My reaction to the topic of the sexualization of early childhood would be that children learn from their environment whether it is negative or positive through others,music,siblings,television,and etc.The first part of this topic was shocking , but as I began to read on,it was very informative, insightful, and interesting. It was nice to know that help is on the way even though "today's sexualized childhood is very distressing and there's no way around that "(Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p.7).From my personal experience, I have seen a bunch of bullying, child abuse and neglect, and domestic violence that further illustrate the exposure of young children to a highly sexualized environment.
One implication that this may have on children's healthy development is that it can affect children s brain development even if they are are not the victim and it will lead to problems with the emotions and behavior which makes it complicated for them to learn .Another implication is when children are affected by the stress of violence which affects their growing brain and might delay normal childhood milestones. A third implication is when children are being harmed as a very way of getting at the other adult and child's needs might be neglected.The last implication is that the children who are being bullied are more than likely to be prone to depression and suicidal tendencies even when they grow up and they are most likely to be sick with headaches and stomach troubles.As an early childhood professional,to the best of my response to these concern and to reduce the negative impact on children i would change attitudes,support the victims,teach children to have acceptable behavior towards each others,supervise aggressive behavior into acceptable activities. The way in which my awareness of the sexualization of early childhood has been influenced and/or modified by studying the topic this week is that children are more knowledgeable and wiser about learning and paying close attention to their surroundings.
Reference:
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
Hi LaCAsa,
ReplyDeleteI liked your post and love the way in which you have arranged your points. Indeed this topic was one that totally gained our attention and as educators we need to keep abreast of what is going on. I also agree with the negative implications that this might have on our young children that you have postulated. Great post
LaCasa,
ReplyDeleteI teach fifth grade and some of the things that I have seen and heard have been shocking. However, the more I get to know some of these parents, the more I see how they got that way. The music, television shows, and video games that parents allow their children to see and buy are way to much for their brains and maturity level and should not be allowed. An example that we had to deal with at the end of the year this year was with facebook. I teach children that are ten and eleven years old. To be on facebook you are supposed to be a certain age. At least 40 of our 60 children were on facebook which shows me that the children lied to get an account of the parents lied for them - neither of which is right. When we had the bullying issue on facebook, we had the school resource officer come over to the school and these children had to delete their facebook accounts by the end of the week or they would be reported. I was absolutely shocked by the number of parents that were mad at us when they are the ones that should never have allowed it in the first place.
Great post! Thanks for sharing!
Amy McCoig
Hi LaCasa,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic. I too was shocked in reading the introduction, but I can totally see where the shift in sexuality began. I agree that it is in media, books, music, literally everywhere. I work with preschool children and some 3-year olds "play" laying on one another and we quickly explain to them why that is not okay. Others know inappropriate sexual songs, but have a difficult time identifying letters in the alphabet or even their names. I just think it is up to the parent to closely monitor what their children are being exposed to in the home and that can decrease what is expressed in the school and community. As a mother and an early childhood educator, I am an advocate on raiding awareness for anything that involves the children being successful. This is one topic I am going to give my all for in seeing that things change. Thanks for sharing your post!
Shayla
I am amazed at the lyrics that children know now. As our adult music becomes more explicit, we are becoming desensitized to lyrics of a sexual and/or violent nature. As we become desensitized, we allow our children to listen to, see, and experience thing that are less and less age-appropriate. Thank you for your insights this week!
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