Reflecting On Learning

Of all the courses that's we've taken, Strategies for Working With Diverse Children has been one of my favorite classes. I have learned so much from the readings, my classmates, and learned some things about myself as an anti-bias educator. I have truly enjoyed working with my classmates. I know that I will keep in touch with some of you in the future. I want to say thank you and wish everyone the best of luck as we get ready to complete the program.

 It is my hope that I can take what I've learned to help children in their families better understand culture differences and the importance of accepting one another. Being an anti-bias educator is a big responsibility and it's one that I have accepted and I'm ready for the challenge. For those of you who may want to keep in touch my email information is listed below. God bless you all in your future

endeavors.

Thesha :-) 

work email: tlewis3@bcps.org

home email: thesha817@yahoo.com 

 

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

The area of the world that I chose to learn more about is East Asia and Pacific. Some of the challenges that children are facing in that region are: physical abuse, child mortality (drowning), and child trafficking, and natural disasters. I think all of the challenges listed could have an impact on a child’s emotional well being and development because all of these could cause a lack of development based on emotional trauma. 

The one challenge that I wanted to learn more about is what has been put in place for children that were victims of Typhoon Haiyan. I found that child friendly zones have been created for the young victims during the clean-up efforts. The child friendly zones help the children to take their minds of the tragedy that took place. The Unicef organization realizes that the well-being of children after a tragedy is important. For that reason areas have been established for children to begin the process of mourning and getting on with their lives. Another reason these tents have been set-up is to stop the risk of children in this region from being victims of human trafficking. 

I can't imagine what it must be like to for these children. When children experience episodes of trauma it can affect their educational development and their emotional development. Reading about the areas that have been set up for children did make me feel a little better but my heart aches for the children who have lost loved ones. 

References

 http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/eastasia.html

http://www.unicef.org/eapro/media_21844.html

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

This week we were asked to read an article called So Sexy so Soon. I was not at all surprised about the information in the article because there are so many factors that contribute to what we are seeing with sexualization of early childhood children. Recently there was a catchy song released by Robin Thicke. I love his music by the way. The tune of the song is very catchy and has been a chart topper for most of the summer and into the l fall. The beat of the song is great and it has that R&B Marvin Gaye kind of feel in the song. It’s a song that makes you want to dance… The problem with the song is the lyrics… Throughout the song Robin Thicke is talking a girl and tells her that, “I know you want it”. He even tells her that she’s the hottest Bi*tch in the place. The beat of the song is catchy but when you really think about the lyrics, they cross the lines. I have heard my students singing these lyrics and it’s a little upsetting.  This brings to mind some of the other music that has come out recently. I wonder if the kids understand what they are signing.

Another example that I’ve seen is the way that dolls are dresses Diane E. Levin, Ph.D. & Jean Kilbourne mentioned this in the article So Sexy so Soon. The dolls they talk about are called Bratzs. My daughters have had many of these dolls. They dolls have high heels and wear sexy clothes. Most of the dolls are wearing lots of make-up. Until recently I never really thought about the image that young girls are seeing. I do tend to believe that the music and the images that children see do impact their development. I think what concerns me about the images is how young boys will view their female peers as a result of what they see.  As a mother of two girls, I sometimes find it hard to shop for my children in some of the popular children’s store. The clothing is sometimes inappropriate for their age group.

As a result of the images that children are seeing, I think that early childhood professionals can try to provide children with positive images. When they come to school singing something inappropriate that is highly sexual in nature, I would talk to the children to see if they understand what they are talking about. In the classroom setting I would play music that is more appropriate. If the child continued I would make their parent aware of the things that are being said and ask if they could make sure that the children are listening to more appropriate.