Thank You

This officially marks my last full class before starting my Capstone course. This entire course has been an eye-opening experience that has allowed me to self-reflect on my own discomforts and biases while being able to communicate and collaborate with my peers. I feel better prepared continuing on my journey to higher education and to establishing an anti-bias classroom and persona. I would like to thank my colleagues for consistently keeping me on my toes with their questions and responses while also aiding me in topics I did not feel comfortable discussing. I wish you all the best of luck in your future!

Thank you,
Emily

Ukraine in Crisis

I chose the regional office of Europe and Central Asia as there is so much on the news about this area, the refugees, and the children that are affected. The article that I chose addresses the 200,000 children in Ukraine that require extensive and immediate psychological support after they have lived nearly three years in nonstop violence. These children all live within 15km of the major area of war and the article expresses the consistent sounds of bullets and the constant source of fear that their family will be the next bodies lying in the streets. "Children nearest the 'contact-line' have been living in chronic fear and uncertainty due to sporadic shelling, unpredictable fighting and dangers from landmines and other unexploded ordinance" (UNICEF, 2017, para. 5).

There have already been life-altering behaviors exhibited in 3 year-olds, children born right when the conflict arose, and other psychological behaviors such as bed-wetting, nightmares, aggressive behavior, and severe anxiety have been noted. It is affecting their overall well-being and those that are able to make it to school are being restricted from excelling due to these behaviors.

From a personal and professional experience as I am both human and an educator who has dealt with psychological regression in some students, I am heartbroken for these children and plan to see what more there is I can do on my side of the world. Whether that is having my own students write to them in a pen pal exchange or raising money for relief, I want to play a part in helping them.

Reference
https://www.unicef.org/eca/media_30700.html

Sexulization in Early Childhood

Children being exposed to sexual content at younger ages may lead to them engaging in sexual activity at earlier ages and being at risk for certain issues related to early sex (e.g. teen pregnancy, STDs). Peer pressure can contribute to this kind of behavior as well. Children may not believe that they are worthy of others’ attention if they are not behaving in certain ways or wearing certain clothing. It was difficult to read the book excerpt from ‘so sexy so soon’ as it made the many different ways our culture is sexualised so apparent. I feel that I have become desensitized to this sexualization, so to read about the different effects of it was shocking. After thinking about this it is obvious how much the culture around children has changed over the years. In movies, on television and even at toy stores children are bombarded with sexualised images. This could affect their self-identity development if they feel that they do not conform to the ‘perfect’ image of a boy or a girl. It is important for early childhood professionals to be aware of the exposure that the students have to these images to be able to combat it. We need to teach boys that they do not have to be strong and full of muscle and we have to show girls that they are more than just an object. Studying this topic has definitely increased my awareness of this issue so much so that I no longer ignore the impact it can have.

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

I work in an extremely diverse part of my city. Where I live, Hispanics are the majority, where I work, African Americans are the majority. No matter where I go, I am the minority as a white female. While I am in no way bothered by this as I celebrate other cultures and enjoy each of the places and people I interact with, I believe that I have come into contact with my own experiences of racism. While the area I live in provides issues with language barriers, it is mainly my experiences in the area I work at that challenge my professional practice. Many of the families and children I serve are African American and almost each and every one of them are below the poverty line. I chose to work in a school system where I would serve low-income students as I believe my biggest impact as a professional comes from my experience as a low-income student growing up. I can relate with these students and empathize with them as I have been in their tattered, too small shoes at one time. A few weeks back at Meet the Teacher Night, I told my own story so that parents know that I am here for all the right reasons and to show them how important education is, especially for those who grew up with little to nothing. After this night, I have had a select few parents who scoff anytime I speak with them or ask to meet with them for their student. I had to make a phone call home as one of the students was not in uniform, when I told the parent that our school policy was to have an all black belt on, the parent told me she could not afford it. I offered to write down her information and send it to my principal to see if we could work with her. She lamented that the uniform policy was stupid and her child should wear what they want, including the twenty dollar Michael Jordan belt that he was wearing that day. I explained the school's policy of uniforms and told her most of the schools in this area require a uniform and she began saying how I did not know anything since I was not from the area saying no white person has ever lived on the Eastside. I had to explain that while no, I did not grow up here, I was born in the same hospital as her son was, but moved around with my two teenage parents. While I know that her comment was more than likely in the heat of the moment and understand the current state of our society in regards to racism, it still impacted my professional practice as I felt like I could no longer communicate with that parent.