Impacts on Early Emotional Development

    

Children of Syria 

Syria is the area I chose to explore not only because of all I hear and see in/on the news but because my area is inviting refugees to come and live among us. One father whose son has joined the Head Start program has even shown his bullet wounds to the staff to show the terror they lived in. His son cries every day when left at school. I copied and pasted the statement below because I cannot say it any better.

THE WAR ON CHILDREN IN SYRIA

Reports of mass casualties among children in Eastern Ghouta and Damascus

From Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa

AMMAN, 20 February 2018- “No words will do justice to the children killed, their mothers, their fathers and their loved ones”[1].

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[1] UNICEF is issuing this blank statement. We no longer have the words to describe children’s suffering and our outrage. Do those inflicting the suffering still have words to justify their barbaric acts? (UNICEF/childrenofsyria, 2018).

Of all the 5.4 million refugees of Syria, 48% are children! Due to the lack of resources and high-living costs many families are opting for early marriage and child labor just to survive. Also, children’s exclusion from formal education is a huge issue in this country.

The affects these types of living conditions have on families and children are immense at best. Children live in a constant state of ‘flight or fight” which causes behavioral issues as well as physical and developmental issues. There is a lack of trust and/or hope for, well anything or anyone.

Exposure to chronic, prolonged traumatic experiences has the potential to alter children’s brains, which may cause longer-term effects in areas such as:

• Attachment: Trouble with relationships, boundaries, empathy, and social isolation
• Physical Health: Impaired sensorimotor development, coordination problems, increased medical problems, and somatic symptoms
• Emotional Regulation: Difficulty identifying or labeling feelings and communicating needs
• Dissociation: Altered states of consciousness, amnesia, impaired memory
• Cognitive Ability: Problems with focus, learning, processing new information, language development, planning and orientation to time and space
• Self-Concept: Lack of consistent sense of self, body image issues, low self-esteem, shame and guilt
• Behavioral Control: Difficulty controlling impulses, oppositional behavior, aggression, disrupted sleep and eating patterns, trauma re-enactment

Source: Cook, et al, 2005 (practicenotes, 2005). I cannot put it any plainer than this.

I have worked many years with Head Start and as the years go on, more and more immigrant families, some for the parents’ educational reasons but far too many for political and safety reasons, who are moving to this country. To read and learn about suffering of anyone, but mostly the children, breaks my heart and makes me angry beyond words. I am frustrated because there is nothing I can do to save them all. I can, however, teach the students I have here tolerance and empathy as well as any adult who will listen. One small stone thrown into the pool of anti-bias will certainly have a ripple effect. I will learn more about the experiences of my immigrant families and work to ensure a safe and accepting environment within my classroom. There is a “stirring” in me that I cannot explain but it seems to be focused on the immigrant families who come here to protect their children and to survive. This ugliness has go to stop!

Reference

UNIICEF Website (2018). Children of Syria. Retrieved from http://childrenofsyria.info/features/

Practice Notes (2005). How trauma affects the brain. Retrieved from http://www.practicenotes.org/v17n2/brain.htm

The Sexualization of Early Childhood

It makes me extremely sad that I am not at all surprised that a book So Sexy So Soon had to be written. Though I worked very hard to shield my own children from such early exposure I am sure I was still not even aware of all that our society throws at children. As a parent I was very open with my children and they knew they could come to me with any questions they might have had. I even remember the day my young daughter came to me and said she wanted to grow up to look like Barbie, an impossibility for any human girl to accomplish. I worked hard to undo that damage throughout her growing years. She does not look like Barbie by any stretch of the imagination, thank goodness, and she struggles with that fact every once in awhile still. I remember reading somewhere that little girls watch all these princess movies where the handsome prince four young children alls in love with the girl and they live happily ever after. The problem is, we do not see the couple after the wedding with the Prince's underwear on the floor instead of the laundry hamper or forgetting to take out the garbage.

 

      The implication of sexualization is scary at best. Cognitively and emotionally the child's confidence with her/his own body is hampered and may cause self-image problems. Physical issues may also arise, especially for girls as they develop eating disorders in the fight to look as society "dictates" while boys develop an unhealthy desire for women who look the part. Finally, sexual develop is affected with negative and unhealthy sexual self-images. 

     Is there anything we can do to stop this negative affect on our children? Yes, but it will take hard work on both families and educators working as a team. We must first be aware of what our children are being exposed to and that will take time watching television with our children, listening to the music they listen to, and monitoring any and all technology they are using. We also can teach media literacy which is understanding that much is being portrayed in hopes of attracting buyers of a product. Many cartoons are simply a half hour commercial for products sold in stores. We can teach our young children positive self-concept that is healthy with an understanding that we may look and act differently but all is positive. We can also portray women and men in a positive light having nothing to do with sexual content which will carry over into the adolescent years. 

