6358. Week 8. Reflecting on Learning

My hope for the early childhood field and the society we all take part of, is that every person can be seen as a contributor for a greater and more diverse community, and not as a barrier or a problem just because of everyone’s uniqueness. As a person who is aware of the importance of identifying my own bias and strengths, I consider I got more strategies that let me help others to feel comfortable for being who they are. I also wish I have the sensitiveness needed to talk to others about the importance of being diverse and unique, because only when addressing differences we all would be able to accept that the common facts among everyone are our differences.

Finally, I want to thank to my colleagues and Dr. Weems for their contributions to my growth. Through your posts and comments I was able to broaden my perspectives, while all of you gave me endless opportunities to consider ideas I did not even realize until reading them from you. Thank you all for being fundamental part of my personal and professional growth!

Wishing you all the best in the last course of this program degree and in future endeavors!

6358. Week 7. Impacts on Early Emotional Development

I chose to explore Afghanistan, a country in South Asia. The reason why I chose this country is because a friend of mine has relatives still living in her native country, and the stories she shares with me about her relatives’ experiences are toughest I have ever heard.

In the Afghanistan’s regional site, found in the UNICEF website, I read about baad, the custom of trading young girls to settle debts or family disputes. This specific article shares Suraiya’s story, a 6-year-old girl who was given by her family to her neighbors in an attempt to buy peace, after Suraiya’s older brother eloped with a neighbor’s daughter. For the following four years she was forced to do heavy household chores, and the family kicked and thrashed her with knives, sticks and iron rods. Suraiya escaped from the family, only to find herself locked behind bars for begging, shortly after. Sadly, there are many other young girls suffering physically and emotionally the same as Suraiya.

UNICEF has placed these children in orphanages or safe homes, in order to ensure their safety, through trained social workers who also contact the children’s families and provide counseling. After many sessions with families and children, the children’s confidence and the family relationships can be rebuilt.

I consider these experiences affect girls in all aspects of their life, because their safety is jeopardize when their family decide to give their girls away. The girls’ needs are not met; their self-esteem is undermined while being treated as only objects of work by the families who take them. When the girls decide to escape, their situation does not get better, because they are homeless, vulnerable and at risk of being exploited further. In the Suraiya’s case, her development did not have the needed foundation for her healthy development, because she there were no caring people around who would support her. Fortunately, Suraiya found on her aunt the supportive person she did not have before, and she was able to establish a healthy relationship with her.  

When I read the baad is seen as a custom in Afghanistan, Eric Hoffman’s word came to my mind when he stated that there are always differences in opinions between the families and the school, and as teachers, we need to listen carefully to families in order to figure out a solution (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). After reading Suraiya’s story, and thinking as a sensitive person and as an early childhood professional, I wonder what could be the best way to help her and her family in this situation. I know we have to respect the customs each family has as part of their culture, but in this case, I consider the wellbeing of the girl needs to be placed first than the parents beliefs. I also consider the family involvement within the program would be fundamental, in order to let them see there are other ways to solve the problems. In addition, when families get involve within the program, they all broaden their perspective and learn from other families the different ways to face challenging situations.

This is the link to read the article about Suraiya’s story http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/afghanistan_65844.html

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Partnering with families. In Strategies for Working with Diverse Children. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2652530_1%26url%3D

6358. Week 6. The Sexualization of Early Childhood

The sexualization of early childhood is a situation I was aware of even before getting involved in this educational field. I remember when I realized that children’s clothes were no longer of light colors, decorated with sweet images of flowers, clouds, or animals. Instead, it was more and more usual to see clothes in black or red colors, with images of dolls, which did not look like dolls for children, but for adults due to their physical characteristics –wearing mini-skirts, lipstick and excessive eye makeup. Sadly, the only thing I used to do, was just to thank God for letting me grow up playing with sweet baby dolls, and wearing clothes of light colors. Certainly the messages that media –and maybe myself, may be sending to children about their integrity as persons, have not been the right ones; especially if I have not done anything specific to avoid this sexualization.

As an early childhood teacher, I have been able to see how children act in ways that match the sexualized environment in which they are immersed (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). I remember when assisting in an Early Head Start classroom, having witnessed two three-year old girls singing in front of a mirror in the dramatic area, Justin Bieber’s song Baby. While singing, these two girls were shaking their hips, going up and down, and making other body movements with their mouth wide open when not singing.  I also saw many times how the girl wearing tank tops, with Hannah Montana or iCarly images, and mini-shorts was the leader when playing outdoors, and how the girls with more age-appropriate and plain clothes were excluded of the game. Another experience I had, was when a girl refused to eat breakfast and lunch because she had lipstick on her lips –the girl’s mom allowed her to wear it.

