Week 7:EDUC-6358

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

This week we had to look deeper into a region around the world that was of interest to us and I chose to look at East Asia and the Pacific region which includes areas such as: Vietnam, Mongolia, and Myanmar to name a few. Since starting with Walden back in 2009 on my Bachelor’s degree I have learned and research many topic that both hurt and help our children everywhere and it never ceases to amaze me how children end up being the victims in every situation. Children in this region suffer from malnutrition, unhealthy water resources, since 1990, the proportion of people in the region with improved sanitation has risen from 49% to 66% – but this still means that around 670 million people do not have access to proper sanitation facilities. On top of this, some 236 million people, or 12% of the total population, lack access to clean water. (http://www.unicef.org). In many of these areas children are subjected to war zones that they have no way of escaping and often are made to fight for their survival and that of their families. Living in these conditions affects not only a child’s physical and mental health but most definitely their emotional health to an even greater degree. The East Asia and Pacific region encompasses one-third of the world’s population – or around 2 billion people. It also contains over one-quarter of the world’s children – around 580 million children in total. The region stretches from Mongolia in the north to Tonga in the south, and from Western China to the Cook Islands. The smallest country in East Asia and the Pacific, Niue, has 1,700 people while the largest, China, has 1.3 billion people. There are around 30 million children born in the region every year.

“In every country, in every culture, there is violence against children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “Whenever and wherever children are harmed, our outrage and anger must be seen and heard. We must make the invisible visible.” The damage to children caused by sexual and physical abuse is often very serious and lifelong. These children are more likely to be depressed and experience other types of mental health problems, to think about or attempt suicide and to engage in more high-risk behaviors than their non-abused counterparts (http://www.unicef.org/eapro/media_21211.html). The region has significant diversity – in peoples, cultures, environments, economies, political systems and potential. It includes some of the fastest-growing economies in the world as well as ten of the least-developed countries – six in the Pacific and four in East Asia. The Pacific is a distinct sub region within the wider region, with its unique characteristics, dynamics and challenges.

This region has many challenges that can affect children’s emotional well being and development because many are living in a war zone and do not have their basic needs met adequately. They are in many areas not given the resources to become educated as we are in the United States and other countries.

Doing the research this week has helped me to gain better insight into what we in America have and many take for granted and how children around the world have to fight for the smallest right that should be freely given to them. The children in this region need us to help them get what is rightly their and stand up for them in any way we can and that starts with being a child advocate for children everywhere. We need to hold the governments accountable for what is happening in all countries and not fall for the lies they spout daily and that many believe at the expense of children.

UNICEF, 2013. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

East Asia and Pacific region: http://www.unicef.org/eapro/activities.html

http://www.unicef.org/eapro/factsheets_on_eap_health.pdf

 

Week 6 Blog

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

 

Everywhere we look today we see sexualization in early childhood from what the children say to their toys, and what they watch each day on television. Over the years I have seen this issue go from something not talked about or even seen in many of my classes/preschools to being an everyday occurrence that many times needs to be addressed in some way. When we turn the television on our children are bombarded by ads for sexually explicit materials and of course they are going to ask questions and when they don’t get a good answer at home they come and ask us the next adult they can talk too.

In my personal or professional experience I have had many times where I have seen young children exposed to this type of an environment and my examples are listed below.

The first example is when I worked at our local before and after program and it was time for our annual boat regatta and the children wanted to wear very short shorts and tube tops (the top that barely covers a girls chest) for the team outfit and my young co-worker said it was fine but being the oldest member of the staff I put my foot down and stated that it was totally inappropriate for children of 9-11 to be wearing something like this for the whole community to see. I felt they should wear at least a t-shirt that covered everything.

Second, I have had children in my three to five year old class come to school wearing make-up and outfits that I would expect a young girl to wear if the parent’s decided it was okay. Some of the outfits barely cover their bottoms and make-up is that no child needs to wear in my opinion.

Lastly, I have had children in my class talk about what their parents are doing at home and I even had a little boy tell me about an operation his father had on his private area and that he was doing much better and he said this in front of the dad. I have to say we just looked at each other and then he took his son out of the room to talk to him in private. It was a very uncomfortable situation, but I think the father handled it better that I would have because I was speechless.

Everywhere I look today I see young children (mainly girls) wearing clothes that should not be made for someone as young as two or three and I feel the parents are setting the children up for trouble when they buy these types of things for their children because we have so many people in the world that will take advantage of a child for the simple fact that they are preying on someone that doesn’t understand why it’s wrong. Today’s movies and cartoons that are made for children are not really safe for them to watch because of the content and many parents don’t know what they are getting into or simply give in to the children when they say they want to see something.

“Girls and boys constantly encounter sexual messages and images that they cannot understand and that can confuse and even frighten them. They learn that sex is the defining activity in relationships, to the exclusion of love and friendship” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). When it comes to my concerns with sexualization of young children and how to lessen the negative impact on them would be to start with having parents find a way to really focus on what their children are watching, listening to in music, clothes they wear and the toys they are asking for. We as the adults that spend the most time with these young children need to find a way to help them understand the differing views they see everywhere. Children can learn that by accepting the views they see around them it can sometimes lead to sexual abuse, pedophila or prostitution in extreme cases (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). It is necessary for the adults to take time to talk with children about safety with their bodies and about how we are the same but different in many different ways. We need to be ready to talk and answer questions in a simple way to help children understand their identities and to help keep them safe from all the hype they see everywhere they look.

Week 5

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

Our lives have the many isms affecting everything we do daily and the one that is my biggest nemeses is “racism”, I say this because it affects all our interactions with the families and children we care for daily. Even though I have lived in many places and with many different families I know I still have issues with racism. I will be honest saying that the areas I need to continue working to improve are racism and classism. Even though I have lived around the world and interacted with many cultural differences I still have moments when I feel one group is getting something that another group is not.

