The Sexualization of Early Childhood

In recent society, children are exposed to the surroundings full of sex and sexuality. They are bombarded with messages of sexualization at young ages but have not yet the ability to understand them and even get frightened (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). Based on the introduction of "So Sexy So Soon", though children are not old enough to understand the meaning of sex and sexuality, they are curious about them starting from a very young age. Due to their curiosity, if parents and teachers, especially early childhood teachers, could deliver to children age-appropriate information about sex and sexuality with honesty, children would develop a healthy understanding of gender, sexuality, and relationships (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). When reading the topic of the sexualization of early childhood, I feel it urged that it is very vital for early childhood educators with whom children spend most of their time to provide children with an environment where they can healthily "shape their gender identity, sexual attitudes, and values, and their capacity for relationships, for love and connection, that they take into adulthood" (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p.2).

Observing carefully, we can find that children are highly exposed to a sexualized environment which not only early childhood educators but the whole society, especially the commercial circle, should be responsible for protecting children from. Examples of children in this sexualized environment can be seen everywhere. For example, in the subway, there are lots of ads that promote cosmetic surgery to beautify the features and body parts of female so that the beautified female would be attractive and successful in her life, which emphasizes the importance of physical appearance-- "a narrow definition of femininity and sexuality" (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p.2). Another example that I find in my workplace is that when we look for some video materials related to our curriculum in YouTube, some ads would pop out and we cannot skip those ads that are full of sexualized messages which unexpectedly impact on children's gender development. As well, when walking on the streets or in the malls, we can hear some songs full of sex and violence that is not age appropriate.

As stated, "As children struggle to understand what they see and hear, they learn lessons that can frighten and confuse them. These lessons can seriously harm their ability to grow up to have healthy attitudes about themselves and their bodies and to have caring relationships in which sex is an important part" (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p.4). As early childhood professionals, we should be alert about what books, songs, and videos can be provided for developmental and age-appropriate purpose. We should collaborate with parents to protect children from a sexualized environment at home. As for the environment outside home and school, when children are unexpectedly exposed to sexualized messages, parents should give them guidelines and make positive clarification about those messages.

The study of the sexualization of early childhood makes me become more aware of the sexualized messages that children might meet with and pay attention to what kinds of curriculum materials that I could provide for children. As well, we should provide more opportunities for children to develop as whole people and lay "the very foundation necessary for children to actualize their full potential and to value and respect themselves and others" (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p.6).

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

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

According to Urie Bronfenbrenner, children should be viewed within the complex systems of their changing environment, such as family, extended family, school, friends, organization, government, and culture, which significantly affect children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development and the forming of social identities (Arndt & McGuire-Schwartz, 2008). From the complex systems, children learn about their own and others’ personal and social identities through both overt and covert messages, including some “-isms”, such as racism, gender stereotyping and sexism, classism, ableism, ageism and so on (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). 

As for me, the most obvious “-isms” that I have experienced and been experienced are sexism and racism. Sexism is prevalent in the environment where I grew up. People stereotypically thinks that men are stronger than women in any aspect; that they should be provided with better conditions to grow and develop so that they could take more responsibility for and contribute more to their family; that women should give up some chances and take care more of the family; and so on. For example, I have been spending more time pursuing my career as a teacher in an international school; relatively, I have spent less time considering my marriage, which worries my families who think that the better future for women is to have a good marriage rather than to have a good career. This is gender stereotyping and sexism. After learning about human diversity, “-isms” and anti-bias education, I pay more attention to the issues related to gender and sexism since I have experienced what impact this -ism has brought to me. Affected by sexism, I feel my gender identity is devalued and unrecognized, which has a negative impact on my emotional and social development. I felt less confident when collaborating with men, or emotionally hurt when compared with men. My personal experience of sexism makes me realize that I should be on my guard against what children, parents and teachers communicate and interact, to see if sexism exists in their messages in a overt or covert way. If so, I would use an anti-bias approach to address this issue, such as using a persona dolls, reading books without gender stereotyping words, thoughts and illustrations, or some follow-up activities to let children find out both girls and boys are equitable.

