The Sexualization of Early Childhood

Levin and Kilbourne (2009) described the topic of sexualization of early childhood as distressing.  I agree with their description.  After reading some of the scenarios described at the beginning of the introduction, it was certainly worrying, but not surprising.  Both the media and popular culture encourage the sexualization of childhood, which ultimately is detrimental to the development of young children. 

            I have worked with ten year olds for nearly a decade.  The amount of mature content that these children were aware of originally shocked me, but it became the norm because it occurred year after year.  One particular story that stands out in my mind happened about five years ago.  I had a great group of boys in my classroom who absolutely loved to play soccer during recess.  They had great cooperation with one another and were developing their skills.  One day, I noticed that a group of girls were sitting on some recess equipment that the boys used as their goal post.  They would scream and laugh when the boys kicked the ball towards them.  A few days later, talk about “boyfriends” and “girlfriends” came up.   Eventually, the boys completely stopped playing the game that they loved during recess and spent their time with the group of girls, being completely inactive, just standing around.  Word eventually spread to the teachers that two of the students were holding hands and had plans to kiss.  We met together to discuss the issue and decided to tell the children that they weren’t allowed to have boyfriends and girlfriends in 5^th grade.  The boys went back to playing soccer and the girls stopped following them around, but the ten year olds were not children anymore, they were modeling adult behavior, which was completely inappropriate for their age. 

I have the privilege of not only being a teacher, but also a mother to two sweet, wonderful children.  One of which happens to be a seven year old girl.  A couple of years ago, she happened to watch an episode of Hanna Montana and became infatuated with the show and actress/singer.  At first, I didn’t think much of it as there were no curse words and the content wasn’t vulgar.  After watching a few episodes of it, I noticed that it included girls who were mean and catty toward one another as well as glamorized images of a young girl that was dressing like an adult, not to mention singing about issues much too mature for my five year old.  I encouraged my daughter to watch other television programs, which she did, but she still liked Miley Cyrus’ songs.  Miley Cyrus certainly is not someone I would like my child to idolize and I have learned to be more selective with the television shows, movies and artists that I allow her to listen to and watch.

Another issue arose recently about my daughter asking to get her ears pierced.  While I didn’t think it was a big deal, it was a big deal to my husband.  He didn’t feel that she should have to alter her body in the name of beauty.  Since I had my ears pierced as a child, I didn’t share his attitude, but I respected his feelings.  We agreed that when she is old enough to take care of them on her own and if she still wants to do it, we will support her.  Simple things such as make up or piercings didn’t register as issues of sexualization, but that is probably because I have become desensitized due to many years of media and pop culture advertisements.

This is clearly a problem for young children when their sense of self worth depends of society’s view of beauty and manliness.  One way to combat this is through the use of anti-bias education.  One of the values of anti-bias education is the understanding that everyone is unique, special, and beautiful because of their differences.  Being able to accept differences and show tolerance towards those who are unlike oneself will combat society’s ideals.  Also, providing materials in the classroom that are developmentally appropriate for children to play with and do not promote sex or violence would also eliminate some of young children’s exposure to this type of media.

From working with older children, I have seen this issue as a problem, however I did not realize, until I read the article that this has to also be discussed with young children.  On occasion, I will have a child in my classroom that seems much more immature than the other children and it will actually be refreshing to have a child who is indeed a child on every level.

Resources:

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood 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

 

When experiencing any conflict in my personal life, it is difficult to separate it from my professional life.  The same would apply if I was the victim of stereotype and bias in my own life. 

One of the consequences that would be present for the children and families with whom I work would include lack of focus and commitment to the task at hand.  In my own experience, when I am dealing with conflict in my personal life, it is very difficult to be as focused and dedicated to my teaching as I am on a regular basis.  I am not fully thinking about the curriculum or the students, but instead thinking about finding a solution to the conflict.  I would anticipate that if I were experiencing an “-ism” in my own life, it would make it extremely difficult to be a productive and effective educator.  Dealing with an “-ism” in my own life would be emotionally trying on top of a career that already requires a great deal of energy.  Children and families would not be receiving the best care and education for their child during this time. 