     After this week's study in this area I want to be more pro-active in portraying children as competent beings rather than add to any sexualization even without realizing I am doing so. I need to have more examples of healthy body images and attainable goals for all children. I hope to become more aware and an educator for those I work with as well. 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

Affects of "-isms" 

For this activity I do not need to imagine how various "-isms" would impact my professional practice because I deal with them quite often in the Head Start program I work in. I work very hard on recognizing those affects on to not let them interfere with my professional practice.

First I would like to explain who I am that can create "-isms" in my work place. I am a white  Christian woman of an older age then most of my coworkers. The dominate culture in my Head Start program is African American with few family members older than me (though I am not ancient by any stretch of the imagination) and my co-workers are a couple of years younger than me down to just out of college. This being said, I have been subject to "-isms" related to skin color, religion, age, and sex.

We as a team of co-workers are respectful of each other and feel free to ask each other questions about anything we want to learn about each other's experiences in who we are. However, when it comes to activities outside of work, I am excluded. There are times when plans for going out together are made right in front of me and no one asks if I am interested in being involved. I have made a joke about it saying, "that's fine, I am busy anyway." It hasn't changed things, they still make plans but it sometimes gets my point across. My director has even noticed that I am often excluded in conversations and plans and she says something. If I was not a professional, this behavior would most likely affect our relationships as co-workers but this is a pointless pursuit in my opinion. I am there for the children and I want to be a positive role model. Children can pick up on a strained relationship and this can cause them to feel unsafe which would not be a positive learning environment. Children also are watching how we as adult communicate with each other and this they will take along with them along with the ABCs and 123s.

I have also had African American parents who will walk right past me and speak only to my teaching partner (who is also AA) making sure their back is turned to me. Though this is extremely hurtful, I have also seen my white families do the same thing to my teaching partners which upsets me just as much. I do not let this affect me (well, as much as humanly possible) because it will hurt the children. I still say good morning and I work hard on trying to get to know all my families to give me some common interest to discuss, usually their child. If the children did not see me doing this they might think the two people they care for do not like each other and will think there is something wrong with them (the child). I need to be an example of positive and respectful communication.

I have also had cultures within my program who do not speak directly to women and this has to be handled very delicately. One family comes to mind in which the father was visible uncomfortable with the fact he had to speak directly to me. His wife was uncomfortable with me being a Christian (they were Muslim).  The father ended up verbally attacking me during a conference time to discuss a concern we had about their son. It was a very scary time for me. This family ended up leaving the program but I had to work very hard on not letting this experience jade me towards other families who uncomfortable speaking directly with women. I think if I had let it affect me negatively I would not be totally present to the child or the family in a way to give a positive experience. I am much more aware of family dynamics and the words I use because of this experience.

Children love both their families and their teachers and it is extremely important that both parties get along and are respectful towards each other. It is very easy for teacher to let the way they "feel" about a parent to influence the way they treat a child. If I feel a parenting style is "wrong" I may over step my limits by trying to show them the "right" way to handle a situation which will put a wall up between us.  Being in the classroom is so much more than the 3Rs.

Observing Communication

I would like to continue a conversation I overheard from my DQ I believe was last week. I am speaking to this because it made me so angry.

I work for Head Start and we serve both breakfast and lunch besides other awesome services. The conversation I overheard was during breakfast while I had to be on the computer putting in data required by the program. My two TA's (I am lucky to have two this year!) were sitting with the children when one of the family workers came in. This is when the conversation began about a little boy (I will call him J), who was sitting between these three adults as they discussed his personality and even his looks.
Family Worker-"He always looks so angry."
TA1-"That's because he always is angry, especially when he can't have what he wants."
TA2- "Yea, he will just stand there with his arms folded and pout, you never know what will set him off."
FW- "Well his face always looks angry, I think it is his eyebrows."
TA1- "Yea, his one eye brow..."
ME- "You guys realize J can hear you right?"
TA1-Just shrugged her shoulders as if to say "So?" but then the conversation stopped.

This whole conversation made me so angry but when TA1 shrugged her shoulders dismissing the whole concern, I thought I would jump out of my skull because I could see "red." My face or body language might have portrayed my thoughts because the conversation stopped. this conversation speaks to our resources this week. Talking about babies (even older children) instead of to babies discounts then as individual, telling then they are not valued (Kovach & DaRos-Voseles, 2011). Talking about J is bad enough but to discuss not only his behavior but his looks as well as if it was something to be ashamed of is inexcusable. I should have jumped in after the very first comment but being one that is very uncomfortable with confrontation and I do not like to criticize people in front of others, I waited too long and when I was too angry to address the conversation. I should have made sure J was okay and perhaps done a large group scenario using puppets (we do not have persona dolls at our center) acting out a similar circumstance. This would have not only taught the children to be careful with their words but my TA's as well in a non-threatening manner.
I can only imagine how this whole experience affected J but I certainly can be pretty certain it was negative. Not only did these adults say things about his personality but his appearance, which there is nothing he can do anything about. I also must put blame on myself as I did not protect him from this soon enough for the damage not to occur. Teacher's words and the way they use them creates meaning for children and themselves, reminding us that it is important to consider the actual words we say to children (Dangei &Durden, 2010).