Racism exists mostly in my workplace, which actually is conveyed unnoticeably by other international teachers with good intentions. For example, in order for children to learn English better, some teachers would stress more on speaking English rather than their home languages, which makes children’s home culture invisible and shows bias toward their languages. One experience that I had regarding racism is when I had lunch with another teacher from other country. She commented that how come Chinese people can eat fish with bones. Her facial expression and words made me feel discomfort and biased. Several experiences that I had were related to Chinese food and culture. This kind of experiences make me think that each person and each culture has its own way, that what we should do is to recognize those differences, value them and respect them, instead of bringing in stereotyping thoughts and attitudes, which I gain from learning these courses related to diversity. Therefore, when working with families and children, I would observe how children and families interact with each other; I would find ways to gain some information about their beliefs, values and home culture; I would pay attention to my words to avoid stereotyping; I would listen to what children want to convey to check if there is racism hidden in their words.

As stated, “it is essential to becoming effective anti-biased educators that we examine each aspect of who we are in order to understand fully how our identities influence how we relate to people. Understanding these dynamics in your life will strengthen your awareness of, sensitivity to, and empathy for the personal and social identity development of children and families you serve” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p.23).

References:

 

Arndt, J. S., & McGuire-Schwartz, M. (2008). Early childhood school success: Recognizing families as integral partners. Childhood Education, 84(5), 281. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database: http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?did=1507312931&sid=2&Fmt=3&clientId=70192&RQT=309&VName=PQD

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).

Observing Communication

This week, I went to observe a teacher with 3-4 years old children in an early childhood setting to see how the adult-child communication was and the effect of their communication. This observation took place during the free play time. The children were engaged in their own play; while the teacher sometimes joined them in the play or sometimes just stood by aside and watched them until intervention was needed. 

I noticed that the teacher would lower her body to the children's level when she communicated with them. She would listen carefully and patiently to whoever tried to share their ideas of play with the teacher. Even some non-English native speakers, such as Japanese, Korean, or Chinese children, could not express themselves clearly and fluently, she would wait until they finished their words and then tried to restate what they were saying to check whether they were well understood by the teacher. When one of the children, who was a Japanese girl, frowned, felt anxious and was about to cry since she could not put her words together properly, the teacher calmed her down by patting on her back and giving her more time. I learned that when the teacher tried to figure out what the children tried to convey, she showed her respect for the children; she made the children feel relaxed and comfortable to say their ideas out loud without feeling urged; she read their body language to give them comfort.

I think the communication strategies that the teacher used are quite affirming and effective; as well, those strategies are similar to what Lisa Kolbeck in the media segment presented to us. Lisa suggests that teachers show respect for children by going slow, "trying to be receptive to what the children were saying....and not jump in and take [their] words out of [their] mouth. Let them feel what the flower of their idea was, letting it come out of them" (Laureate Education, 2011). Moreover, she suggests that teachers be sensitive and pay close attention to children's body language so that we could "pick up cues about how to communicate" (Laureate Education, 2011).

Once children feel respected and have the sense of self worth, they would feel more comfortable to share more of their ideas; thus, more opportunities are provided for children to develop to their potential, emotionally, socially, cognitively and linguistically. For example, the Japanese girl that I observed, after the teacher's comfort and patient waiting, she calmed herself down, better expressed herself, and showed her teacher what she had created in the sand table. She would feel more confident in speaking English next time even though she would still have difficulties in expressing herself; she would feel herself heard and accepted.

The observation and the learning materials this week are beneficial to me. Before, in order to get a better idea of what children want to tell me, I sometimes interrupted and made assumptions about their ideas, which would make them feel frustrated when they were not well understood. However, I learned "how important it is that we not close children off with the walls of our assumptions. We leave ourselves open to surprises, because children have so many surprises inside we can learn about it if we're quiet enough to get them come to us with it" (Laureate Education, 2011).

Reference:

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Communicating with young children. Baltimore, MD: Author