Blog Assignment: Impacts on Early Emotional Development

I had chosen the East Asia and the Pacific because I would like to learn more about the current events that is affecting the families and children in this region.  My roots came from the Philippines and whatever happens in this part of the world greatly affects my family and the country I grew up in general. I have never been concern in a wide scope before and this course had opened my mind to a lot of things most especially – awareness on how social issues such as poverty, war, terrorism, abuse, calamities and other challenges the family faces could impact the child’s well-being and development .

The challenges that children in this region faces is the child protection because there is not enough law or implementation of the law that protects children. The challenges children in this region faces were the use of children in armed conflict, the sale of children and child prostitution and child pornography. I felt like children were treated as shields and commodities and not as human beings worthy of respect and love.

These experiences will have a lasting effect on children’s social and emotional development as well as the totality of his or her whole development. I could not imagine the pain and suffering for both the families and children experienced being taken away and never knowing where you are going and what are they going to use the children for.  Nurturing parenting is first and foremost a philosophy that emphasizes the importance of raising children in a warm and trusting environment. I believe that children who are cared for can learn to care for him or himself and can transfer their caring for others and to the environment.  What they are given is what they will give. To nurture is to promote the growth and development of all positive traits, qualities and characteristics. So how can these children develop into good and positive children if they did not learn how?

It is really saddening to hear that this is still happening on this part of the region or probably all around the world.  New technologies continue to improve, developments in land and construction are expanding and commercialization of a lot of merchandise continues to grow, everything focuses on financial growth of each person or country but there is one important growth we have forgotten in our lives- the value of human life and well-being especially our children.

Having learned about the issues and challenges facing the future of our children, I felt committed to do something to advocate for children’s and family’s rights.  I will start by keeping myself updated on what is happening around the children in my care, their families, then my community, my country and the whole world and see what I can do to help protect our children’s rights.  

The UNICEF has done a great job in advocating for the rights of children, although they are faced with lots of challenges, the steps they do such as informing the world- they are here and something has to be done to protect these children is already a big contribution in preventing if not totally eliminate the use of children in harm’s way.  

Child protection is among our highest priorities in the region. When they are given the best start in life, children grow up to be healthy and well-adjusted, both intellectually and socially (UNICEF).

Reference:

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

Blog Assignment: The Sexualization of Early Childhood

I never thought about the sexualization in early childhood until we studied about this topic. I thought I am just getting older and the conservative views I have was influenced by the culture I came from. I am really concerned about the influences of  media and other types of communication including social networking because I do not have a control anymore on what my children can and cannot view or listen.

In the book excerpt, So sexy, so soon, made me confirm - it is not only me who has a problem with the messages that our children receive but the focus on commercialization rather than education of media has taught our children to focus more on the superficial side of their identities rather than the deeper understanding of who they really are. It is really saddening to see that the values and morals of our children were no longer the most important thing in raising our children but rather how their looks or what they have can make them survive life in the future.

Television, computer and technology and print media greatly influence the lives of our children. I was surprise to see it on children’s shows and cartoon movie. I was so naïve and thought that everything that is in a form of cartoon or anime is considered appropriate for children. This also includes the television station such as Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network- all stations attract young viewers. I was watching the other day with my children and I cannot help but wonder what the story is about and I wonder how it going to end. As I was watching, I cannot help but make a comment about the show. I was thinking to myself, is it me who has a problem in understanding the words or the story or it there is really no story at all? When the show was done, I told me children, it seemed like there it does not make any sense. I did not know what happened. My daughter said, “it is how it is mom…that is why it is funny and more kids are watching it because it does not make any sense”. I cannot help myself but say: “What?” Another example is the social networking which nobody has control off. Whatever people post or whatever the other person related to, whether it concerns you or not can reach to our children. It is really difficult to scan and filter every messages or pictures that come out of that site. Some may be informative, some are very helpful in expressing what we feel inside and to some simply destructive. The third example is the music that were being played on the radio, you tube and other computer site. Some artist make music whose beats are really good and catchy to the ear and attracts more people to listen to it and even dance to the beat of it. I even catch myself dancing to the beat and when I ask my daughter to teach me the lyrics of the song, I cannot helped but be amazed how the messages of sex, violence and inappropriate words are being taught and delivered to our children. 

If everyone in these businesses thinks about how they can benefit from these markets-our children, I would say that our children’s future will be dark and scary. Our children will lose their sense of connection to their families and to the people who cares about them. They will merely rely on the material things that connect to them every day and lose their relationship to real people who care for them. Their foundation will be weak because the roots where no longer there.

I believe we can no longer stop the development or the progress of every country in the world but these changes should work for the benefit of our children and families rather than against it. Parents and  educators should work together to improve and strengthen our relationship with our children within our home so that when they go out, no matter what change they face, they know they have a family who cares about them and who will always be there to strengthen and support them. I consider the family and the school greatly influenced our child that is why it is very important to build a positive, strong and trusting relationship with our children.