When we let any of the isms interfere with our classrooms, it will affect the whole child because they will not feel safe, loved, included in the group, and they can feel agression from another child or group. Some consequences that can occur with the families that are cared for daily might be unequal treatment in the classroom, not wanting to help certain children with activities, not comforting a child because of their race or social class. A child that is from a different race might not get the same attention as another child that is the same race or has the same social economic status as the teacher, caregiver, or peers. Anyone that has lived the military life or moved often can understand how a child might feel because they are always coming across as different to the children in the new classroom. I can relate to children that come from another country or even when they are just different that the majority of the children in the class because I have been there and I know how affects children’s feelings and can make them act out or become withdrawn from the group. We need to find a way to help all children feel welcome and one way is to show them that it is a great thing for us all to be different because otherwise the world would be very boring with everyone doing the same things. I work to learn some of each language that my children know so that I can at least greet them and their parents daily and I can tell this means a lot to them and adds to their feeling of being part of the whole group.

Blog: Observing Communication<p>

A few days ago I observed a mother and her child in the grocery store having trouble communicating with each other. The toddler was very upset and hysterical. You could see the mother was getting very flustered and trying to calm the child. She paused then calmly asked “what's wrong” and searched for an injury. The child became more upset. The mother then held the child close and eye to eye she said “Are you hurt? The child shook NO. “Are you thirsty? The child shook NO. “Are you hot? The child shook NO. The mother then calmly said “I don't know what is wrong please tell me so I can fix it”. The child then calmed down a little and thru the sobbing muttered I can’t find my sticker. I was very impressed that the mother remained calm and really went down the child's level to find what was causing the fuss. I could see this interaction was soothing to the child. I think interactions like the one I witnessed will help the child learn affective communication in the future. I learned that although the loss of a sticker seems small to an adult in a child’s eyes it is a big ordeal. I think in our day to day lives we often forget just how important little things are to children. By the mother really trying to figure out what was wrong and not yelling at the child, I feel it help the child to calm down and be able to let the mother know what was upsetting them. When we communicate with young children we need to always remember to get eye level with the child and stay calm which then helps the child to know you are not upset and it has a calming effect and they will then be able to tell the mother or adult what is bothering them.

Creating Affirming Environments: Week 2

Blog Assignment: Creating Affirming Environments: Week 2

 

For this week’s assignment I am opening a Family Child Care Home. There are many factors that need to be thought out when opening a center-the areas and elements need to be consistent with the needs of all children. The areas will need to be well defined and have a welcoming environment.

In order to have an anti-bias environment for my family I will need to have materials for the children that honor diversity both within and beyond their own identity groups (Derman-Sparks, 2010). Some of the materials I would need are; multicultural books for the ages I will care for (infant to four year olds), the books will need to have real life pictures to help reflect scenarios that the children can relate to. I will need to have dolls of many cultures that portray native dress and customs to help children feel more at home and a variety of puzzles that also depict the families that I care for in my home. I will also have an area set up for families that includes important information in multiple languages if needed, it is important to know some of the languages for the families that I will be working with daily. My creative materials need to reflect colors other than your basic white, black and brown. There are many different skin tones that need to be seen and used with paper and paint. I need to use materials that do not reflect one primary group of people because it teaches children that they are not as important as the dominant group (Derman-Sparks, 2010). Posters showing families from all races, ages, and genders will also be displayed in my home. My home center needs to reflect an atmosphere that is welcoming to everyone and shows that I am building an anti-bias environment for learning and sharing.

I want my home center to embrace all my families no matter where they come from and I will blend all cultures throughout my whole home so all families know they are welcome and that includes having separate areas for every family and child because individual space is important for each child. These things are vital for any center to show the families that they are your focus and you will go above and beyond to have the right environment for everyone.

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).

 

 

What I Have Learned: Week 8

 

One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds (any format and any length) <p>

 

The one hope I have for working with my families and children is to really immerse myself in learning about each families unique differences and bringing them into my classroom as best I can. I want to be able to help all children no matter where they live or what their family situation might be. Children have no control over their young lives and it is up to us to help them succeed and give them the tools for this success. I would like to help children get the education they are afforded even if they are not able to pay because again the children have no control over this and each and every person should have an education. <p>

 

One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice (any format and any length) <p>

 

A goal that I have for the early childhood field would be to help bring more awareness to everyone the importance of educating all children around the world. Education is supposed to be equal for all and here we are in the 21^st century and we still haven’t made it equal for all. I would like to have centers available in each community that caters to children no matter their race, gender, disability, or any number of other injustices that we dole out whenever we see fit. We must overcome our biases to help our families to reach the goals that they set for themselves and their children. <p>

 

 

A brief note of thanks to your colleagues<p>

 

Lastly, I would like to thank my colleagues for their continued support during this class; I truly appreciate your comments and suggestions as they are helping me to grow. You have all shared many great ideas and stories that I will remember. We have shared our biases and hopefully we are learning from each other as well as growing to be better people and educators. Here’s to another class down and two more to go, hopefully I will see you next week in our next class. Best wishes to each and every one of you in your continued journey. <->

 

 

Start Seeing Diversity

Start Seeing Diversity<p>

 

Diversity is how we are different<p>

Instills our beliefs<p>

Values that we hold near and dear<p>

Exceptions to our beliefs as we share with others<p>

Refuse to worry what others think<p>

Say or do<p>

Including all consequences<p>

Therefore, we are to be an individual<p>

You and me will be one and unique in the grand scheme of society<p>

<p>Diversity means many things to each individual. We all have our own definition and for me it includes being true to each race, culture, child, adult’s unique qualities that define a person and instead of changing someone to fit what we believe. <p>