My 4yo has developed a fairly strong fear of sikhs/turbans.A sikh with a turban tried to get my son to "go to the park with me" about a year ago, which the police classified as "an approach". He knows that the man shouldn't have done that and that the police think the man was a baddie. It was his first police experience, and I was very serious about it, so it's memorable. He's been distrusting/prejudiced against turban-wearing men since then.For a few months I've been (repetitively, coz kid) reading him the illustrated Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, with a pic of evil Voldemort living hidden inside a turban - a scary evil face on the back of someone's head.In hindsight this was a bad idea, coz it's reinforced his turban-distrust into a fear. Eg He's asked me not to wrap a towel around my hair to dry it, explaining that he's scared of turbans because of Voldemort.I've explained that most people with turbans are NOT baddies. But in his lengthy experience they are baddies, so when I talk try to correct him it's clear he's politely humoring my naïvity.It seems logical that as he gets older and meets Sikhs for himself, he'll learn that they're mostly (i.e. almost all) good people. Do I just wait for this to resolve itself naturally? Or might it cement itself and be hard to reverse, in which case should I try to find stories/movies with ordinary Sikhs in? Or even arrange somehow for him to meet some so he can learn for himself? (Seems very awkward, though.)Just talking to him when the subject comes up isn't working.Do kids usually get over this sort of thing if they have a personal connection (the seeming abduction attempt)? via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2BiRFOu
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