UNICEF Oficina Regional para America Latina y el Caribe (UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean)

I chose the Latin America and the Caribbean because I thought that this is a central location where many tourists go to vacation. I did not think that they would be aware of the "real" conditions of the country because they are being shown "the wealthy" side of things. Is the grass really greener on the other side?

 
Here is the truth of the matter. 35 million children do not enter into an educational program.
                     90% of 68,000 thousand children acquire AIDS through their mothers pregnancy because treatment is only offered to 1/3 of the women.
                     Over half of the children in this region are living in poverty.
                     85,000 children die each year as a result of violence in the home.
These statistics are very upsetting. There are so many children that are living in extreme conditions that affect every aspect of their development. UNICEF is working at helping organizations that are working with these children and families, to change the outcomes. They are also working with the media to use them for the cause to change attitudes and behaviors of others around them.
It is sad to think that so many people vacation to these beautiful places, but there is so much hurt that is happening behind the scenes. I do not think I could go to any of these places just to vacation any more, I would have to volunteer my time somewhere!
http://www.unicef.org/lac

Creating Art EDUC 6357

WAR

Where ever we look children are dealing with issues that are not always seen by the naked eye. They have to deal with issues that are way beyond their cognitive level, but many think that their lives are "normal" because they have not seen anything different. These pictures represent the reality of some of their lives. Media can portray the good and the evil, but often times thrives off the chaos of the world. This is brought into their homes, where chaos is being fought on a different level. Whether with verbal, physical, psychological, or inherited abuse, they are suffering. It takes the time to stop and think about the world that these children are living in, to stop and think of how to help them as their teachers.

 

WE DON'T SAY THOSE WORDS IN CLASS! EDUC 6357

Those were the exact words that came out of my mouth when a student last year referred to a police officer as a "Po Po".  Two of my boys were playing Police Officers in the house lab, and I heard one of them say "the Po Po can't get me!", and I told him "we don't say those words in class!" I was shocked that a 4 year old knew that word, and was using it "appropriately".  I stopped myself and realized that just saying those words would have no affect on the student, so I called them over and talked to them about it.

I did not feel the need to ask where he had heard those terms before, I made my assumption and hoped that he would take the information he learned to the appropriate people and help them change their opinion of Police Officers as well.  I asked him what he thought a Po Po was, and he told me " a police officer that arrests people for no reason".  I asked him " well why do police officers arrest people?". He did not know, so I told him that "there are rules outside of school that we have to follow as well.  We have rules inside of our classroom to keep us safe, responsible and respect, and who enforces those rules?" My student,  "The teacher". "Your right, so when we are doing something outside of school that is unsafe, not respectful and not responsible, Police Officers have to enforce those rules.  They have a very hard job to make sure that everyone is being safe, responsible and respectful, and I know that I would not like it if you called me a name that was not my own.  Would you like it if someone called you a name that was not your own?" My student- " No because I don't like it when people call me my brothers name".  "Can we try and use everyone's names when we talk to them, or about them".  My student -"Yeah". 

 In the following weeks of this topic coming up in class, my student continued to play as a Police Officer, but something changed in his demeanor when he would be one.  He seemed very proud to be a Police Officer, and then he would take a note pad around the room and give out tickets to students that were not following the rules.  I think he started to understand what Police Officers do, and that they weren't people to be afraid of. 

Many of my students that I work with have a parent or parents that have been to jail, and unfortunately some of them have witnessed their parent being arrested in their own house.  Even though these things have happened around these children, no one has taken the time to explain things to them.  They are left to the impression that Police Officers knock on doors and arrest people.  I know that what I talked about with my student was nothing major, but I really hope that it leaves a lasting impression with him. 

The Sexulaization of Early Childhood EDUC 6358

It scares me how influential the media has taken the topic of sex into society.  Sexual relationships that you had with people use to be between you and that person, sex never left the house.  Now it is something that is broadcast throughout the media, without a bat of an eyelash.  I was having this discussion with an assistant this year, and was talking about cartoon network.  I am sure that many children fall asleep to their televisions on, while watching a cartoon show.  Here is the question though, how many parents actually turn the television off?  Are they aware that after midnight cartoon network turns into AdultSwim?  There are cartoons that are still played on the channel, but they are directed at adults.  Including their language both verbal and non-verbal, and their clothing options.  How many children are waking up in the middle of the night, and are watching this, or falling back asleep listening to what these shows are talking about.

Unfortunately I have too many examples of children I worked with, or have observed through the media that are exposed to a highly sexualized environment.

1)      I worked at a daycare in California, and I loved the parents and the environment.  Every day after the older kids got home from school we would always have a “dance party”.  This helped our older kid’s burn off some much needed energy, and our younger kids had fun hanging out with the big kids.  Needless to say they were rocking out to The Wiggles, or Barney, but it was exciting for them.  One day it got awkward.  One of our 4 year olds grabbed one of the chairs from the sensory area, and started dancing in front of it.  I asked her what she was doing, because frankly I was confused. She said “a guy is supposed to be in the chair” and proceeded to “air grind” the invisible man in the chair.  My jaw dropped!  “Children as young as four learning to gyrate to songs in ways that might have stunned grown-ups a few decades ago” (Levin & Kilbourne).  That was a first for me!

2)      A few years ago my older lived in Las Vegas.  One Thanksgiving my family headed out there to be with him, my younger brother was probably between 8-9 at the time.  We were driving down the strip to see my brother’s site that he was working on, and I remember my mom having to cover my little brothers eyes because there were Victoria Secret ads on the side of the busses.  It wasn’t displaying a nighty, it was several models with their backs turned only wearing a thong.  I do not think this type of advertisement was necessary, Victoria Secret is a common name, and I do not think that giant bums on a bus was going to increase their sales.  All it did was give my mom an anxiety attack because my lil brother couldn’t enjoy the sites, because there was a sexual ad on every corner.  Hence reminding my mom why Las Vegas is labeled as “Sin City”.

