People look different, act different and like different things. Everyone is different. Different does not mean better or worse. It just means different. Some differences are easy to see, and some are not. Human DNA is more than 99.9% the same from person to person. The 0.1% that differs comes from variations among about 3 billion DNA “letters.” Even within one family, people can have different blood groups and eye colors, because their DNA differs a little. Eye color is different from person to person, from very light blue to dark brown.

Eye color is directly related to the amount of melanin in the front layers of the iris. Brown eyes have a large amount, and blue eyes have much less. Most people are right-handed. About 1 in 10 people (10.6%) is left-handed. About 9% of people use different hands for different tasks. That share is almost as big as the share of left-handers. Fingerprint ridges on every finger of every human being are unique. They do not change as a person grows or ages. Hair can be different colors, lengths and styles.

A disability is a difference that makes it harder for someone to do something that others can do easily. Having a disability does not mean that a person is sad or unable to do things for themselves, and some disabilities are visible and some are not, so you cannot always tell by looking at someone. Some people use a wheelchair to get from place to place. In 2022–23, 7.5 million students ages 3–21 received special education services under IDEA. That was about 15 percent of all U.S. public school students. This is as of May 2024.

Before 1975, only one in five children with disabilities attended public school. Many states specifically excluded students who were deaf or blind, and the 1975 law responded to more than 1 million children with disabilities who were excluded entirely from the education system. On November 29, 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142). It requires a “free, appropriate public education” tailored to each child with a disability.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to work, buy goods and services, and take part in state and local government programs. The “curb-cut effect”: ramps built for wheelchair users were also used by parents with strollers, workers with carts, travelers with luggage, runners and skateboarders. The first Paralympic Games took place in Rome, Italy, in 1960, with 400 athletes from 23 countries. They have been held every four years since.

Louis Braille was blinded at the age of three. He invented the braille system in 1824 as a student at a school for blind children in Paris. Braille is a system of raised dots that people who are blind or have low vision read with their fingers. American Sign Language (ASL) is a complete, natural language with the same linguistic properties as spoken languages. Its grammar differs from English. Different sign languages are used in different countries or regions. There is no universal sign language.

Families come in all different shapes and sizes. Sometimes a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle takes care of a child. Some families have stepparents, one parent, or parents who found their children through adoption. In 2023, 75% of U.S. children under 6 lived with two parents, compared with 68% of children ages 12 to 17. This is as of November 2023. Even though a pre-K or kindergarten student may not be able to explain it, young children are often put off by differences. This reaction is common and normal. Meeting people who are different makes them seem less strange.

Contact helps. Getting to know people who are different from yourself leads to reduced prejudice and increased understanding. Young children usually ask direct questions about differences out of curiosity, not to be mean. When a child asks about a difference, a simple and honest answer is best. Staring, pointing and leaving someone out are unkind. A respectful question is fine. Empathy is the ability to sense other people’s emotions. It is also the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling.

Perspective taking is the ability to identify and understand other people's emotions. It is a skill that keeps developing through adolescence. Peers have a strongly positive influence on each other. They offer friendship, good examples, advice and encouragement. Cliques have set rules about who is “in” and who is “out” and are focused on status. Groups of friends let kids hang out with many other people.

Kids with self-esteem feel liked, accepted and confident, and they feel proud of what they can do. Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Kids who bully sometimes pick on someone who looks or acts different. This is never okay. Leaving someone out on purpose can be a kind of bullying. Bystanders can become upstanders. An upstander sees what is happening and steps in, interrupts or speaks up to stop bullying.

If you see someone being picked on, you can stand up for them or tell an adult you trust. Kids watch how grown-ups treat people, and they learn from it. A grown-up you trust can help.

Words to know

• empathy: feeling with others
• upstander: steps in
• disability: some things harder
• braille: raised dot writing