Reflecting

Over the past 8 weeks I feel I have learned a good bit about helping children develop positive attitudes towards diversity and learning how to have an anti-bias attitude. What hits home the most for me is helping children understand each other's differences in a respectful manner. We all have different cultures, lifestyles, and ways that we do things, and children need to have the confidence to know that their way is ok. They need to develop the empathy and understanding towards others, to help become anti-bias. My hope is that I can, through my daily work as a teacher, help guide children onto that path. If we start with young children now, we can hopefully have a much more understanding, empathetic, and productive world in 10 to 20 years, because these children will be confident in themselves and help build confidence in others as well, instead of trying to bring them down.

I appreciate all of the feedback, comments, and discussions with classmates over the course of these past 8 weeks. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts, feelings, and ideas so openly. Goodluck in the next (or last!) course!

Eastern and South Africa

·        Share with your colleagues the area of the world you chose and why.

First off, I found this part of the Unicef website difficult to navigate to find the information I needed. Also, I couldn’t find the “Regional Office Website” link that is in the assignment directions. So this was a frustrating assignment for me. I chose to explore the Eastern and South Africa Region because I don’t know much about it.

·        Describe in detail some of the challenges that children in this region of the world are confronting.

Children in this region face many challenges. “The key challenges facing poor children in this age group are survival, transmission of HIV in the neo and post-natal period, and for those who survive, nutrition and cognitive development” (Unicef, n.d.). Children under 5 years old have the highest death rate, mostly caused by malnutrition (Unicef, n.d.). These children also lack the resources to receive the early childhood intervention and health care that they need in order to survive or become healthy. Many children become orphans because their parents die. “Social protection has a role to play in promoting access to early childhood development programs for poor and otherwise very vulnerable  children, such as those who are malnourished or whose caretakers have poor nurturing skills” (Unicef, n.d.). Poor children in middle childhood “do not get a chance to go to school or that they do not go long enough to acquire the basic skills and competencies needed for work and life” (Unicef, n.d.).  Children who come from wealthier families are more likely to attend school and girls are less likely to attend school than boys. “Although more and more children are getting a chance to attend school, a significant share enter late, repeat grades and leave without completing the five years of primary school believed to be the minimum for sustained literacy and other competencies” (Unicef, n.d.). Regular attendance in school is also an issue, and “many schools fail to provide protective environments for children and that girls are at risk of sexual abuse by teachers and others” (Unicef, n.d.).

·        Explain how these experiences might have an effect on children’s emotional well-being and development.

These challenges cause stunting in growth and high rates of underweight and low birth weight (Unicef, n.d.). I think that these experiences for children who do survive, very much negatively influence their social, emotional, and cognitive well-being. Children are most likely living in more of a survival mode, and priorities are not school, learning, or becoming a productive child or adult. Priorities are mostly likely finding food, and children probably spend more time being ill than healthy. “Poor families have less access to health facilities and quality health care, and tend to live in environments that predispose them to illness and death” (Unicef, n.d.). The fact that children drop out of school, or do not attend school regularly, influences their ability to perform basic skills needed in order to hold a job and make a living. These children are also probably more likely to engage in sexual behaviors leading to HIV or other illnesses, abuse, exploitation, and become pregnant at a young age.

·       Include a personal and professional reflection. Explain the insights you gained and the influences they may have on you as a person and as an early childhood professional.

It really was eye opening to find this information and realize the struggles and challenges that these young children face from birth and on. These families and children lack the health care, nutrition, leadership, protection, support, resources, and schooling that they need in order to become healthy, functioning adults. It reminds me of the Ebola outbreak in Africa that is happening right now. If the resources and protocols, security and health care is not available, it will continue to spread, just like the challenges these poor children face each day.

References:

Information by country | UNICEF. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2014, from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/.

The Topic of Sexualization

My reaction to the topic of sexualization is one of sadness and disgust. I have heard stories of children at my school who have said sexual things to another or acted in a sexual way. I have watched students dance provocatively and girls harass other girls because they are not “pretty” or “sexy”. It is not a surprise to me because I have heard and seen these things.

