What Is Discrimination?

Ages 3-5 Simple Explanation

You know how it feels really bad when someone won't let you play with them for no good reason? Discrimination is when someone gets treated unfairly — like being left out, laughed at, or told they can't do something — just because of who they are. Maybe because of how they look, what language they speak, or something else they can't change.

Imagine if someone said you couldn't join a game because you were wearing a red shirt. That wouldn't make sense, right? The color of your shirt doesn't change how good you are at the game! Discrimination is just like that — it's judging people on things that don't actually matter.

Discrimination can happen to anybody. Someone might be treated meanly because of the color of their skin, because they use a wheelchair, because they're a boy or a girl, or because their family comes from another country. None of those are good reasons to treat someone badly.

The most important thing is to treat everyone the way you'd want to be treated. If you see someone being left out or treated unfairly, you can help by including them and being a kind friend. Standing up for others is one of the bravest things you can do!

Ages 6-8 More Detail

Discrimination means treating someone unfairly because of something about who they are — like their skin color, whether they're a boy or a girl, their religion, a disability they have, or where their family comes from. Discrimination is not the same as just disliking someone — it's when that unfair treatment actually affects what opportunities they get or how they're included.

Discrimination can look like a lot of different things. It might be a group of kids not letting someone sit with them at lunch because of their race. It might be a business not hiring someone because they use a wheelchair. It might be a coach only giving playing time to boys and not giving girls the same chance. In all these cases, someone is being judged on something that has nothing to do with their ability.

Throughout history, discrimination has taken many forms. Black Americans were discriminated against through slavery and then segregation. Women were not allowed to vote, own businesses, or hold many jobs. People with disabilities were kept out of schools and public places. Immigrants have often faced hostility and unfair treatment. In each case, people had to fight for fairer treatment.

Many laws now exist to fight discrimination. The Civil Rights Act makes it illegal to discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Americans with Disabilities Act ensures people with disabilities have equal access to jobs, buildings, and services. These laws don't prevent every instance of discrimination, but they give people a way to fight back when it happens.

Everyone deserves to be treated based on who they are as a person — their character, their effort, their kindness — not based on what group they belong to. When you stand up for a classmate who is being treated unfairly, you're fighting discrimination in one of the most powerful ways possible.

Ages 9-12 Full Explanation

Discrimination occurs when a person or group is treated unfairly or unequally because of a characteristic like race, gender, religion, age, disability, nationality, or sexual orientation. It goes beyond personal dislike — discrimination means that those negative attitudes actually result in someone being denied opportunities, excluded from activities, or treated worse in schools, workplaces, housing, or public life. It's a broad concept that affects many different groups in many different ways.

Discrimination can be direct or indirect. Direct discrimination is easy to spot — it's when someone openly treats another person worse because of who they are, like a store owner refusing to serve someone because of their race. Indirect discrimination is more subtle — it's when a rule or practice seems neutral on the surface but actually disadvantages certain groups. For example, a workplace policy requiring employees to work on certain religious holidays without accommodation could indirectly discriminate against people of that faith.

In the United States, discrimination has a long and painful history that extends well beyond racial discrimination. Women were barred from voting until 1920 and faced widespread job discrimination for decades after. People with disabilities were routinely excluded from schools and workplaces until the Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990. Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps during World War II. LGBTQ+ individuals have faced legal discrimination in employment, housing, and other areas. Each of these groups has had to organize and fight for equal treatment under the law.

Today, several major laws prohibit discrimination. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans discrimination in employment, education, and public places based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Title IX prohibits gender discrimination in schools that receive federal funding. The ADA protects people with disabilities. The Fair Housing Act prevents discrimination in housing. While these laws are powerful tools, discrimination still occurs — sometimes in obvious ways, sometimes in ways that are harder to prove.

Discrimination affects real people in real ways. A student who is bullied because of their accent or religion might dread going to school. A qualified job applicant passed over because of their gender misses an opportunity they earned. A family denied housing in a certain neighborhood because of their race is deprived of their choice in where to live. These aren't just abstract ideas — they create stress, limit potential, and cause lasting harm.

Fighting discrimination starts with awareness and action. At your age, that means noticing when someone is being excluded or treated differently for unfair reasons and choosing to respond. It means questioning your own assumptions about people who are different from you. It means understanding that discrimination isn't just one group's problem — it's a broad challenge that affects people of all backgrounds, and overcoming it requires everyone to do their part in their school, their community, and beyond.