When we first meet someone, we quickly form ideas about them. It's a very natural, human thing to do. We make assumptions about people as soon as we see them. These assumptions are called stereotypes.
What are stereotypes?
Have you ever heard the phrase "Never judge a book by its cover"? Basically, this means that we shouldn't make assumptions about someone or something until we have investigated and understood them better. Equally, you might say, "Never judge a human by their colour." This is another way of referring to stereotyping.
Stereotypes are beliefs we might have about what a person or a group of people are like.
Stereotypes can sometimes be helpful to understand the world, as long as we remember that stereotypes are often untrue, and some stereotypes are deliberately harmful.
What is prejudice?
Have you ever had someone judge you? Perhaps it was based on where you're from, how you look or speak, the things you like doing or the clothes that you wear? If you have, then you'll know it's not very nice.
If we make assumptions about someone based on just their gender, beliefs, appearance, religion or race, it can not only be disrespectful, but also very hurtful. Even though we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, it does happen. Many of us have built-in prejudices that we may not even be fully aware of.
Ask yourself these questions:
•Who is best at cooking - boys or girls?
•Who cries more often - boys or girls?
•Who is better at football - boys or girls?
•Who is best at video games - boys or girls?
I bet you had some ideas about the answers here, didn't you? But in truth, there are no right answers.
Who is better at football? Well, some people would assume that the men's England football team would perform better in international competitions, but it was the women's team that won the European Championships in 2022, so who is better?
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Denne historien er fra Issue 80-utgaven av The Week Junior Science+Nature UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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M.G. Leonard
Meet the bug-crazy children's author whose love of nature began with reading.
A "BOOMLESS" CRUISE
For the first time in 22 years, a civilian (non-military) aircraft has broken the sound barrier.
THE WORLD'S WEIRDEST MUSEUMS
Jenny Ackland takes a whirlwind tour of some of the oddest exhibitions on the planet.
Skydiving salamanders grip with toes
A new study has found that wandering salamanders pump blood in and out of their toes to help them grip.
Searching for Planet X
Is there an undiscovered planet playing hide-and-seek beyond Neptune?
TOUGH TADPOLES
This picture shows a swarm of western toad tadpoles in a lake in Vancouver Island, off the coast of Canada.
People wiggle ears to hear
Can you wiggle your ears? It’s a trick only some people can do, but it turns out that the muscles used to do it also activate when humans are trying to listen to something.
Ancient scroll decoded
Scientists have found a way to “digitally unroll” a scroll that was burnt to a crisp nearly 2,000 years ago.
Could we use volcanoes to make electricity?
Find out if people could tap into Earth's fiery depths to generate energy.
Wildlife watch
As spring begins, Jenny Ackland shows you how to experience nature waking up.
