Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence in an Urban Context

About two months ago, japan was struck by an earthquake and tsunami and the extent of the damage was horrific. As a brother of alpha phi delta fraternity incorporated, I spoke to our E-Board in an attempt to see how we could lend a helping hand to the people of Japan whose lives made a 180 degree turn for the worse. The following tuesday, Alpha Phi Delta, in adition to other school orgs, began a Help Japan relief effort here at Baruch to raise money and gather supplies that would be sent overseas. In that one day, about $17,000 was raised along with a vast amount of supplies. It’s not to say that the funds raised would help Japan as a whole but rather how the everyone came together in such a timely fashion to offer that small margin of hope that the people of Japan need to get through these trying times.

Here are the videos I was going to post before. They are both from the Maury show the first shows women  body builders who are still feminine (people can be both touch and feminine at the same time). The second video show people who are men but look like women and women who are really women but people cant figure out which is which. I mentioned this in class because it shouldn’t matter what they choose to be we should be accepting we only start to judge once we know. (I’m sure that everyone has a guy or girl friend who looks somewhat like the other sex but it not and you don’t care).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6dY69LP1x0&feature=related

For the past 5 years (including this year) I have lifeguarded at a private pool. It is filled with many old people but we do get a few children coming through. One of the children that has been coming there even before I started working there is an autistic boy named Austin. I have watched him grow up from being scared of even going near the water, to just splashing around with a vest on to taking off the vest and jumping in the deep end by himself. While taking this class a lot of the things we talked about reminded me of things that Austin did.

One of the things we mentioned is that children can’t tell depth and we saw an example of this when the child was crawling over the glass but for all they knew there could have been nothing there and they would have fallen. Austin did the same thing. He used to run from the shallow end of the pool to the deep end and just run off the edge (before he could swim) not realizing that there is no floor and that he was jumping into six feet of water. I also saw this in another autistic boy there as well as a two year old girl. They had no fear and just went right in. the second autistic boy Peirce walked off the stairs not realizing the last step was very high and he was too short and couldn’t reach the bottom.

It surprised me how much of the things that we listed in class fit the children at the pool for being fearless, not having a care in the world (screaming not caring that people are around, running around) exploring the world around them, adapting to the world around them (you want to be in the pool you learn to swim), innocence (no matter how annoying or bad things they did they were innocent because they didn’t know better) and many other things. I was also able to see how children were affected by their surroundings. I have had people who were very snobby and uptight and their children ages 3-5 were just like them, wanting all the attention and doing what they want while they disregarded rules. Then there were those who got affected by their surroundings realizing that the people around them were older and just sitting in lounges not making noise or just swimming for a short time and then laying down. These children would mimic the adults and stayed quiet most of the time.

After watching Kilbourne’s video I agree with her arguments. Throughout our lives we are tough that girls and guys have to act, look and respond in certain ways. In the past women have been seen as fragile and always taking care of the husband and kids and not getting anywhere in life because men were supposed to prosper and women had to know their place. Being gentle, loving, emotional, and always in the background is known as the girly way. While being tough, careless/indifferent, angry/violent and always on top has been known as the man way. As times change we are still taught the same way but in a much more subtle way. Yet as times change we are never told until we are much older that those things change.

As we walk down the street, go to school, watch TV or even read books we are exposed to media that tells both men and women (boys and girls) what the correct or acceptable way to act and be is. As we mentioned in class it is seen as normal for a girl to play house but for a boy after a certain age it is frowned upon because it is a feminine game. Something like football would be more of a man’s/boy’s sport and if a girl played it she is seen to be manly and thus it is also frowned upon. People and the media try to instill in children at a young age to do what’s right and act and be a certain way which creates many issues.

As mentioned in the video pretty women or ones that men prefer are the ones that are skinny, big breasted, fragile, with no opinion or thoughts of their own. At a young age this would be true even in this day and age. Many young girls are with guys because “they can’t do better or find better” or think “who would love/like someone like me” thus leading to abuse from their significant other and even themselves. Young girls try to keep up with these women they show on TV or in magazines (the skinny big breasted women who are very sexual) by throwing up or not eating and even working-out until there is nothing left of them. They also start dressing in very provocative ways for girls their age. For example I went to my sister’s public school and witnessed how 7-9 graders dress, looked and acted. I was shocked. You can tell who was in the cool or in crowed and who were the “losers” or outcasts. All you can see were mini skits, more makeup then I would ever ware (like clowns), light shirts, cleavage being seen and those are the more covered up ones. As this is instilled in children at a young age they carry it with them into adulthood and it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

What I mean by the statement above is that as people grow older they realize or at least notice that life is different then what they have been living. Heavy people are also seen as attractive and have love lives, women do have high positions in businesses where their opinion matters and women can do many things that do. As we get older and as the times change all these restriction set up have been letting up. For example schools such as Penn State offer football as a sport for girls, women hold high CEO position and many high powered position over men, and also women who are curvy are being accepted as normal as well (not just skinny people) such as actress Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman.