As I have watched TV I have seen commercials for children and teen Halloween costumes and clothing that were very provocative. For example the Bratz Halloween costumes for young girls have short skirts and low cut tops with stockings and heels.

In the movie “Mean Girls” the little sister of Regina, the “Plastics” leader, dances and lifts her shirt up to a Girls Gone Wild Video on the tv. The mother of Regina is also very sexual, and so are the four main teenage girl characters in the movie.

At school last year, one of my former students told a girl in his class that he wanted to have sex with her and touch her “boobies”. He was a student who seemed so innocent and hearing of this completely shocked me.

At school, the students would get a reward called a Wii Dance Party. Someone brought in the Just Dance dvds to use. As we scrolled through a song, many kids yelled to stop at a particular song, I think it was by Nicki Minaj. As we started to dance to it, we suddenly realized the dancing was not appropriate at all. It was very sexual and provocative, with gyrating and touching the body. We made it a point to let admin know about it, but it amazed us how many Kindergarten girls already knew to dance like that. One girl in my class was singing the song, with the “bleeps” and everything.

I think that sexualization in early childhood teaches children to hold unrealistic expectations of themselves and of others. I think it also makes children more aware of appearance, and attributes to lower self-esteem and self-worth. “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” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). I think children also learn to identify themselves more with sexuality rather than other good qualities, and it becomes part of their identity. Some girls are probably more likely to solicit themselves to have a boyfriend, for sex, or any kind of partnership that makes them feel better about themselves in a sexual way. This could result in poor choices in relationships and future mates. Some girls may even end up having eating disorders, depression, or take a path into drugs and alcohol or other illegal activities. “In the most extreme cases, the media’s incessant sexualization of childhood can contribute to pathological sexual behavior, including sexual abuse, pedophilia, and prostitution” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).

This article and discussion of this topic has helped me to realize what young girls and boys are seeing, hearing, and trying to understand in their growing minds and bodies. It has made me more aware of the harmful messages that are being sent to these young children and to pay more attention to materials in the classrooms and schools, on videos and websites that we show. I have also realized the importance of helping children develop that healthy self-concept in terms of gender and confidence in their appearances, personality, and everything that makes them the individual they are. I am interested in finding a way to help parents realize the same, so that they can help their child understand and work through any confusion/issues they have. I know that some parents play music videos and songs in front of their children that are not appropriate, and it would be interesting to hear their take on this as well.

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

Isms Impact on Teaching

Growing up in a white middle class home and area, I don't feel that I experienced many isms, but one that does stick out it classism. As I got older, into middle and high school, I was not a part of the "cool" groups, and in elementary and middle school I didn't play sports so I wasn't a part of any sports groups either. I can remember begging my mom for the "name brand" clothes such as Tommy Hilfiger, Hollister, American Eagle, and Abercrombie. I can remember being made fun of for having clothes from K Mart and random stores in our mall like Sears or JCPenney. Basically my parents weren't rich enough to buy me the name brand clothes, so I wasn't cool enough to be friends with certain people. Today I'm actually thankful that I didn't have those things because as I've grown I've realized what really matters in life. Looking at those "cool" kids now, and thinking about where I am in my life, those cool clothes and high class kids aren't any better than I am. 

I think that classism, or any kind of ism can influence your teaching. We can become less tolerant of the ism, more irritable, angry, emotional, or impatient. This definitely could influence your students because they can sense your mood and mood changes. They can tell when you like or don't like something. I am a very emotional person and I don't hide my feelings well at all. My students know when I'm sad, happy, excited, angry, dissapointed, because it's on my face immediately. In regards to classim, I think I tend to be more sympathetic and understanding to kids who don't have much or don't come from wealthy homes, which is 90% of my class, teaching in a Title One school. I think I have a very low tolerance when it comes to kids making fun of other kids in any way, whether it's appearance, clothes, money, etc, because I know what it's like to be made fun of or belittled. I have learned that instead of showing that low tolerance, it's better to talk to the students about how that makes them feel, helping them try to empathize and learn how to treat each other with respect.