The messages and images that constantly bombard children in a sexualized environment can affect their development by sending them wrong messages about their gender roles, e.g. girls have to look “beautiful, thin, ‘hot’, and sexy” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p. 2), while a lack of sensitivity is expected on boys besides macho behaviors. Children who are exposed to sexualized media can develop pathological sexual behaviors like sexual abuse, pedophilia, and prostitution (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). When these children grow up, girls may think there are only sex objects, and have eating disorders or depression, while boys can become “men who re unsatisfying and sometimes even dangerous partners for women” ((Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p. 5). As an early childhood professional, I can build trustable relationships in which children can express their ideas without being judged, while asking them why they are doing or saying those things, thing to find out their feelings and thoughts, but in a conversation that make them feel not embarrassed, either punished (Levin, 2009). Because it is important to create appropriate classrooms circumstances that have positive impact on the ideas children develop about themselves (Lee, 2008), I can also promote activities in which boys and girls play together, and others in which both can express their emotions (Levin, 2009). Reading books in which girls are strong and confident, and boys are sensitive is a good way to reduce negative impacts on children (Levin, 2009). In order to reduce the impact of sexualized environments on children, I can also invite organize parent meetings and explain to families the harm our children are being affected by.

This week’s resources have helped me to change the previous ideas I had about the sexualization of early childhood, instead of just thanking God for the childhood I had, I can give children an environment free of sexualized messages. Now, I know I can talk to children about their misconceptions related to sex and gender, but in a level they can understand, like addressing the similarities girls and boys have –feelings or skills.  I also learn that, because children have their unique home environment and in order to create a link between home and school, talking to families about the sexualization and how it affects children, is fundamental in helping children dispel social assumptions and biases they may have and express, or not express.  

References

Lee, L. (2008). Understanding gender through Disney’s marriages: A study of young Korean immigrant girls. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(1), 11-18.

Levin, D. E. (2009, October 1). Dealing with the impact of today’s sexualized childhood on young children. Teaching Young Children , 3(1), 8-10. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/tyc/file/TYC_V3N1_Levin.pdf

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

6358. Week 5. Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

 

Having grown up in a small Mexican community, I experienced sexism while living in Mexico. Sexism placed always my dad over whatever my mom, sisters, and myself said or did in my house. At the end, my dad was the one who made the decisions and who established the rules, but who always had the right to break them. This sexism has helped me to change the way my life with my husband has developed, in our marriage the two of us are the same, sharing duties and activities of relaxation. My previous experiences with sexism have also helped me to create an environment in the early childhood classroom, in which all boys and girls can do any activity they want to, play with the materials/toys they want to play, or use the objects they want to use.

After marrying and moving to USA I faced racism, because of my skin and hair color, as well as my accent when speaking English. I remember the first month I worked as a teacher assistant, the lead teacher used to talk about me with another teacher –both of them were Caucasians. Their hurtful conversations were fundamental for my personal and professional growth, because I did not want to be like them, and I knew I needed to improve my English skills, as well as preparing myself in order to be a better teacher, not the kind of teachers they were. These experiences helped me to realize the importance of welcoming and including all families in my classroom, giving anyone plenty opportunities to talk to me –through phone calls, in person when dropping off or picking up their child, or by written notes.

The ism I anticipate is my LGBT-ism, despite the fact I am already working on it, through the lecture of resources about LGBT people who are target of LGBT-ism, and other articles that reflect there is no harm for children of LGBT-headed-families. I am conscious about the impact my LGBT-ism can have on my practice in the early childhood field, because it will not let me learn from those families, either their culture, keeping me away from experiences that would enrich my personal and professional lives. I also think that if I do not work on my LGBT-ism I will give less opportunities to these families to participate in the classroom and the program, because I will be sending them the message that they are not welcome to, either important for the early childhood program. When I think of the day I have an LGBT-headed-family, I keep in mind the way I felt when the two teacher talked about me because of my race; this previous experience helps me to be empathetic with the uniqueness of the families I serve, and I hope this helps me to when the day of working with LGBT-headed-families come.