Wk 8, Heartfelt goodbyes...

As our time at Walden comes to an end i have been reflecting on all that I have learned and am astonished at the amount of information and knowledge i have gained and developed these several months of the program. It was a blast to work with each of you and learn from your our take on things, outlook, interpretations and insights. I greatly appreciate all the hard work you have put into your studies, interactions with fellow classmates and the early childhood profession. Each of you has done a wonderful job. Not only do I wish all of you the best in everything you do but one of my wishes for the early childhood profession is that each of you (and me) always give your best to every child we come into contact with and that you help other professionals do the same as well as become more anti-biased. 

My greatest hope for the early childhood profession is that every professional utilizes themselves to the best of their ability to educate, teach, cultivate and create children that have developed to the whole child and are anti-biased individuals that are successful individuals. Early childhood professionals can never stop learning how to best meet the needs of children and our ever changing world.

Impacts on Early Emotional Development wk 7

I picked Thailand because I had a foreign exchange student from there several years ago.  Every country suffers from the basic hardships of the economy just at different levels.  The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, standards of living, and quality of life for countries worldwide, according to this list Thailand is number 103. 

Some children in Thailand suffer from homelessness, poverty, working the streets as sex slaves, lack of education, lack of health and development services, etc. "Children of ethnic minorities, migrants, refugees and the very poor. These children are still denied many of their basic rights to survival, protection and development. For example, there are still an estimated 600,000 primary-school aged children not in primary school or who are enrolled late" (UNICEF, 2009)  According to the UNICEF Thailand website children face challenges of: birth registration, access to and quality of education, HIV/AIDS, trafficking and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation, child labour, poverty and increasing disparities, juvenile justice, violence against children, child accidents and injury, child soldiers and refugees, stunting, obesity and iodine deficiency, awareness of child rights and mechanisms for child participation, social trends such as increased drug and alcohol use and the break-up of traditional families and a lack of data on children’s issues. These all affect a child's growth, development and learning. No child should have to experience any of these issues.

Any of these issues would affect a child's emotional development in a variety of ways. A child will feel unloved, unwanted, worthless, not form proper relationships with others, have difficult trusting others, be unstable emotionally, etc. They wouldn't have the proper knowledge and education need to thrive successfully. 

While there are numerous issues that children from poverty are experiencing there are 10+ government agencies helping as well as 15+ non-government agencies working on improving conditions. It is mind boggling that children experience these challenges. Personally I just want to take all the children that do not live in favorable conditions like mine and bring them to live with me and give them everything. Unfortunately, not only are there way too many children in the world to do this they wouldn't fit in my house. it makes me very sad that children out there go through these hardships.  It helps to know that UNICEF exists and that they work in close partnership with the Royal Thai Government, the private sector, NGOs, faith-based groups, youth groups, local communities and vulnerable children to pave the way for a better world for children. Makes me want to do my best and try my hardest to help every child I come in contact with. 

http://www.unicef.org/thailand/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

The way sex is portrayed in our society is astonishing and to bold and showy. Our children are learning at a young age what it means to be sexy, how to be seen as a possession and not as a human being and what the standard is for being accepted as sexy. This is mind boggling that children are dealing with being sexualized at such an early age. Our media and society needs to take it down a notch and parents need to explain things better to their children and only provide them with appropriate toys, movies, music, etc. Children learn from ever interaction, media, environment and experience.

When I worked at a preschool there was a 4 year old girl that was very girly-girl, had to wear the hippest clothes, be dressed and look cute/good at all times (didn't wear anything like sweats or that was frumpy) and had her nails done, etc. She knew all the words to 'My milkshake is better then yours' and other inappropriate songs and would sing them and dance around.. 

A little girl who I used to Nanny who is now 4 was 2 & 3 at the time but at 3 she knew some of the lyrics to songs that are not appropriate, like Justin Bieber's song 'Boyfriend'. 

There was a little boy in the 3 year old classroom that would hum his cot at nap time and some of the other girls... wow was that shocking.

Experiencing these different sexualized medias will give children the wrong development of their social identity, their self development, attitudes towards themselves and what they are worth. "Today’s cultural environment bombards children with inappropriate
and harmful messages" (Levin, & Kilbourne, J., 2009). Children do not understand these messages or how to handle them. They are too young for them. When children learn the words to songs they do not even realize what they are saying and what the underlying message is in that song. They develop their own ideas and concepts. I think discussing what is appropriate in the school setting and how we are to behave is best and sending home a letter to parents or having a PTA meeting explaining the sexualized messages children are receiving. Parents need to be aware that "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, J., 2009).

I had never really thought much about how prominent the sexualization of children was happening. i was aware of little situations happening but not how common it really is. This definitely is a big issue that I will be sure to address whenever a situation arises that I know is from sexualized experiences.

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


Here is a link to a list of children's books on gender role stereotypes.
journal.naeyc.org/btj/200303/Books4Children.pdf

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

As an educator in any environment when experiencing an 'ism' it is detrimental to the children, learning experience, families and educator. I cannot imagine experiencing an 'ism'. If i were to experience an 'ism' it would most likely be classism. I grew up in middle class and never really experienced any hardships. "Children learn about who is important enough to be visible and valued" from a variety of resources and experiences (Derman-Sparks, & Olsen Edwards, 2010). Individuals that have experienced hardships like poverty, hunger, immigration, etc have a different outlook on life. When experiencing classism parents that come from poverty or lower-income feel that I  cannot relate to them because I do not know what it is like to experience hunger, homelessness, despair, etc and do not know how to adequately help their children since i have not been in their situation. In some senses, they are correct, I have not experienced these situations but I have learned about them and how to deal with them. When experiencing classism it would be difficult to work with the parents and build a strong relationship to teach the child. If the child sees that the parents do not believe in me and doubt my teaching then the child will be disrespectful and think I cannot help them. The child will be less likely to participate in class, work hard, complete homework, etc. This will affect their overall learning and development. For example, one family does not have any health insurance so when their daughter gets sick they cannot take her to the doctors and she does not stay home from school because neither of the parents can afford to take off of work. This causes other children to get sick and miss school. When a note is sent home to the parents they are not very receptive and send a displeased response back. This causes more turmoil with the family and makes the environment even more unsettling and strained for their daughter. "Inequitable opportunities, privileges, and life experiences based on economic class deeply affect young children's lives" (Derman-Sparks, & Olsen Edwards, 2010)

 Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).