  I have learned a valuable lesson about myself and that is in order to be a true anti-bias educator and advocate for children I am going to have to work on my confrontation skills and how to respectfully address unfairness. I can only do this through study and practice. I need to ask my director to set up trainings in this area for the whole staff in not only our center but across the program. Unfortunately, conversation such as these are not narrowed to just one or two situations. As an educator, I must continually ask myself how I can use language for the ultimate purpose to support children's development and learning  (Dangei &Durden, 2010). 

Reference

Kovach, B., & Da Ros-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with babies. YC: Young Children, 66(2), 48-50.

Rainer Dangei, J., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The nature of teacher talk during small group activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74-81.

Creating Affirming Environments

小朋友的日間護理    Cuidado de niños pequeños     Little Friends’ Day Care

Little ကသူငယ်ချင်းများ '' Day ကိုပြုစုစောင့်ရှောက်မှု

The family day care I would create would encompass many diverse families given the area in which I live. The languages (Chinese, Spanish, Burmese) shown above are from Google translate but in reality, I would ask translators to create the correct spellings and alphabet forms for my sign. I would have many other languages represented on the sign as well in a random fashion so that no language seems more important than another. I would create the sign in such a manner that new languages could be added as the need arises. I feel this is important because it will be one of the first things seen by the families and all children and families want a sense of belonging and to experience affirmation of their identity and cultural ways of being (Derman-Sherman & Edwards, 2010). I really liked the open space of welcome portrayed in Adriana’s day care however my day care would be in the northeast where the weather is unpredictable at best. Keeping this in mind, I would have an area for children to enter where their cubbies would be located. Their cubbies would be their own personal spot to decorate as they wish as well as hang a family picture and a picture of themselves. This will address ABE Goal 1 in helping children to demonstrate self-awareness, confidence, family pride, and positive social identities (Derman-Sherman & Edwards, 2010). A little further in would be tables set up for manipulative materials to use before breakfast would be served. Off to the side of this area would be a “quiet spot” which would contain small comfy furniture for the children to sit read books if they wish to transition into the day. The books would include all types of diversity as well as real and fantasy subject matter as suggested by Derman-Sherman and Edwards (2010) to encourage literacy skills as well as human differences. There would also be one or two adult rocking chairs for wither parents or myself to sit and rock those children who are having a hard time separating from their parents.

Manipulatives would represent not only those cultures and ethnic groups within the classroom but others as well.  There would also be paper and drawing materials in the skin-tone colors for free creative spirits to express themselves. This area would be open until breakfast which would be set-up using placemats which were created by the children themselves once again giving a sense of ownership which is important to building a healthy self-esteem. Lunch would be served in the same manner as well.

Once breakfast is completed there would be tooth brushing and bathroom time to introduce healthy self-care habits and then a short circle time to discuss the given theme for the month which will be centered on the anti-bias education goals (Derman-Sherman & Edwards, 2010). 

Family examples and sell as peoples of this world will be portrayed around the classroom both in store bought fashion as well as family-made (e.g. family collage). I would be careful not to show images that depict misinformation or stereotypes of any groups (Derman-Sherman & Edwards, 2010).  

Free-play time would be centers created around the classroom which would contain materials the children could identify with and are able to build from their own life experiences.

This is just a small sample of what my day-care would look like but it all would be based on the families I serve. As families contact me to care for their children I would make sure to get to know the caregivers first before taking on their child. As Deman-Sherman and Edwards (2010) stated, the day care will become their child's second home. I cannot create a second home for a child if I know nothing about their first home and teachers, their parents. I would incorporate family traditions as best as possible and ask for family input or volunteer time when possible. It take a village to raise a child (African proverb) and I along with parents are that village.

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).

What I Have Learned

This class has made me take a close look at myself and how this may affect my interaction with students, families, coworkers, and stockholders. The goal in my life is to help young children enter into school prepared academically and, more importantly, social emotionally. To give a good base will help children develop into positive citizens of the world. I have also learned that reading everything I can about bias and diversity is a good thing but I must also speak with others to learn their experiences and worldviews to be more bias aware and to set up an anti-bias classroom.

My goal for the future is to develop an anti-bias, trauma free classroom that is an example to those within my Head Start program and then spread it to other Early Childhood classroom within my area (for starters). Our area is a popular location for immigrant families and those escaping refugee camps form war-torn countries. These children and families need a program like I hope to create. I might even study more about creating a blog to reach others about the importance of anti-bias, trauma free classrooms. 

Thank You so much for all the help you have given me in this time together. I have learned from our discussions that I am not alone on the journey to learn about my bias and discomforts. I have learned ways to face those discomforts and to learn from them with the goal of being a more compassionate and tolerant human being. Good luck in the future and I hope to see  you in our next class. Happy holidays and happy New Year.