Other than looks people have also set up a norm on how people should act in relationships as well as within themselves. What I mean by this is people have set up rules and guidelines to be followed for sexuality and gender. Many have suffered throughout the years being mocked and ridiculed because they are not part of the norm. Transgender people as well as homosexuals and everyone in between has suffered because people have it drilled into their minds that if you are born one way you have to stick with it and if you are a girl you must be attracted to boys and boys must like girls. Yet times have changed and hopefully as time moves on more people feel be open-minded and accepting to change and we might have a new norm.

As we saw in the video in class about the transgender kid, it was sown how she/he suffered and how she dealt with things. Nowadays we have clubs, organizations, and people who are willing to listen and change, which helps many who are trying to deal with this. Unfortunately we still have a long way to go. Even though we have states that allow same sex marriages, parades, groups and many more we need to grow out of the routine that boys are one way and girls are another. We must realizes as times change people change as well that girls can do many things that boys can and boys can be just as emotional as girls, people should be allowed to like whoever they want without having to hide for the world and live in fear. It should be allowed for people to make their own choices as they grow up, to avoid abuse, ridicule, torture, and hate.

Every year for eighteen years, beginning when you’re about five or six years old, children go to school eight hours a day, five days a week.  Throughout fourteen of those years, while you’re going through grade school, you are learning some variation of something that was previously taught and learned; it’s just a little more complex than before and will continue to be with every year we age.  With that being said, I ask “what’s the point?”  With this structure being the foundation of our education system, it’s really no wonder as to why children stereotypically do not enjoy school.  To children school is monotonous and bland.  To expect a child to sit in a classroom for 33% of a day, 71% of the week, is daunting.  It’s a lot of information for a youth’s developing mind to fully grasp.

Besides the amount of time spent in schools and schooling, and poor time-management being shortcomings in our education system, the manner in which we approach teaching our youth is another.  The sequence of initiation-reply between the teacher and their students widens the schism formed between the strict order of our education system now and a more hands-on, interactive approach.  And maybe a more interactive approach is what is needed for our youth and their shorter attention spans due to their inquisitive nature.

With a more direct, hands-on approach, the issue of overcrowded classrooms would also need to be addressed.  The more kids crammed into one classroom with only one teacher means less individual attention a student can have that they might need.  With smaller class sizes and a interactive approach to learning, the student is no longer a hand in a wave hands, but an individual that is free to inquire about the lesson without competing with 30 other students.

It has never been a case of whether a child wants to learn or doesn’t want to learn.  Children are inquisitive by nature, and therefore strive to learn, and can get more out of an interactive approach due to the fact that their cognitive processes are not up to par with that of an adult.  With this simple, minute change in the way we approach education for our youth, we could possibly see an increase in attendance, motivation, grades, and graduation percentages enabling both a solution for education now and in the future.

The documentary “Our America with Lisa Ling: Transgendered Child,” discusses how children with gender issues know or feel that they are developing in the wrong body.  They learn how to associate themselves with the other sex just as a normal person would develop gender identity of their birth sex.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5P9kUz0yO0

Childhood in Africa is almost barbaric.  It resembles childhood when the concept  was first emerging in America.  A majority of the population in Africa are extremely poor and therefore in bad health.  Aids and other diseases leave many children parentless and surviving on their own.  African children begin working at a very early age just to make enough money for some bread or rice.  They help support their families by working instead of going to school and many of the girls are married off early to older men so their families know they are being taken care of.  I found an aricle that sums up the life of two African children.  Like many children their parents died when theses girls were two months old.  A woman took care of them and then abandoned them at an early age leaving them homeless on the streets. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4098634.stm

                Until I saw the 20/20 special, My Secret Self: A Story of Transgender  Children, I never really knew or understand what being transgendered was. It was able to approach a very controversial topic with little bias and explain the mindset of someone who is diagnosed with gender identity disorder. As children grow up, they assume a gender identity that fits with the sex they were born with. Society enforces the establishment of gender identity by providing certain guidelines as to how each gender should dress and what they should play with. In some cases however, children strongly believe they were born into the wrong sex and assume that role much to the dissatisfaction of society. The documentary tells of a 5 year old boy, Jaz, who is one of the youngest documented cases of transformation. From a young age he made it clear that he wanted to be a girl and would often dress like one. Although his parent knew it might not be a phase, they were in somewhat of a denial as to what was happening. Insisting that he was a girl, Jaz would often correct people when they use the “he” pronoun. He also insisted that he will become a female in the future. His parent then made the decision to announce to the world that their son had become their daughter.

            Individuals with gender identify disorder have intense feelings of distress about their condition and have problems adjusting to social functioning. They are often shunned from society for being different. Parent who provide positive acceptance of their children’s lifestyle are often criticized for instigating their child to follow this path. Although by the age of two, children have already begun distinguishing their gender identity, most people believe that children at the age of around 5 are too young to make such a dramatic change. Perhaps if parent find out about their children condition at a young age and allow them to change, the distress would not be as intense. The child could obviously not get a gender realignment surgery, however they still grow up into a more accepting community and would not have to hide or be ashamed of their identity.