3)      Ever seen the show Toddlers and Tiaras? Well unfortunately I watched it one time, due to a friend’s recommendation.  Wow did I get a show! There was a girl on there, and for one of her outfit changes she was dressed as Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, before Richard Gere came along.  The 3 year old did not pick out the outfit, but her mother did, who saw nothing wrong with the outfit

 

4)      Levi’s unbuttoned commercials and billboards were popular when I was living in California.  I remember one of their commercials’ coming on, and thought that I was an X-rated film that got turned on the television.   I could not find the commercial that I remember seeing so long ago, but come to find out, there are a lot of their unbuttoned commercials’.  I am sharing a link to one of their jean commercials’, and I recommend, if you watch it, not around children.

 

“Children growing up today are bombarded from a very early age with graphic messages about sex and sexiness in the media and popular culture” (Levin & Kilbourne, p. 2).  Sex is everywhere, why, because sex sells.  Children are being hit with sexual messages everywhere they go, and it is hard for parents to regulate how they are exposed to it.  You go without televisions in your house, but they can still witness it driving to school, or by friends. 

I think that this is always going to be a constant battle with parents and children.  As hard as your try to prevent certain situations, they are still exposed to things.  I think having parents be aware of what they talk about, and let their children watch on their own is very important. Children can be left to explore cable channels, and YouTube as often as they want, and it does not stop the messages from coming.  Parents and teachers need to be active in fighting the apparent sexual overload that children are being exposed to. 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

            There are many –ism’s floating out in society.  They do not always make for the best influences or references of other people.  There are many –ism’s that affect the way that people behavior in society, whether they are being belittled for who they are, or they are doing the belittling.  Many times people cast stereotypes at people off of their own misunderstandings, or lack of guidance.

            Being judged by others is very hard on a person’s emotional and cognitive state.  The way that people perceive others can be very negative.  I have been made fun of in my life before, and it has haunted me for years.  I always wondered what I did to make people ask those questions, or to say those things. No matter how long ago those things were said, I still wonder what would have made them say those things. 

            In having someone judge you, it makes you aware of people around you, and it can make you more critical of the people around you.  I know that when these people were making fun of me, I would avoid them, and do what I could to not interact with them at all.  I can only imagine that the same thing would happen as an adult, I would avoid people that would be making those comments towards me.

            If my students ever felt that way in my care, I would understand the hard time that they would have in coming to school. It would be very important for me to find a way to discuss the issue with the class, so that child would feel more welcomed in the class. 

EDUC 6357- Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

If childhood centers think that it is appropriate to exclude literature depicting gay or lesbian individuals they are doing themselves a disservice.  There are a growing number of same sex parents in society that are raising children that are being bullied because of their family situation.  This does not have to be strengthened by the lack of exposure that they received at a young age by their childcare facility.  A childcare facility should be open minded and welcoming diversity to other children, so that they are aware of differences around them.

If a parent came to me and told me that they did not want their child to be cared for or around an individual of a different sexual preference I would say "what they do on their own time is not my concern, but the way that they educate children is my concern.  If they are regarded as high individuals in their field, I see that there is no reason for your child not to get the best education.  Can we discuss and further develop a rational protocol about your child's educational journey?"

I think that it is important that parents do not forget that their children's education and exposure to culture is wrapped around the concept of diversity.  Diversity has a broad definition, and it is not limited to one specific thing. 

When children are young, their minds are like sponges, and they have a eagerness to soak up all that knowledge.  In wanting to be a professional educator it is important that we discuss those important aspects of diversity, so that they are aware of the difference out in the world.  In acknowledging those differences, it allows children to be comfortable in exploring their own individuality. 

Observing Communication

     The observation that I witnessed was a mom that was dropping off her child at school, and her son was upset.  She walked him to the back of the room to hang up his backpack, and walked to the front door.  Her son was clearly upset, and the teacher asked the child what was wrong, and the mom responded " he wants his poptart that is in his backpack" and proceeded to leave the room.  The teacher then walked the child to the back of the room to get the poptart out of his backpack, and told the student that he could have "one of them, and we can save the other one for after school." The student was satisfied with that answer, and walked to the table to eat his poptart.

     Through this observation there was some confusion as to why the parent would allow the child to bring a poptart from home, but not allow him to eat it on the way to school.  Instead he was brought into the classroom upset, and she knew the reason why, but did not offer it to him once he was in the room.  It took the initiative of an adult to listen to the child (Stephenson, 2009).

 

     In this observation I felt like the child was trying to communicate with his mother, but the mother was not taking the opportunity to talk to her son about what was going on.  The child wanted someone to pay attention to him, and he was being ignored until the teacher in his class asked him what was wrong.  "Teachers' words and the way they use them create meaning for children as well as for themselves" (Dangel & Durden, 2010, p. 75). 

 

     I think that it would have been better if the parent spent a couple of minutes talking to her son about why he was upset.  Him being upset about his poptart might not have been the only reason that he was upset.  There could have been things at home that had taken place, that was upsetting to him and the poptart was the middle ground for the situation. 

                                                                          References

Dangel, J. R., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The Nature of Teacher Talk during Small Group Activities. Young Children, 74-81.

Stephenson, A. (2009). Conversations with a 2-Year-Old. Young Children, 90-95.