Web Resources

Relevant Information to my Current Professional Development

                The one article that I found on this website that I feel speaks to my current professional development is an article that I read on cuts that are being made in our economy.   Right now professionally I am trying to find better ways to make a difference in the lives of children.  This article stated how certain governmental offices want to make what they call cuts to “lower priority spending”.  This means that they would make cuts in public assistance to disadvantaged families and elderly.  Such cuts would be made in food stamps (which provide assistance with food for elderly, disabled people, children, and the poor).  The proposal is that 2 million people would lose their benefits completely and 44 million would have a reduction in their benefits.  There would also be a cut in student access to free and reduced breakfast and lunch at school.  Another proposal is to eliminate the Social Services Block Grant which provides child care assistance, protective services for foster care, and programs for meals on wheels.  This article states that there are other ways to find money such as cutting the tax breaks that many millionaires get every year.  This could pay up to 10 years of nutrition assistance.  I feel that this article hits home for me because I don’t think that I make my voice heard enough in issues relating to this.  I know that there are petitions you can sign and calls that I can make to let policy makers and government officials know that making cuts to these kinds of programs only hurt our youth and the families that they are coming from.  This website and article opened my eyes to the ways in which I can do a better job. 

Controversial Issue

                The one controversial issue that I found when researching this website was about a boy who was staying in a baseball park and sleeping on one of the benches.  He came from a single parent home in a neighborhood where gangs are prevalent.  After a sister’s boyfriend who was a gang member shot up his house, his mother moved in with a boyfriend and his sisters moved in with friends.  This 15 year old boy was then left to fend for himself.  He was able to stay with some friends, relatives, and school employees but at times found himself homeless with nowhere to turn.  He did not let this affect him negatively.  Instead he studied hard and now at the age of 18 got accepted to Harvard after turning down Princeton and Yale.  His story is one of courage, hard work, and perseverance. 

                What really bothered me about this story is the fact that this child had to go through this at all.  It angers me that his mother would leave him to fend for himself at the age of 15.  She said that she was happy for all of the people that God had put into his life to help him but my thoughts are that God put him in her life for her to protect him and she fell way short of this job.  I understand that people go through hard times and issues but there is nothing more important in this world than the well-being of our children.  She moved in with a boyfriend but did not take any of her children with her.  In my eyes that is totally unacceptable.  When we become parents we sacrifice all aspects of our lives for the children that God placed into our hands.  It angers me greatly when I find out about parents who are too selfish dealing with themselves to provide the kind of life for their children that they deserve.  I was really glad to read in this article that there was a principal of a school that took this boy into his home for a while and took care of him.  I would like to think that if given the opportunity, I would do the same for a child if I found out about such a situation.  I am so glad that this young boy beat the odds and now has a bright future ahead of him but it also made me think about all of the children that will never get this chance. 

Understanding of economist, neuroscientists, or politicians

                When researching this website to find information related to economists, neuroscientists, and politicians I found a link that took me to an Education Sector.  On this page I found an article entitled Off the Clock: What More Time can (and can’t) Do for School Turnarounds.  This article I found interesting because it kind of went along with what we were studying this week in relation to more time spent on academics in school.  In it I learned that there are millions of federal budget dollars spent on expanding learning time within schools.  This article was talking about the research behind this and how it shows more ill effects of this than positive ones.  The reasoning being that when schools want to add more minutes to their day they end up taking away extra programs and shortening recess and lunch periods.    They say that there has not been enough research done to show how this expanded time will affect children and the research that has been done has only shown a small positive effect on standardized achievement.  They say that the problem is that many schools only look at the quantity of days and time and do not change the quality of the programs which is the main issue.  The programs should become of higher quality if they are going to add time to the school day/year. 

                This issue and the studies that I did this week gave me a better understanding of these three categories because I was able to see the thinking behind each one and how they are usually not interconnected, but should be.  If the economists and politicians would use the research that is completed by the neuroscientists then they could create and support programs and policies that are effective in creating dynamic and influential early childhood programs.  Research should always play a factor in the creation of policies and programs and it should not be about the money or the political advantages.  All of these sectors need to make sure a child’s well-being comes first and providing the best possible outcomes for them should be the first item on every agenda.

New Insights on Issues and Trends

                One of the new insights that I gained from this website is about a national conference that they are holding in Cincinnati, Ohio to work at creating change at state, local, and federal levels for children who are living in poverty.  The issue of poverty is one that affects children all over the world and this conference connects communities of child advocates, faith leaders, young leaders, policy makers, and service providers to become voices for these children that often do not have a voice.  This conference is being held in July and if you would like more information or would like to become involved you can go to: http://www.childrensdefense.org/national-conference/.

