Celebrating Diversity and Respect - Good Relations Week 2020

Supporting and building communities together

This Good Relations Week, we are reflecting on why our Media Initiative for Children Respecting Difference Programme is so important.  The programme celebrates diversity and supports young children, parents and carers and those who work with them to encourage respect for difference from a very early age. 

For families like Tracey and Brenda’s, this acceptance has a very real impact on their daily lives. Early Years is delighted to support this year’s Pride and to share the message that all families deserve to be valued equally #bproud2020 #GRW2020 @Here_NI.

“Brenda and I have been married for 10 years, together for 14 and enjoy a happy, loving relationship.  We have two daughters age 7 and 8 that keep us very busy.  We are a family like any other, working and parenting, always trying to find the balance to make sure our girls have everything they need from us.  The only difference from most families is that we are both women.

In general, they do not see families like theirs often.  In school the books they read are about Mum and Dad, most films and TV shows they watch are the same, most of their friends at school have a Mum and Dad.  We often think how much it would mean to them to see a book at school with two Mums.  We have books at home with a variety of family types, single parents, step parents, Mums and Dads and same sex families.

We attend a same sex family group at HERe NI once a month – although recently it’s been a virtual meet up on zoom.  The first time we attended they were so excited to see other families with two Mums, it has given them confidence and assurance that our family is ‘normal’. 

When asked by friends in school why they have two Mums they have been able to say with confidence that there are lots of different types of families.

We have always tried to educate our children about diversity and our hope is that other parents and carers will do the same.  It’s so important for different family types to be visible in order for children to thrive – a simple conversation about difference can mean so much to children and same sex families”.