Reflect On Learning

My most passionate hope for my future as an early childhood professional and the children and families that I touch daily is that I become more “in tune” with the children and families with whom I work.  I want to embrace and celebrate our differences.  Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010), states that in order to form a caring, learning community where all children can learn and thrive means forging a working partnership based on what families wish for their child and what you believe is important for children (pg. 39).  It is imperative as an early childhood professional; I respect what the parents’ desire for their children, and put my personal beliefs and philosophies aside.  I must have a common goal with parents to ensure that their child’s identity and anti-biased attitude is developed.  It is important to approach differences in perspectives as opportunities to build partnerships with our families (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

To my colleagues, I have learned so much from each and every one of you!   I appreciate your honesty, feedback, and opinions and I hope I have been helpful to you as well.  I hope for nothing but the best in your future endeavors. We're almost there at the finish line and we have children waiting for us!

Good luck!

References

Derman-Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and

             ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young

             Children (NAEYC)

  

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

The region of the world I chose to investigate in regards to the challenges faced by children such as poverty, war, terrorism, abuse, and other forms of trauma is Latin America and the Caribbean.  I chose this particular region because this is an area that I have visited several times from a tourist approach.  I have often observed the children there selling bracelets and necklaces on the streets at all times of night and I am really curious to research whether or not these families are really living in poverty or if this was just a way to get over on those of us that are visiting from other countries.

The children of this region are confronting many challenges such as poverty, domestic violence, explotation, abuse, social exclusion, and natural emergencies such as weather.  Sixty percent of children under 12 years of age live in poverty.  Nearly 85,000 children die annually as a result of violence in the home, violence affects over 6 million children and adolescents.  There are young people living with HIV/AIDS, and those with disabilities, and dramatically affects indigenous and Afro-descendent communities. As one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world, there are 40-50 million indigenous and 150million Afro-descendants living here, close to half of which are under 18 years of age. Children in these communities have lower levels of nutrition and limited or non-existent access to basic services (unicef.org, 2013).  Emergencies are common and harsh with natural disasters such as flooding and hurricanes occurring yearly. Invariably these days of havoc create years of distress.  

These experiences might have a long lasting impact on children's emotional wellbeing and development in many ways.  These children including 7.3% of boys and girls under-five years of age are underweight for their age, and about 20% show signs of stunted physical and developmental growth.  Poverty is threatening the health of children and their families. Violence against children threatens their survival and well-being, and prevents them developing to their full potential, leaving physical and psychological scars, too often perpetuation a cycle of violence (unicef.org, 2013). 

I gained much personal insight from this research.  I learned that the people and children here really are suffering from a wide variety of challenges.  I have a different outlook on the way that I will look at the children when I go to visit these places in the near future.  I now understand that these children and their families really do need the money from the tourists that come into these regions and it is not a gimmick.  It really makes me sad to learn these things.

References

http://www.unicef.org

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

Sexualization in early childhood is becoming more and more evident.  I have worked in the early childhood industry for the last nineteen years and I am sometimes flabbergasted at some of the conversations and remarks that I have no choice but to confront,.  Over the last few years I have really noticed a growing trend of sexual references in children's movies, commercials, and clothing.

I remember years ago a rated G movie or cartoon was just that ....rated G and children were safe to watch it and it reflected pure innocence.  The movies and cartoons that are now being released are geared more towards adults than the general audience it should have been produced for.  As I shop for my son I notice as I walk past the little girl's clothing department that the skirts are exceptionally short as well as the shorts.  The animal prints such as leopard and zebra and fur seem so provacative for such little people.  I have even noticed that little girl's shoes as little as two year olds have a slightly elevated heel on them.  I feel our children are being forced to accelerate their childhood and grow up too fast.

The characters in some of these movies and cartoons are the epitame of the perfectly built human.  The females have the tiny little waist with pertruding hips and nice round derriere.  It also appears that the clothing these characters wear is always tight and form fitting, sometimes exposing a mid-drift.   The male characters also have the small waist and big biceps.  I've seen promotions for pregnant dolls and dolls that even breast feed.  I feel that this is totally innapropriate for young children and as parents it is our duty to educate our children on these life experiences as they get older.

I can recall last summer one of the eleven year olds enrolled in my summer programhad his cell phone out texting another little girl that was not enrolled in our program.  I asked him to give me his phone and I went through his text messages.  I was not prepared for what I was about to read.  There were references to bi-sexualism and lesbians, there were pictures of this little girl in her bra and panties.  I called the mother of this little boy and told his mother to please stop by my office to pick up her son's phone and he was not allowed to bring it back to my facility.  The mother said she had no idea that her son had these types of messages in his phone.  She seemed surprised.  I was very disturbed by her naive attitude.  I feel like first of all, this child is eleven years old and therefore there should be NO PRIVACY in your home.  I think that a response to this concern is that parents really need to be more in touch as to what their children are exposed to.

My nephew wanted a Facebook page and my sister asked my opinion.  I told her that she needed to set up his page and only she should have the password, not him.  He could go in and control all of his privacy settings where he could control what she sees.  As the parent, I told her she needed to be the one in control, not him.  He had a fit saying that wasn't fair, needless to say my sister gave in and allowed him to be in control of his own page at his young tender age of 10.  I told her now he was about to be exposed to so many things that could have been within her control.

There are many sexual messages that our young children are exposed to, and as early childhood professionals it is imperative that try our best to communicate with and educate our parents as well as form relationships with the community. I'm not by any means saying that it is totally the parent's fault, and there are some parents that do try really hard to shelter their children from the sexual message and images that they are exposed to.  We just have to work together to transform those images to positive images and get back to values and morals, and work to ensure that our children will thrive in our crude society.

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

Racism is definitely the one -ism that I can relate to on so many different levels. There are consequences that families and children may experience from the results of racism that I am faced with on a daily basis.

  I have never understood the reasoning behind some individuals that do not want their children around "those" people.  "Those" people not verbally referred to as African Americans, but those people visually referred to as African Americans.  As a Campus Director of a facility that is located in a corporate business park, I am exposed to racism on a weekly basis.  It appears as if some families are surprised to see that an African American woman manages my facility.  The proof??  As some of these perspective families proceed to tour my facility, they always tend to walk past me searching for "my director".  I consistently am asked, "Is your director here?"  It is so satisfying to see the facial expressions and body language when I make the announcement that I am the Campus Director.

I sometimes find myself on the defense now when perspective parents come in to tour my building. I have found myself being very self-conscious and careful when I am speaking with these families.  I find myself carefully choosing my words and even evaluating the way I articulate my words, so I don't sound ignorant.  I honestly feel that there have been some families that did not enroll in my facility due to the color of my skin.  I have even been told by the HR department that maybe I am not experiencing racism to the point that I think I am.  I have explained to our HR manager who happens to be Caucasian, that she will never experience the things that I experience because we are from two different worlds.  I can sense when someone does not want to shake my hand in fear that my skin color is contagious. I can sense the anxieties that surface once these families learn that the fate of their child's early childhood education lies in the hands of an African American.

I will continue to provide our children with the ultimate early childhood experience.  I have concluded that the individuals who judge and percieve color is a factor that determines success, I will show them that it comes from the heart and soul.  Either you have it or you don't, point blank.  The stereotypes remain a product of ignorance, and I will not succumb to anyone's ignorance.