Through the Eyes of a Child

Bron Williams • August 19, 2020

I was 10, maybe 12, when I first realised that I could only see through my eyes.

I was 10, maybe 12, when I first realised that I could only see through my eyes.

I couldn’t see what my friend Julie saw, who lived down the street and was a year older than me. I couldn’t even see what my brother or sister saw, and we lived in the same house – when we talk about shared events, we all have different memories.


I could only see through my eyes – but I wanted to be able to see the things that other people saw. Even today, more than 50 years later, I still get those moments when I’m looking at something completely random – like the tiles on the bathroom floor – and I get that same sense I had when I was a girl. I can only see through my eyes.


The irony of all this is that I have a congenital birth defect when it comes to physical vision and have worn glasses since I was six!


As I reflect on this desire to see through the eyes of other people, I realise that this innate desire is key to the work I do today in the area of unconscious bias. There’s a sense in which I was being prepared for it, 50+ years ago.

Bias is all about how we see the world. Bias involves the stories we tell ourselves about other people. Bias is about perception, perspective, preference and prejudice. Bias tells us that people who are different – in age, race, skin colour, accent, language, faith, size, ability, gender – are somehow less-than us. Bias separates us from each other. Bias hurts and, at times, kills.


When we’re children, it’s quite normal to expect that everyone sees things as we do. We think that the way we see the world is the only way to see the world. As we get older, and hopefully more mature, we begin to realise that not everyone sees things the way we do. We start to notice that different families have different ways of looking at life. We begin to hear different opinions to the ones we’ve grown up with. And our teen years are the classic time when we either affirm the values and outlooks of our families or we rebel against them and explore new ways of being in the world.


Even when we’ve rebelled against the strictures of family, long-held and unconscious biases hold sway, shaping our perception of other people. These hidden perceptions influence the perspectives we develop around who is trustworthy, who is reliable, and who is worthy. When it comes to making decisions, both instantaneous and considered, our perspectives affect the preferences we have with regard to relationships, both personal and in the workplace. And, sadly, our preferences can harden into prejudices that exclude, discriminate and disadvantage.


It all begins with how we see, what we see, and the stories we shape out of that seeing. Building awareness of bias allows us to see what has been hidden in plain sight. Understanding the impact of bias enables the development of fairer and more just workplaces. Addressing bias involves dismantling systems and structures that discriminate and implementing policies and procedures that favour equity across the board.



And it all starts with seeing through the eyes of others.

Seeing through the eyes of a child.