A bias or prejudice of sorts that I have witnessed over
several years in the classroom is the removal of children from an educational
program. I continue to be distraught at how frequent young children are
dismissed or kicked out of early childhood programs because they cannot act “appropriately.”
I also know of several children who have been judged because they take prescription
medicine to help them regulate their body rhythms.
These instances diminish equity because all children deserve
quality care and education. This includes the respect of being who they are and
protecting their social and emotional development. When children are treated
differently because of prescriptions or are allowed to gain a reputation from
others perceptions that practically pushes them out of the program, their
self-esteem and education begins to fail.
In every case of children being dismissed I believe the
teachers, and especially the program director, need to take time and learn the
needs of the child so that every effort can be made to keep them in the program.
One particularly challenging year as a Head Start teacher I was working day in
and day out to figure out how to help calm a child down. He did not stay
focused on any one task or activity for longer than about 3 minutes and he was
almost in constant action. My assistant teacher and teachers in a nearby
classroom said, “He has ADD they just need to get him on some medicine.” I did
not believe this and got upset every time I heard this. I continued to observe
and went to my director to obtain some additional materials for the classroom.
When I added a few, more challenging materials to the classroom, I saw a
difference in this child. It appeared he was not challenged enough. This was
his second year in Head Start and he appeared bored with the same materials. Had
this child been kicked out of the program, he would have missed out on
advancing his skills to be ready for Kindergarten, and we would have missed
seeing the growth in this child.
It is crucial to advocate for children in every avenue
possible!
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that your prescription worked for the child and I agree with you that we need to go extra miles in helping each of these children to attain their potentials. We need to understand that children get bored easily and quickly too, therefore there must be enough activities to sustain their curiosity and to challenge their brain.