            I never understood the extra effort transgendered individuals have to permanently change their gender by any means necessary. Either by hormone pills or even self-castration the transition is hard. I think I can understand the distress and anxiety of being different. The idea that it wasn’t their fault they are like that, and yet have to go through unnecessary suffering just so they can be who they are. As the ignorance in the world beings to slow down, and people are more educated about the topic, perhaps transgendered can finally be accepted.

http://youtu.be/Utpam0IGYac

Until hearing about the program in class, I was unaware of the initiative the administration of President Obama took to improve the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs in the United States. Although the school system in America is sufficient and successful, it is lacking in science and mathematics compared to various other countries. According to a recent study conducted by PICA, Programme for International Student Assessment, in 2006, “American students ranked 21st out of 30 in science literacy among students from developed countries and 25th out of 30 in math literacy.” I was actually surprised that a powerful and influential country was ranked low in its education programs. It’s not that America ranked poorly in comparison to other country; it’s that it appeared slightly above average. For a country as developed as the United States, it is unacceptable not to be in top five countries.

According to the study from the textbook (p. 452), the data provides the same results as the study conducted by PICA. It shows that the United States performed relatively average in Mathematics in respect to other developed countries. Most of the highest ranked countries were Asian countries. The researchers found that this was because that “Asian children attended school more days each year and spend more hours in school each week.” They also found that the structure of Asian classrooms were different such that it was centrally organized and the teacher instructed the class as a whole at once. The United States were generally more decentralized in that the teacher would often let the children work independently. Although independent study, in theory, sounds affective, it seems that children don’t always allocate this independent time reasonably and often slack off. Perhaps if America were to adapt the same methods as the Asian countries, and give up their unacceptable methods, the new initiative for stronger science and mathematics might be successful.

 As technology increases, it only makes sense that the education in school would adapt with more updated curriculum. From my experience, I never had a technology or engineering class. I thought the mathematics was sufficient, but I was never really pushed to take science classes beyond the required courses. With a solid engineering background, experts believe that children will use that knowledge and solve problems in any field of work they potentially will do. The President has teamed up with several organizations to try and enforce the STEM program into the school system. The schools would need to provide a motivation for the children to face the difficult task of these classes. If the programs prove to be successful, perhaps America will rise up as the top educated country one day and educate the next generation to lead.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/educate-innovate

http://www.oecd.org/document/2/0,3343,en_32252351_32236191_39718850_1_1_1_1,00.html

The article begins about a 4- year old boy, Kiran, who, according to his parents, rarely acts up and is often obedient.  His parent began to see worrying signs that concerned them. Kiran was not having fun and was often bored at everything. When they took him to Disneyland, he responded that “Mickey lies, dreams don’t come true.” After taking their son to a child psychiatrist, he was diagnosed with preschool depression, much to the surprise of their parents. Kiran already had a genetic predisposition of depression because his mother was diagnosed with it as well. Upon looking back at her childhood she remembers having the same symptoms as her song during her early childhood; however she was treated either therapy because her parent knew something was wrong, but didn’t know what to do.

Many experts believe that diagnosing children with depression is extreme such that young children are immature, temperamental and interchangeable. “Children of depressed parents are two to three times likely to have major depression.” Joan Luby, a professor of child psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine, who also gave the diagnosis to Kiren, believe that depression and surface to individuals as early at age 2-3. “Though research does not support the use of antidepressants in children this young,” early detection of depression is critical. The symptoms are very similar to that of adult depression.  The sadness has to persist at different times, different setting and with different people. It can be caused by the death of a family member, divorce, bullying, parental abuse, genetics, or sometimes have no apparent cause.  One key aspect that makes childhood depression different is that children continue to play; however most of the time, the child would be apathetic and usually isolates him/herself. Often the child experiences temper outburst that overshadow the depressive symptoms. According to Luby’s study, 40% of the children she studied also were reported that have A.D.D or O.D.D.  Because the DSM-IV does not specify depression in preschoolers, the research organization Zero to Three, published their own manual, the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood, in 2005 so psychiatrists and parents can better diagnose children.

It seems a bit scary to think that young children can potentially be diagnosed with a serious psychological disorder of depression. Many people might believe that only kids that experience severe abuse, neglect of psychosocial deprivation would have depression, however most cases the depressed child are in a nurturing, and caring family.  A test that Luby performed with her team performed called the Berkeley Puppet Interview, “which was developed to help children articulate how they perceive themselves and process their emotions.” When the puppet asked the children about his parents and if he was bad, the boy responded with insecure and low self-esteem answers. He shows a sense of guilt and shame that can possible mark a depressive symptom. Further studies at Duke University by Helen Egger suggest that 1-3 percent of children between 2 and 5 have depression.

New York Times article, “Can Preschoolers Be Depressed?”