Resources:
Children's Defense Fund. Retrieved From http://www.childrensdefense.org/

International Contacts

                In the weeks since beginning this course I have worked diligently to contact another early childhood professional within a different country.  I have probably emailed 12 people and have not gotten a response from anyone.  Due to this fact, I had to choose the alternative route for this assignment.  I am not giving up however and I will continue to email people until maybe I get a response. 

                The person I chose in the podcasts that were available on the World Forum Radio website was Delfena Mitchell.  She is the director of children’s home in the country of Belize.  The name of the home is the Liberty Children’s Home and it is a program that generally takes children from the ages of birth to 5 years.  The children that come to this home have been abandoned, orphaned, or have suffered some type of abuse.  The children may also have special needs or disabilities.  I have emailed this home but have not received a response as of yet.

                In her podcast Delfena speaks about the number one issue in Belize being that of child abuse and neglect.  Her children’s home takes these children in and provides them with time to heal from the circumstances that they have had to suffer.  She speaks of a little boy who came to the home and hadn’t spoken for a year.  After working with her and the others at Liberty Children’s Home within a few weeks he was talking and telling them his story.  He would share how he was beaten by his grandmother and how if he wanted to eat, he would have to hide under his bed so that he did not get his food taken by a sibling or an adult who was living there. 

                In researching poverty in Belize I discovered that 50% of the children living here live below the poverty line and are involved in a never ending cycle of poverty.  Some of the issues that contribute to their poverty are the increased risk of HIV/Aids (which leaves many children orphaned or abandoned), natural disasters (such as hurricanes and floods) which diminish access to clean water and sanitary conditions, and access to early childhood education.  Although the government in Belize is attempting to rectify their situation, most families still find it challenging to access the services they need to keep them out of poverty and safe from life-threatening ordeals. 

                The country that I chose to read about from the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre was India.  Three insights that I gained about the poverty in India are that it is very high, that children are greatly affected, and that programs being run are not adequately addressing the poverty situation.  In India 260.2 million of their 1.03 billion people are living in poverty (CHIP, 2012).  Although since the 1990s India has reduced some of its poverty levels, it is still very high.   Children are affected the most by this poverty.  Almost ½ of the children living here under the age of 5 are considered malnourished and 34% of newborns are underweight (CHIP, 2012).  There is a great deal of issues that contributes to this poverty.  One is that there is a lack of access to health and education services.  India accounts for 20% of the worlds out-of- school population (CHIP, 2012).  This is due to the fact that many of the children work and a large number of these children are under the age of 16.  10-15% of households in India have working children who make up between 18-45% of the household income. 

Another issue is that in India families become involved in poverty cycles because of indebtedness.  The money that they have to pay for cultural events (marriages, death feasts) leads to a lack of funds for the households to survive on.   In India the central government is responsible for providing programs that help to reduce poverty.  Some of the programs that they provide are rural employment, self-employment, and food subsidy programs such as the Public Distribution System.  These programs are targeted towards poor families but even with these programs India is still being challenged to break the poverty cycles that exist within it. 

                One of the main insights that I learned from my studies this week is that childhood poverty is a cycle.  When a child grows up within poverty and is never given access to skills or assets to remedy the poverty, then the child will grow to be an adult living in poverty and will pass this on to future generations.  There are many countries (including our own) where this occurs and although there are many programs that strive to help with poverty, an adequate job is not being done in most places.

                Further in my research and when I began thinking about India and Belize’s problems, I found that one of the major issues is that of education (or lack thereof).  Many of these countries do not have access to quality early childhood education programs.  Education plays a vital role in economic stability.  These children are not given the chance to learn the things that they need to learn to further their education and foster growth within the economy.  Lack of education limits the possibilities that they have to find adequately paying jobs and without these they cannot afford other life sustaining items such as food and healthcare.  This is where the vicious cycle begins and the reason that it continues. 

                Healthcare is another big issue in relation to poverty.  In these countries or within cycles of poverty illness can take a toll on a family.  When families cannot afford appropriate healthcare, often times the working member of the family may die which leads to greater amounts of poverty and orphaned or abandoned children.  For this reason there is a great need for food security and healthcare accessibility for these people.  Healthcare not only needs to be accessible, but it also needs to be affordable or in many cases free for people who are stuck in these never-ending cycles of poverty.  I also learned that when a child is living in such poverty that affects how they are nourished, this can affect cognitive development.  If a mother is unable to provide the appropriate nutrients for an unborn child or a newborn child, this can cause critical issues in development that cannot be reversed.  There is a call for higher levels of care in dealing with this critical issue.  The question is how can our generation answer that call?  I’m hoping that with further research I can find a way to become more involved, how about you!