My awareness of the topic of sexualization during this week’s lesson has made me realized I am doing the right thing of supervising my children when they watch television or videos and guiding them in choosing a show or movie that will send positive messages and be appropriate for their age – shows which are educational and which promotes good moral values and character to my children.   

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

We talked about the -isms each of us experienced in our lives and most of the time it is caused by the people outside of your group. There are situations wherein you also experienced -isms form the same group you belong. This experience is quite painful because you will think that "same feather flock together". We learned about prejudice, stereotype and discrimination which is caused by people who believe that they are better than the others. Other behavioral problems such as pride,  greed, selfishness and enviousness also caused people to treat other people differently. 

I have notice the most common negative trait of the people in my culture were making fun of people who speak differently  such as strong accents, wrong grammar and inability to speak up or reason out.  I traced back and realized that this hidden biases came from our experiences we had when we were little. Some challenged themselves to be better and some just refuse to speak or exclude themselves from a group. I would like to share with you the experienced I had growing up in a school environment.  To some of you it may sound unthinkable but to the culture where I belong, this is really happening.

I experienced being corrected and laughed at all the time when I speak the English language because of the accent and my grammar. I would say most of the people who belong to my culture experienced this because of the way we are taught in school. Teachers in our school were very particular about the way we speak, and the way we write especially our spelling and grammar. I remember when I was little and my  teacher called me to recite a poem and I could not remember anything. Sometimes I could not pronounce the word right and I was laughed at and was asked to stand for the whole time. My teacher even  told the whole class:" this happened because she did not study her lessons". 

 The impact of educators in the lives of the children is really important. Children absorb stereotypes and attitudes about other ethnic and cultural groups from their family and larger society. These biases are easily absorbed because very  young children lack accurate information about the lives of other people (Derman-Sparks & Edward-Olsen, 2010). To the children who had experienced the same way I did, I am hoping they will be inspired to do better and be challenged to reach their full potentials and to those whose spirit was crushed, I wish them great things in life.

 I would say I am fortunate to have great support of my family and the communities which helped me become the person I am today.  It has affected me in my professional practice because this experienced made me see the importance of  family support and the continuity of this support in school and communities.  I have seen the importance of my role as an educator and opened my mind to the reality that -isms is still happening in our society and there is something we can do to lessen or eliminate it by reaching out and offering  my help to the children who uncomfortable and excluded. Making sure that they are treated fairly and valued so they can feel good about themselves and appreciate others as well.

Reference:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Blog Assignment: Observing Communication

A grandmother was sitting at a restaurant with her grandchild waiting for their food. The child seems very happy and excited. Her grandmother was hugging and kissing her. The little girl looked at her grandma's face and pointed to her lips and then her hat. The grandmother asked her what does she wants. The little girl said she like the same as grandma. The grandmother  pointed to her lips and said : "like this", the child nodded. The grandmother looked inside her bag and took her lipstick out. The little girl's eyes got bigger and begun to clap her hands. Her grandmother applied the lipstick  on her and gave her a small mirror. She also took off her hat and gave it to her grandchild to wear. She asked her why she wanted it, The grandchild said wanted to be like her. The grandmother laughed and said that she was even prettier than her. The child said again: "just like you grandma. I look pretty". The grandma smiled and gave her a hug and kisses. Her grandmother took out her camera and took a picture of her. The child asked her grandma to wait and made a pretty pose. Her grandma asked her to seat properly and not to cover her knees. The child said I have to cover this (pointing at her scar), grandma laughed again and the child giggled. The child made a thumb up sign and grandmother smiled and took a picture of her.

I seldom see situation like this wherein an elder get along this close with young children especially in my culture. Usually children has to sit still and quietly on the table and wait until your grandma or grandpa talked to you. In this situation, I learned the importance of listening and looking at non-verbal cues from the people you are communicating with and because of this a positive relationship has been formed. The grandmother allowed her grandchild to have her lipstick and dug deeper into finding the reason why she wanted it and in return the child unknowingly complimented her grandmother by telling her how much she wanted to look like her. The child was able to express herself and appreciate her grandmother by showing how happy she was with her. At the same time the grandmother gave the child the opportunity to be who she wanted to be at that moment and be proud of her own self.  

I would say that the grandmother did a wonderful job in communicating with her grandchild. She listened and was very supportive of her. She opened herself to the idea of what her grandchild wanted to do instead of discouraging or ignoring her request.  As what Holbeck said :"children communicate, really , all different ways and use their bodies so much that if you're sensitive, you can really pick up cues about how to communicate. Just like her grandmother did.

This week lessons taught me how to look more deeper into what children has to say and what verbal and non-verbal cues they have to get to know them better. I will try to acknowledge what they have to say and not just listen for the sake of being listening but to understand the message and the reason behind the things they do. I will also put myself in their shoes and allow myself to be a kid again and have fun with them every day.

Reference:  

http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/Walden/EDUC/6358/03/downloads/WAL_EDUC6358_03_A_EN.pdf