Sunday, June 2, 2013

My Own Capacity 6/2/2013

There are many issues impacting young children and their families that spark my passion.  One in particular is the rate of poverty that many children live in.  I never realized that poverty was such a wide epidemic affecting so many.  I teach in a middle school in North Philadelphia.  Many of the students come from poverty ridden families.  I have seen first hand the ramifications that can occur when the development cycle is skewed from natural course.  The last couple weeks have furthered my understanding of the barriers and inequities that are currently preventing many children from attending programs.  Effective advocacy and advocates are an essential part of ratifying the policies that continue to allow so many children to live in poverty.  
I chose the specialization of public policy and advocacy because I believe that it is important for everyone to have a voice.  In order to have a voice you have to be informed as to what you are entitled to.  Many times during the day I wonder what many of these students would be like if they had attended an effective pre-school program.  Effective early childhood development is a paramount component in the intracle cycle of overall growth.  I hope to be able to better educate both the family and communities on the rights and accommodations  that every child deserve.  Advocating for the rights of children is imperative because so many children just past by their early years unrepresented. 
I hope to be able to further my knowledge on public policy and in turn use this knowledge to be the most effective advocate. 


    2 comments:

    1. Elise,
      I am happy to learn that there are others seeking to learn about the ways we can work to bring voice to the needs of young children and families. I think there are many early childhood professionals that want policies and practices to change, yet they lack the knowledge on how to make it happen or may feel dettered to try because they do not understand how the policy began in the first place. Gaining these skills and knowledge will certainly help us all to become partners in bringing out the voices of others in the early childhood field.

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    2. Poverty is an issue that many of us know personally or who know someone who has faced it. That is something I am passionate about as well because I grew up in poverty, although I did not know it at the time.

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