Impacts on Early Emotional Development

I chose to look at Jamaica for my blog assignment this week.  My sister has traveled to Jamaica many times. When she first started traveling to Jamaica, it was for tourism and vacation purposes but as she talked to people from Jamaica living in the United States and realized that she would like to revisit Jamaica and stay in the residential areas instead of the popular vacation spots.  She found her experiences very different than the first visit she made and got to know and understand the people, culture and hardships of the Jamaican people.

The article that I read discussed the aftermath of the children's emotional states in West Kingston following the violence in West Kingston (UNICEF, 2010).  The amazing information in this article is that teachers, mostly early childhood educators, were trained in using music, art, dance, and play therapy to help the children when they came back to school to express their feelings and unrest about the violence (UNICEF, 2010).  The teachers also found it therapeutic for themselves to go through the training as they lost loved ones from the violence as well (UNICEF, 2010).  The teachers found this approach to be especially helpful for the children as children were able to be honest about their experiences and use the arts and play to express themselves (UNICEF, 2010).  The teachers were amazed at some of the drawings and paintings that the children made that portrayed the violence they had endured and seen (UNICEF, 2010).

As an early childhood educator, I have worked in many different places. One school came to mind when I was reading the article about the children in Jamaica.  One of my first jobs was as a kindergarten teacher in a school in Chicago.  The area was described as poverty and the children and families I served endured violence every day living close to gang warfare, drugs, and prostitution.  The children walked out of their living places every morning greeted by drug dealers and gang members.  So I always tried to make sure that school was their safe place and a place they could enjoy coming to on a daily basis.  One day, an intruder came into my classroom and mugged me in front of the children.  He threatened that he had a gun and would come back and kill me if I told anyone.  Thankfully he left without any physical harm to me or the children but emotional scarring had occurred.  As I tried to get help in my classroom which was difficult with no classroom phone and no way to contact other teachers, my children started to cry one by one until every child in the room was crying.  While trying to console the children, I pulled out a bingo game and started playing with the children just to get them to calm down and bring some normalcy back.  I listened to the children as they expressed their fears while we played. The game playing also helped me to stay calm and be there for my children.  When the principal asked the children what had happened after hearing my story, they were able to give her every detail about what happened.  What saddened me the most about this incident is that my kindergartners had to endure that violence every day outside of school in their neighborhood and should not have to experience it at school.  What helped me to get through my own experience of being mugged and threatened was the support of my family and the resilience I saw in the children I taught.

While children are resilient and can endure more than we can imagine, they are still our precious treasures that we should protect and nurture.  When something bad happens, we need to learn a lesson from the educators in Jamaica and allow children to express their honest feelings through avenues that are familiar to them.

References

UNICEF. (2010). After the violence, children in West Kingston heal with help from their

            teachers.  Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/jamaica_54208.html

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

When reading the article, "So Sexy So Soon" by Levin and Kilbourne (2009), I found it interesting that the topic of sexualization not only focused on media and commercialization of sex but also society's views about sexualization and how it affects young children's minds and actions (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).  Often when the topic of sexualization comes up in conversation, people automatically place the blame on media and commercial ads (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).  While media and advertisement plays a part, it was interesting to find out that more of the impact of sexualization comes from attitudes and ideals from society and how society has become more relaxed about children being exposed to sexualization (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).

I have noticed a difference in society's attitudes about sexualization change from the time I was growing up until the time I started teaching and having children of my own.  When I taught kindergarten over 20 years ago, I had kindergarten children that knew a lot about sex and were very vocal about it.  I remember when my three girls were little and starting to go to school and how much trouble it was to find clothes for little girls that did not expose all parts of their bodies.  My own daughters are now teenagers and in that time span, I have been teaching preschool.  In my preschool classes, I hear comments from the children directed to each other that are suggestive in nature. 

It bothers me that our children are exposed to mature issues of sexualization at an early age through their home environment, media images, and advertisement.  I believe that our society has become more relaxed about what children are exposed to, especially with the use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  I feel as though adults themselves have become more relaxed thinking that this is the trend of our times and why should we worry about it?  It is just kids being cute when they say they have a boyfriend in kindergarten.  But what are we really telling our children when we do not supervise what they are being exposed to?  We, as the adults, cannot shield our children from everything in their environment.  However, we can be present in their lives to provide a safe and nurturing environment where children feel comfortable to ask questions.

 

References 



Levin, D., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualizedchildhood and  what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books.  Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf



Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

The -ism I struggle with personally is sexism.  When I was growing up, my father did not let me do certain things because they were not things girls "should" do such as play sports and lift heavy things.  As I got older and got married, my father in-law felt that it was necessary that I do the housework and cooking even though my husband and I shared those responsibilities in our house.  My mother has always taught me to be independent and armed me with the knowledge that I am capable of doing anything regardless of stereotypes.

Because I grew up with the stereotype that girls/women should only do certain tasks, hold certain jobs, etc., I found it necessary to try and prove myself to others that I could do anything regardless of my gender.  This proved to be a good thing and a bad thing.  While my confidence was boosted proving my independence, identity and strength as a woman, I often found myself becoming defensive when approached with comments like "your husband is not supposed to do that, that is woman's work."  I was especially defensive when these statements were made in front of my own children.

I have noticed that in my teaching, I tend to get defensive when boys tell girls that they cannot play with a certain toy and vice versa because it is not a "girl" or "boy" toy.  After realizing my own experiences of being oppressed, I am also realizing that while adults may be conscious about what they are saying and really believe what they are saying, children do not always understand why they are saying what they are saying.  So I have tried to not become personally offended when children make sexist statements but rather take the opportunity to have a conversation with them about why they might think that.  I learn so much from their responses that help me to put those statements into perspective such as cultural expectations and family styles (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010).  Those are times when I have to remember that children are expressing what they are experiencing and our classroom should be a safe and respectful environment that honors cultures and families but also respects everyone's identity and dignity (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010).

References 

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

       ourselves.  Washington, DC:  NAEYC.