019t think as humans that we ever get to the perfect goal of total acceptance of ourselves with no emotional reaction to the judgment of others. But the closer we get to it, the better we feel about ourselves and others. The closer we get to it, the better we are at teaching and guiding children. This allows us to truly \u201cact\u201d rather than \u201creact\u201d.\r\n
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Exercise<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

\r\n\r\nRead the \"Better Than\" poem and answer the questions that follow.\r\n\r\nBetter Than\r\n\r\nI built my joy on higher ground,\r\nOn the steps of people I pushed below\u2014\r\nEach rung a proof that I was more,\r\nEach shadow cast to make me glow.\r\n\r\nBut every rise upon that wall\r\nMade thinner air for me to breathe;\r\nAnd those I pressed to make me tall\r\nBecame the roots beneath my feet.\r\n\r\nOne day I looked, and saw their eyes\u2014\r\nNot lower, smaller, less, or few,\r\nBut mirrors showing all my ties,\r\nThe truth that I was part of you.\r\n\r\nNow I unstack my borrowed pride,\r\nAnd feel the ground beneath us one;\r\nNo higher hills, no deep divides\u2014\r\nJust equal hearts beneath one sun.\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nWhen in your life have you found your sense of worth or confidence tied to feeling \u201cbetter than\u201d someone else \u2014 more capable, more right, more deserving, or more valued?\r\n