A second consequence that would be present for the children and the families could be my own feelings of distrust or dislike for those who are targeting me.  While I’m not sure what my feelings would be about being the target of an “-ism”, I feel that one response would be to generalize the group that is targeting me and to be distrusting of members in that group.  This could apply to the children or families with whom I work if I would begin to behave differently around certain groups of children or families.  My actions could have devastating effects of the relationships I have built with the families and children.  If I showed a biased attitude toward the children or families with whom I worked, it would serve no one and only perpetuate the “-ism” that I would already be experiencing. 

After considering this, I feel extremely fortunate to have not been targeted by an “-ism”.  However, I am well aware that this is not the case for many people and I can only imagine how difficult this experience would be for an individual.  This further emphasizes the importance of anti-bias education in our society.   

Observing Communication

For my observation, I observed my childcare provider interacting with the children in her care, including my own 22 month old son.  When I arrived at the home daycare, another family was just dropping off their child.  She greeted each child by asking “how is your day?” while helping them to take off their jackets.  While she was talking with the parents, she instructed each child to go sit on a specific color of the parachute she had placed on the floor and surprisingly, each of them did immediately.  As I was about to leave and was saying good bye to my children, my son began to get upset.  She quickly picked him up and comforted him by holding him close to her and offering words of reassurance, “it’s okay, it’s okay.”  She followed up by using toys and books as a distraction while I left the daycare.    

I noticed that my daycare provider had a very established morning routine with the children and the parents.  This included her welcoming the children and the families while providing them with comfort and reassurance when they were upset. 

She was also interacting with the children on their level, by speaking to them directly and not looking down on them.  She also had materials in the welcome area for the children to explore while she was waiting for the other children to arrive.  It was clear that she had spent time reviewing routines and following directions because of the way the children responded to her instructions. 

It was clear by the communication interactions I observed that the children’s feelings were always considered.  The children responded very well to the daycare provider and were comforted by her actions and words when they were upset. 

I have learned a lot about communication from watching my daycare provider.  I have learned that I need to have more patience with children as well as taking the time to speak with them on their level.  This allows children to feel that they are being listened to.  Throughout the week, this week, I have made an effort to do these things with my own children.

Creating Affirming Environments

Emotion Board

           There are several elements that I would include in my own Family Child Care Home.  In the media segment, Adriana Castillo shared her own home child care.  One thing from the media segment that I would like to include in my own home child care would be the welcome area.  In Adriana’s welcome area, she included a sign in book for the families to provide information about their child for that day as well as a poster of each of the families with whom she worked (Laureate Education, 2011).  This welcome area would allow the early childcare provider to have a record of important details about each specific child as well as allowing each child to recognize him or herself as a part of the center.  One adjustment I might include in my own personal center would be to create another poster or bulletin board, in the welcome area, where the child would have to answer a simple question pertaining to our curricular area.  For example, in Adriana’s center, they were studying about emotions.  I would create a bulletin board with a variety of emotions and attach each child’s picture on a magnet or Velcro.  They could then move their picture to show how they were feeling that particular day.  The welcome area not only served as a place where the families could share, but also as a place where they could see themselves in their environment (Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2010).

 

                Another aspect that Adriana included in her environment was a “rest area” (Laureate Education, 2011).  This was a place that was comfortable and allowed the children to adjust to their daycare environment.  Adriana Castillo shared that many of the children experienced separation anxiety (Laureate Education, 2011) and this rest area provided them some comfort while they were experiencing the emotions of leaving their parent.

 

Culture Share

               As far as anti-bias elements, Adriana Castillo provided many materials that contributed to an anti-bias environment.  One element that I would place in my own home child care would be the family culture share area.  I thought this was another wonderful way for the children to see themselves reflected in their environment while learning about the cultural diversity of their peers.

