I am a middle aged, middle class, White/Native American woman. I went back to school to get certified as a counselor so that I can work in a disadvantaged school. I want to help motivate young people of various ethnic backgrounds. I don’t want to boss anyone around, but how do you suggest that I talk to the middle school children that I will be dealing with?

I am also a writer. The books that I write about deal with diversity, acceptances of differences and that bias and prejudice still exist, Only in my books, it is between humans and wood nymphs. The wood nymphs are the prejudiced ones in the books.

I am very fortunate in that all of my grad school professors were multi-cultural. They were all wonderful, and only one was white. I went to college in the DC area. I learned about my own bias and prejudices and are trying to eradicate them. Not only in me, but in others. As I learn what and where I have bias and/or prejudice, I am able to confront them and get rid of them.

I have close friends with ethnic backgrounds that are completely different from my own. We are able to address and sometimes laugh at each other’s stereotypical belief systems from our respective childhoods.

Any advice you can give me in working with a multi-cultural group of children will be appreciated. (I ask a lot of people this question.) I want to be the best middle school counselor, ever.

Respectfully,

Laura Greenway

A fellow Ohioan