Reflecting on Learning

 My most passionate hope for my future as an early childhood professional and for the children and families with whom I will work with is to truly make a difference. I want to have a beautiful, safe, secure, positive classroom environment for my students. I want to promote diversity and culture in my classroom too. I want to create a curriculum for my students that will be anti-biased. I will make a good point to let my students know they are loved and cared about and can talk to me about anything if they feel the need. I want parents and families to feel welcome in the class anytime. I want to have a good solid foundation set for my students and families. I want to have great communication with both and encourage that all throughout the year. I want the centers in my classrooms to be educational, fun, and positive. I want to make a difference! That's my goal!

I want to thank my colleagues and friends for taking the time to always stop by to read my blogs and to comment. It truly means a lot to me and I hope my blogs have been informative for you and I wish you the best in all your endeavors!

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

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• Share with your colleagues the area of the world you chose and why: Latin America and the Carribean: Barbados. I chose this because I'm unfamiliar with this part of the world and I'm interested in knowing more about it; even if it's just a little bit. I also chose Barbados because my husband's family travels there for vacation a lot and they seem to really enjoy it there.
• Describe in detail some of the challenges that children in this region of the world are confronting: From researching this I found out that a lot of families struggle with poverty here. The abuse of children is a big problem, children with disabilities and sexual diseases are a concern. Crime and drugs are also a big concern in Barbados and so is education. I'm amazed at how many concerns there are for children and families in this part of the world."Child vulnerability caregivers in all three countries were more concerned about education than anything else." (Johnson, 2006)
• Explain how these experiences might have an effect on children’s emotional wellbeing and development: These types of challenges can and will effect children tremendously. It can effect their mind-set, their behavior, the way they speak/communication, it can effect their self esteem, how they do in school, it can effect their social skills, and change who they are completely. "While not designed to measure the prevalence of child sexual abuse, the study highlighted an alarming picture of a social problem which is perceived to be escalating; has increasingly severe consequences for Caribbean societies; and has multiple layers." (Knight, 2009)
• Include a personal and professional reflection. Explain the insights you gained and the influences they may have on you as a person and as an early childhood professional: Personally, I think it's a shame that so many children and families have to suffer and live in such a way that effects them a great deal. It's heart-breaking. These types of stories and information inspires me to want to help others as much as I possibly can. It makes me want to be a wonderful and positive role model for my students and support the families anyway I know how. With that being said, I made a donation to the UNICEF website to help children. It always makes me feel great to know I helped and made a difference!
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• Reference:
• Johnson, T. (2006). A study of child vulnerability in barbados, st. lucia and st. vincent & the grenadines. UNICEF, 4. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/barbados/cao_resources_vulnerability.pdf
  
  
  Knight, P. (2009). Unicef study unmasks child sexual abuse in eastern caribbean. UNICEF, Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/media_51931.html
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

Sexualization of early childhood is a sensitive topic for many. I could write about my opinion on this all day. I think that young children are being exposed to a lot of sexual images, TV, movies, and children are being exposed to sexualized material everyday. I think it's a shame that the world has come to this. As a parent, I find it frustrating that I can't leave my own TV on in my house for background noise because there are filthy languaged commercial, violence, provocative scenes from movies/tv shows, etc. These messages that young children are getting starting from such an early age are so demeaning. 

 

I want to make clear how important it is to realize that there is a big difference between sexualization and sexuality. " Sexualization is treating other people and oneself as an object of desire, with their value primarily from sex appeal and physical attractiveness." (Shewmaker, 2013)

 

 

From my personal experience, three examples that illustrate the exposure of young children to a highly sexualized environment: 1.) There are many TV shows that expose sexual dance moves. For example: On the music video channel, "Dance Moms" or even the TV show titled "Toddlers and Tiaras." 2.) Children start watching tv at a young age and from the media they are exposed to many wrong messages. "According to research experts, 90% of a child’s brain develops during the first five years of childhood." (Leung, 2010) 3.) Lyrics on TV such as "I like big butts and I can not lie."

The implications this may have on children's healthy development: I honestly think that children are being exposed to too much sexual and violent things which affects who they are, I think it changes them and not always for the better. I think if more parents were involved in their children's life and were able to sit down with their children to discuss what they are seeing on TV and why, children wouldn't be so confused about it. In today's society, so many children have TV's in their room and what they watch is never monitored and they have no limit as to how much TV they can watch. I feel like if adults were to have very open and age appropriate discussions with their children/students about these topics, it would help the children understand the importance of self respect and how important it is to respect others. I think it's important for parents/families to communicate with the teachers and to keep that open line of communication open so they are both on the same page about things. ""We must change the world our children live in," Kilbourne said. Children are being taught sex education in schools, but this sex education is not necessarily the right kind nor correct." (Haight, 2008)

I always knew sexualization of early childhood has been really bad but I don't think I ever realized how bad it was. Watching some videos I found online and reading the many articles I did, I realized what a huge issue it is for society. The media is one of the biggest problems and why we have to deal with all this.

References:

Shewmaker, J. (2013, January 22). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://jennifershewmaker.com/2013/01/22/what-is-sexualization-anyway/

Leung, M. (2010, April 29). Sponge like brain. Retrieved from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/7240 

Haight, A. (2008). Kilbourne and levin blame media for early sexualization. The Simmons Voice, 1. Retrieved from http://www.thesimmonsvoice.com/kilbourne-and-levin-blame-media-for-early-sexualization-1.2419085

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

We are all going to experience "ism(s) in our own life. I have been around several people in the past who have been racist and it was very hard for me to listen to and watch specific behavior. Growing up, one of my parents were racist and I was told that I was not allowed to have "Black" friends and that I was never allowed to bring a "Black" man home to date. I was never racist, I love all people regardless of the color of their skin. As a professional, I will not have tolerance for racism in my classroom. I think every educator will encounter children/families that have racial viewpoints. It is important we learn how to deal with those types of situations. Racism has always divided people and it continues to do so. As an anti-bias professional- one of my goals will be to embrace diversity and to teach diversity in my classroom. I want my students to know that each of us are all different and that there is a need to celebrate our differences rather then look down upon them. "
In an anti-bias classroom, children learn to be proud of themselves and of their families, to respect human differences, and to recognize bias and speak up for what is right (Sparks, & Edwards, 2010)."

As a professional, I anticipate some of the families fearing that their children will be picked on/teased/bullied because of the color of their child's skin. I want them to be reassured that I will not allow this type of behavior in my classroom. Everyone is going to feel loved, safe, and we are all going to know the meaning of respect from the first day of class! Every child deserves to feel loved!