Resources:

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre. (2012). Country overviews-india. Retrieved from http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/index.php?action=countryo

Unicef. (2009). The children in belize. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/belize/20582.htm

World Forum Radio. (2012). Episode 3: Delfena mitchell. Retrieved from http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/

Sharing Web Resources

The name of the organization that I selected is: Children’s Defense Fund found at the following link:

http://www.childrensdefense.org/index-1.html

The focus of this organization is to advocate nationwide for the health and safety of all children.  It is a non-profit organization that began 40 years ago.  The organization works with developing policies and programs that will help children who are involved in situations of poverty and abuse/neglect.  These programs ensure that children have access to quality education, health care, and a moral/spiritual foundation.  Although the Children’s Defense Fund deals with issues for all children, its main focus is on poverty-stricken, minority, or those with disabilities. 

One story that caught my eye from the monthly newsletter was about a program entitled “Freedom Schools”.  This program is dedicated to providing children with summer and after-school enrichment programs that will make them more motivated for learning.  Its focus is around an integrated reading program that is theme based and very hands on.  Each day is filled with a breakfast and a lunch so that the children are properly nourished and ready to learn.  They also provide connections to resources within the community with field trips.  They have afternoon activities such as music, dance, and culturally rich activities related to the theme.  This program sounds as if it provides a nice summer learning experience for kids where they are actively engaged in their learning. 

An issue/trend that caught my eye from the website, was an Article called “Keeping Families Together Initiative”.  The focus of this program is to keep children safe within their families while providing permanent housing and case management.  The article stressed how many families dealing with low-income situations are not able to properly care for their children.  Childcare services then get involved and the children are either taken out of the home and away from the parents, or are left in the home in an unhealthy environment.  The goal of this program is to create supportive housing for these families where they can be safe but also stay together and have resources available to them to help with the things they may need.  These communities help to decrease the amount of foster placements and institutional placements by keeping the families together and providing the parents with the tools necessary to provide what their children need.  The focus of this program is on the children because it wants to provide opportunities for the children to form positive social relationships while still being able to be actively involved in their education.  It provides options for parents and children that they currently do not have. 

I was not able to locate much recent information on demographics and diversity on this website yet.  The most current article I could find in regards to this topic was in 2008.  The information that I learned from this article was very interesting.  It was related to demographics then.  I learned that in 2008 minority children were actually the majority in 6 states plus the District of Columbia and in 33 states, the annual childcare cost for a preschooler is more than the annual tuition at a 4 year public college.  It also told me that every 33 seconds a child is born into poverty and that African American and Latino children are 3x as likely to be poor as white children.  From our reading this week we learned that American will soon be a place where the minorities will be the majorities and so cultural diversity is something that will affect all of our lives at some point in time.  I am going to keep searching on the website to see what more I can dig up about cultural diversity that isn’t quite so old, I know there has to be more…

Establishing Contacts/Expanding Resources

                                

             

The steps that I took this week to get into contact with two professionals has not been successful as of yet.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will hear back from one or more by Monday.  I emailed professionals in Africa, Croatia, China, and someone from Unicef in order to at least make one or two hits.  I am going to try emailing a couple more to increase my chances of actually getting into contact with someone.  I am truly hoping that I will hear from one of the people I chose so that I do not have to complete the alternative assignment.  I think it would be very interesting to actually correspond with someone from another country and to receive their personal insight into the topics I will be learning. 

    I used the links that we were given but when I tried to click on people's listed email accounts there, it sent me to a page about configuring something on my computer.  I am always leary when my computer asks me to download something or to change something, so I didn't do that.  Instead, I wrote down the email addresses and went into my own email and sent the messages this way.  One of my messages did come back to me(it had failed) but the others did not, so it is my hope that someone will reply soon.

After looking over the lists of resources for websites that we could choose from, I knew the one I needed to pick right away.  The one I chose was the Children's Defense Fund.  After visiting the website and seeing the following logo I knew that I had made the right choice.

  

After the first class that I took for this master's degree, I knew that I wanted to become a stronger advocate for children and I have been looking for a way to do that.  Just from glancing at the website(so far) I can see that this organization does that and is looking for people to get involved.  I am very excited to learn more about it in the coming weeks.  I signed up for their newsletter and I am looking forward to receiving that and reading it.  I'm anticipating learning about this organization and passing on to others ways in which they may become involved as well.  Together we can all make a difference.

My helpful tip would be to choose an organization where the topics will be close to your heart.  I know the well being of children is at the root of my heart and so I'm looking forward to the coming weeks and learning more about it.  Anytime that we can learn about something that interests us or touches our lives in some way, we are more invested in that learning.  It allows us to take the passion that we feel for something and pass it on to others.  I am anxious to read all of your blogs to learn more about the other organizations that you are all interested in. 

References(for picture):

Children's Defense Fund(2012). Retrieved from http://www.childrensdefense.org/
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