Cozy Reading Area

                In my free play area, I would be sure to provide an assortment of anti-bias materials.  I would include an library area with comfortable seating and lighting where the children could read.  Derman-Sparks and Edwards (2010) described the importance of including a variety of diverse books that represented not only cultures of children in the center, but also of the greater society.  I would work to build a classroom library of books that represented these things as well as books that portrayed stereotypes and bias to use as a teaching tool.

Music Center

                I would also incorporate a music and movement corner of the center where children could explore a variety of instruments and sounds from different cultures.  In order to represent each child’s home culture, I would ask each family to provide or recommend music to place in our music center.  I would also find video representing dances and movement to a variety of music for the children to enjoy.  Using technology, such as the popular game, Just Dance Kids, may also be something I would incorporate here. 

                 

Dramatic Play Area

                 Another area I would want to include would be a dramatic play area.  In this area, I would include clothing representative of my children’s cultures as well as materials such as scarves and cloth for the children to create their own unique style of dress.  In this area I would also ask families to donate empty food containers from their home to represent a variety of different foods that are eaten.  I would also include dolls with various skin, hair and eye colors as well as different physical abilities to reflect various racial and ethnic backgrounds.  I thought the skin colored bean bags from the media segment were a wonderful idea that could aid in anti-bias learning but could also serve many other purposes.  

                 I would also use the idea presented in both the media segment and the course text about decorating the classroom with photographs of the children and their community.  This would serve as another way to represent our community diversity while allowing the children to develop a sense of comfort in the classroom. 

               Overall, I feel that the most important aspect of the childcare center is that each child feels that his or her culture and family is being represented equally and that each child feels safe and comfortable in the setting.  In the media segment Adriana mentioned that she is still learning and changing although she has been practicing early childcare at her setting for four years (Laureate Education, 2011).  This is a very important point as we continue to learn and grow as early childhood educators.    

Resources

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

ourselves. National Association for the Education of Young Children. Washington, D.C.

(NAEYC).

Welcome to an anti-bias learning community ( Laureate Education, 2011). Retrieved from

     https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=

     _419753. course media.

What I Have Learned

One hope that I have when thinking about working with children and families is to expose them to all of the wonderful diversity that is in our world.  I would hope to help the children and their families develop a deeper understanding of differences and to have an acceptance for all people.

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to diversity, equity, and social justice would be to provide early childhood educators with opportunities to continue their education about these topics.  I have realized that through this course, I still have a great deal to learn about myself as well as how to address issues related to diversity, equity and social justice.  Continuing conversations as well as the learning of early childhood educators would be extremely beneficial to the field.  

I would like to thank all of my colleagues and Dr. Klein for their support and guidance through this course.  I appreciate all of the personal stories that were told, they truly helped deepen my understanding of the topics we studied.  Best of luck in your future courses and work in the early childhood field. 

DIVERSITY

Start Seeing Diversity..."We Don't Say Those Words in Class"

A few years ago, when my daughter was around 2 years old, we were shopping together in the local Wal-Mart.  While we were walking down one of the aisles, we passed a woman who was bald.  My daughter said, "Mommy, that lady doesn't have any hair!"  I felt immediate embarrassment and quietly shushed my daughter so the woman wouldn't hear my daughter's comments.  I quickly pushed the cart to another aisle and my daughter continued to ask questions like, "is she a boy?"  I told her that we aren't supposed to say things like that out loud. 

By shushing my daughter and telling her that we don't talk about things like that, I was sending a message that the questions she was asking were wrong.  I was teaching her that the differences in people were something to be ashamed of or hidden.  I was also stifling her natural curiosity to ask questions about differences as well as providing her with an opportunity to learn about human differences. 

An anti-bias educator may have responded by saying, "Many people have different hair styles.  They can have long hair, short hair, no hair, hair of many different colors, etc."   A conversation could also take place about reasons people may have no hair, such as disease.   After the initial discussion, we could look at different hair styles that we see on television, in books, in our family as well as in magazines and photographs.  An anti-bias educator would support and develop a child's understanding instead of silencing the child.