has your child every said anything like this?????

Question

This morning my 3 year old was at the front door looking outside and there was a aboriginal man walking past and my 3 year old was saying to my 2 year old there is the chocolate man.... I was just wanting to know if anybody elses child has ever said anything like that and how do you re act to what he says... I laughed but i am not sure i should have... i have nothing wrong with aboriginals...... What do i say to my 3 year old when/if he ever says it again?????

ok i am from australia and a aboriginal is a black person i think they are native australians i am not sure

Answer 1

Your child isn't doing anything wrong at all and yes, it's perfectly normal. Although, I don't think you should laugh or encourage that kind of thing either. It's not the appropriate way to talk about people who have different skin colors and you can talk to your kids about this even at a young age. Go to the library and find some books that have different people of different races in them and show them to your kids... talk about people from different places around the world and that their skin is a different color and that's ok. They are going to be ignorant about it unless you do something to change how they feel. They say chocolate man cause they don't know any different... it's your job to teach them.

Answer 2

What your child said was not
unusual and you probably should not make it seem important.
Your child has probably only
seen white people and so thinks ALL people are white.
the only color the child knew
to attach to that particular
person was chocolate, which
seems pretty sensible to me.
Don't forget, I bet your child
loves chocolate, so unless
you are biased against people
of another color. Just let it
ride and say, Yes, sweetie.
An aboriginal are the native
peoples of Australia. It seems
strange that you live there and
don't know that.
I Live in America and I am
part American Indian. We are
not called aboriginals, but in
fact we are since we also were the country's native peoples.

Answer 3

By aboriginal you mean??? A native North American, a native Central American, etc. or a person that lives in the jungle?

*edit*
That makes more sense now. It's normal for kids to say things like that, since they still can't tell the difference between what is right or wrong. But I do think that when he says things like these, you are going to have to control the urge to laugh, I know it's hard, but you are the one that needs to teach him these differences. I'm sure that man wouldn't have liked to hear that, it might have offended him. Just let your little boy know, that he shouldn't say those things, because he can hurt other peoples feelings.

Answer 4

I have never met an aboriginal person. I think it would depend on what is politically correct in your country.

Being black and from the Grand Ole US. I would think it was extremely cute for a little white kid to say that about me........I am the color of chocolate.....esp considering I have had little white kids call me the "N" word and their parents then try to act like they have no idea where the kids got the word from.

I dont know if you can further explain race and ethnicity to a 3 year old. I think he explained it to himself........it is a man......and the man is chocolate................and he is right.

Answer 5

First, you need to educate yourself about who the aborigines are so you can set the record straight with your children.They deserve to know the truth. There should be books at the library that you can read to them.
I agree it's cute how an older child will try to educate a younger one.
When my husband was little he asked his mother why a black man didn't take a bath. Very loudly, I'm told.

Answer 6

Yes, other children have said it.

If they have never seen a dark person before, then it would be reasonable for them to associate dark with chocolate. Remember young children have a mixed fantasy - real world and only learn the difference as they grow older, if they are taught and brought up properly.

If it happens again, just have a laugh and explain that that persons skins is dark, where as his is light and they are a real person just like him/her and you.

You can also explain/show that some chocolate is dark and some is white. I think Freddos have both.

Answer 7

You simply explain to him that the man was an Aborigine. A comment like that is a great teaching tool because it opens the doors of communication where you could have explained to your son that he may have been the color of chocolate but he was the same as you or your son. Some of us are the color of chocolate, some the color of milk, some the color or butter...blah blah blah. A great first step to teaching acceptance and tolerance.

Rather than laughing you should have jumped at the opportunity to teach.

Answer 8

Just explain to them . Back in 2001 when the tragedy of 9/11 happened, my then three year old son had seen all the news reports regarding the matter . We live in Australia, and one morning we went to the local shopping centre and as i pulled up to the car park , he pointed to an Islamic man and said "mum, mum look there's the America man". He associated the Islamic man to America because of all the things he had watched on T.V. He would see Bin Laden and the American flag. I then had to explain the situation to him. Kids are amazing, they come up with things you wouldn't expect and it's interesting how their minds think. Seya

Answer 9

This hasnt happened to me personally, but to my mother in law when her youngest daughter was about 3 standing at a bus station, next to a group of aboriginals.
She said eww - they're all dirty (or something to that affect) my MIL could have just died, but turned around and said to her "remember darling, your cousins look the same - and you dont have a problem with them" Luckily she never had a problem after that.
It is hard, how do you explain to your child that people come in all different colours? Maybe just like that!

Answer 10

That's kids, just tell him the man wouldn't like to be called that. He is not chocolate his skin is just a different color, like some people who have different color hair or eyes.

My daughter (also 3) is doing the same thing to me. She has a girl is her preschool class with two mommies and she keep referring (loudly and in public) to the mommy with short hair as Kim's "Daddy". I have told her several times that it is her mommy and that she has two mommies. But my three year old just laughs like I am kidding.

I work in higher education and I am pretty liberal with regards to diversity and GLBT issues, but I laughed when she said it too. I think it is just sort of an "Oh God" startled kind of response. Now she thinks it is a funny joke (although she doesn't know why).

Arggh.

I think the embarrassment come in the fear that people are going to think our kids picked this stuff up from us.