Reflecting on Learning

My most passionate hope for my future as an early childhood professional and for the children and families whom I work with and will work with is to create and implement an environment and curriculum where children and families are valued and respected for their diversity. Another hope is to incorporate parent trainings and involvement with anti-bias education activities in order to promote diversity in the classroom, home and community.

I would like to thank my professor and all of my colleagues for an amazing 8 weeks where I have been able to learn so much and implement new things into my early childhood program. I would also like to share gratitude for being able to express who I am and the ways that I interpret diversity. I have learned so much on how to create an anti-bias environment and I will continue to use these skills and hopefully be an inspiration to others as you have all been to me.

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

After browsing the UNICEF website, I decided to focus on West and Central Africa as my region to investigate. My reasoning behind this is because I have always wanted to visit Africa to help in any way that I can, especially with the children. I hear about how impoverished some parts of Africa are and how the political leaders don’t care enough to make changes. You always hear of celebrities going over to donate and to build schools for the children in need, and I want to be part of that community seeking to help those children in need. I specifically chose this region because I have only ever seen the Congo and Mali and other Countries within Africa portrayed in movies, so to be able to actually get over there and help would be a dream come true to me.

Children in West and Central Africa have their rights violated on daily basis to an extent that is worse than anywhere else in the world. Nearly 2 children out of 10 never reach their fifth birthday. They die from malaria, diarrheal diseases and vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles. Malnutrition is widespread in the region. In the Sahel countries, half of the child mortality is related to under-nutrition in children. Poverty and traditional beliefs keep 40% of children out of school. Girls are particularly penalized. Schools are not always the child friendly places they are supposed to be. Many children in West & Central Africa face sexual and other forms of violence in school. Children in the region are also being abused and exploited in many ways: child trafficking, child labor, children in armed conflicts, children victims of harmful traditional practices.

These experiences affect the children’s emotional well-being because children that do survive their fifth birthday often do not end going to school due to the violence that takes place. Through initiatives focused on the quality of education, UNICEF contributes to increased retention and completion of the schooling cycle. Throughout West & Central Africa, UNICEF promotes a protective environment for children through a range of activities and programs. UNICEF supports data collection, prevention through community based activities and the reinforcement of legal systems. It saddens me that a child goes through all of these challenges before they are 5 years old. I have a 6 year old daughter and one on the way, so I couldn’t fathom my children going through these severities at such an early age. I would be inclined to think that this really affects how the children grow up, especially without the proper resources and advocates. I have truly learned a lot about this region of children and would like to work with UNICEF in making the environment more protective for the children. The situation of children in West & Central Africa seems very difficult, but through strong political leadership in the region and with the support of donors, I’m sure UNICEF is confident that it can help make a difference for children and for their communities. 

Reference:

West and Central Africa retrieved from:http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/.

“So Sexy So Soon”-The Sexualization of Early Childhood

     My reaction to the ideas shared in this article are utter and total shock! I try to the best of my abilities to monitor what my child is picking up from television, music, books, etc. It can be very difficult when she is in the school setting to monitor what other children are saying to her and what she may be picking up, so that has been my most difficult challenge yet. I do believe that today’s younger generation has been exposed to a level of sexualization at an early age, and that can be such a huge downfall if they begin to pick up the wrong messages about it. I am fearful for my child at times with how much she already knows about sexuality and so my husband and I try to keep her in “kids-zone” state of mind. This just means we encourage her to do things that 6-year olds should be doing; swimming, bubbles, riding her bike/scooter, going to Disney on Ice, etc. In the beginning of the school year, my child was inappropriately touched on her “private parts” by a male student. The school never called to notify myself nor her father and we had to hear it from her what happened. I took the next day off to go up to the school and find out what was going on. They of course had no real answers, nor could they tell me how no teacher saw it happen. I was pissed and ready to fight any and everyone. My husband and I had a discussion with our daughter to see how she felt. I don’t think she understood what was going, so we immediately sought counseling to make sure there would be no side effects of the “bad touch”.

     We allow our daughter to only watch the Disney channel, just because it is a little better than most of the other channels that are supposed to be for children. Disney channel can be a little grown at times in the way some of the characters dress, the relationships the kids have with opposite sex, and their language. We monitor those shows and allow her to put on a Disney movie instead. In the stores, I see the half-dressed dolls that are for sale with all the caked up make-up on. I also see it in the video games for the kids Nintendo 3DS, PS4, Xbox One, etc. My husband and I always check the ratings on the games and see the game play before we purchase it for our daughter. My step-son, who is 6 years old also, has no real supervision in his home and has talked about watching “Adult Swim” on Cartoon Network. The shows on that channel are highly sexually explicit and are not meant for children, but I cannot change what I am not present to see.

     These messages impact children in the worst ways. Children are paying an enormous price for the sexualization of their childhood. As children struggle to understand what they see and hear, they learn lessons that can frighten and confuse them. According to Levin & Kilbourne (2009). These lessons can seriously harm their ability to grow up to have healthy attitudes about themselves and their bodies and to have caring relationships in which sex is an important part. In the most extreme cases, the media’s incessant sexualization of childhood can contribute to pathological sexual behavior, including sexual abuse, pedophilia, and prostitution.  Gender roles modeled for children have become increasingly polarized and rigid. A narrow definition of femininity and sexuality encourages girls to focus heavily on appearance and sex appeal. They learn at a very young age that their value is determined by how beautiful, thin, “hot,” and sexy they are. And boys, who get a very narrow definition of masculinity that promotes insensitivity and macho behavior, are taught to judge girls based on how close they come to an artificial, impossible, and shallow ideal.

     The ways in which my awareness of sexualization in early childhood has been influenced by studying the topic this week are by listening and observing cues that may indicate increased awareness of sexuality in my home and workplace. I am going to develop a “game plan” for how to discuss or deal with any child that may have been learning the wrong messages about sexuality and attempt to involve their family in the discussion. I know that as a classroom effort, we can utilize Persona dolls to explain sexuality in an appropriate manner to children at their age level so they can understand. My plan is to also petition that parents set passcodes on television stations that are not appropriate for children under the age of 15. If the community can all work together on this effort, I believe we can get our children’s views back to the way they used to be.

Reference:

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect

           their kids (pp. 1–8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf

 

 

 

 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

After recalling some of the specific “isms” I dealt with growing up and identifying them for my own personal growth, I have concluded that children will have many consequences depending on their background. I have found in my preschool setting that many of the children deal with not being able to say their grace during meal times because the Department of Education frowns upon it. Some of the children sneak and do it anyway, and I do not try to stop them nor discourage them from saying their prayers. I have also noticed because of specific cultures, children are not allowed or do not celebrate all of the American holidays throughout the year. Some of the children do not understand why everyone is dressed in costume in late October and others come in their normal attire. We try to make it a point to include all of the children in with all aspects of the program and allow the families to share some of the traditions they follow throughout the course of the year. We also have a good mix of interracial couples and same-sex couples, so I assume a consequence the children of these families may experience is feeling left out, or different because of their parents choice. These are all great learning tools and provide wonderful discussions between the children and staff.

I attended a training last month and one of the guest speakers made some great points as she discussed parent engagement. She stated that her center does not celebrate the American holidays, instead they have each family all year around bring in a family tradition, dish, etc. that represents them and their culture. I believe that is the best way to get families more involved in their child’s learning experience and will make the child more successful in learning about other cultures.