Visual Media-- Part 1 "Father's Love" Part 2 "Abuse/Neglect"

Father’s Love

Of course in an ideal world both parents would be present in a household.  However we all know that isn’t always the case.  I picked these two videos because I wanted to stress the importance of a father in child’s life.  A father needs to show a boy how to be a man; and show a young lady how to be loved and treated by a man.  I have a few friends that are spilt up with their children’s fathers.  I have witnessed all of these ladies encourage and consider themselves lucky to have men who know the importance of their presence in the child’s life, even though their union didn’t work out.  Two out of the three of my female friends feel that they don’t know how to have a successful relationship because they were never taught how to be loved by a man.  That reason alone is the reason they would never push their children’s fathers away. 

A boy with cerebral palsy walks to his Marine dad for the first time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hU6gR4zHnM

Soldier Surprises Daughter at Spelling Bee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7npunWUVsw&NR=1&feature=endscreen

Abuse/Neglect!!!

9-year-old Attacks Toddler, Daycare Worker Arrested, Neglect of Minor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGPpkwZ85NY

This video is very disturbing on so many levels.  My first question would be why is there a 9 year old boy in a toddler room to begin with?  I’m shocked and appalled that the little boy was even able to get away with all of this.  If the daycare providers where even doing half of their job, they would have seen the bruises on the toddlers.  After seeing the bruises should have inquired and wondered where they came from. 

After watching this video you wonder where does the original problem stem from?  What is going through this 9 year olds head?  You wonder what he has been subject too.  What kind of adult is he going to grow to be? 

What would you suggest be done to this 9 year old child?

Testing & Assessment

I think there should be a series of test that are ran to test and access a child’s knowledge base.  I do believe there should be written standardized test.  However I think that should only be a piece of all those goes into the categorization of a child.  I believe that a part of the test should be done verbally.  What if a child knows the information but they don’t know how show all their complete thoughts on paper but can verbalize it better.  Communication is even challenging for adults.  I for one never did well on standardized testing.  As a young child I didn’t always understand what they were asking me.  Of course it’s hard to give the right educated answer if you don’t understand the question. 

I also think that maybe something could be done on the more tangible side.  Meaning where a child is able to do something physically.  Maybe a child is better at creating and can communicate more through actually doing something, than answering questions.  Again as adults we later begin to communicate through books, music, paintings, and verbal communication.  “Our intellectual abilities are divided among at least eight abilities: verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalistic, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal,” (Ferguson, 2009).   

I choose the Ukraine as a country to look up in regards to their educational assessment of grade students.  My boyfriend is originally from the Ukraine and it’s a country that doesn’t seem to been on the United States radar, especially in regards to education. 

I was surprised to learn that the Ukraine has not participated in any of the inter-national learning assessments, nor has it carried out a national assessment of students’ learning, (Inna, 2010).  It’s said that the quality of education in Ukraine is measured on the basis of proxy indicators, (Inna, 2010).  In many cases children from K-12 attend school together.  It seems to me their biggest noted assessment is how well a student knows English.  It was surprising to me that I couldn’t find much information in regards to the educational assessment in the Ukraine.  I always thought you could find tons of information about anything you googled.

 

Additional link to look up: Educational System of the Ukraine   http://www.bibl.u-szeged.hu/oseas/ukr1.html

 

Ferguson, C. (2009, July 14). Not everyone is a genius. The chronicle review. Retrieved from: http://chronicle.com/article/Not-Every-Child-Is-Secretly/48001/

 

Inna, K. (2010, June 16). The 2010 Independent External Assessment Testing in Ukraine: Why has it been questioned? Retrieved from: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/miss-inna/english-language-2010-independent-external-assessment-testing-ukraine-why-has-it-bee/

A child's enviroment & stability! Abuse

I feel that a child’s stability and environment can impact how a child develops. The first years of my life I moved a lot, and would sometimes find myself in hostile environments. Of course poverty was evident but not too the point where I can say I didn’t have any food or clothes. I was more introverted and behind in school. At the age of 6 my mother passed away. I was placed in several different foster homes in such a short period of time. By the age of 7 I then moved to New York to live with my Aunt and Uncle. My environment definitely effected my cognitive development. My Aunt and Uncle provided a safe, and stable environment for me. I wasn’t switching schools every couple of months like I had done in the past. Going to school and doing well were stressed in my Aunt and Uncle’s house. When I first moved up to New York the administration and teachers tried to put me in classes for children with special learning needs. My aunt and uncle fought and insisted that I didn’t have any learning disability I was just extremely behind. So at this time they made me repeat the second grade considering that I didn’t have enough attended days of school in the previous year to pass me anyways. By the end of the second grade I broke out of my shell. It didn’t take me long but I spoke more in school then I ever had before. I still didn’t feel comfortable enough to read out loud or answer too many questions scholastically. My parents got me some extra help outside of regular school and by the 4th grade I was right on track academically. I don’t remember much else about my childhood except that my mother was in an abusive relationship that lead to the guy killing her. I’m sure at the time these factors impacted my psychosocial development somewhat. I would be taken out of class once a week to go primary projects. To me it was play time. We would play games and talk. As I got older realized that it was some kind of therapy. I always wondered why the lady asked me so many question. I thought she was just nosey. My aunt and uncle provided an atmosphere that I felt safe in, as well as providing me with the things that I needed and wanted. I think that all of a sudden having an older sister and brother helped me tremendously in my development. They inadvertently showed me what was expected of me, how to act socially, and just simply how to have fun. As many as 100,000 children were displaced by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan's north-west coast, (McCurry, 2011). The tsunami changed so many children life’s. With a natural disaster like this it causes a lot of chaos, and puts children and their families into poverty, and in some cases to go without food. Many children were separated from their families, as well as losing their parents, and other family members. Save the Children foundation is still raising money to continue to help children. They raise money to feed, cloth, and shelter the misplaced children. Reference: McCurry, J. (2011, March 15). Japan earthquake: 100,000 children displaced, says charity. The Guardian, Retrieved: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/15/japan-earthquake-children-displaced-charity.com