By: Banae Vickers
If I can take the time to think about
What I've learned in this course.
Then I can say children have many identities,
And what they are around is the source.
As a child grows and develops,
And learns new things day to day,
Their little lives are impacted
In so many different ways.
They're not only learning how to speak,
How to write and how to play in drama;
But their lives are impacted by biases, discomforts
And different types of trauma.
The can grow up hating themselves
Or people who don't look like them.
They can grow up abused and misused.
Our young ones...our precious gems!
We need to be there for our children.
We need to be careful in what we let them see.
We need to be careful in the words we choose.
Because it affects who they'll grow to be.
We need to let them know; in terms of disabilities, class, race
And through the tears that have dried,
No matter what they have been through
They can pull through with great deals of pride.
We are the ones they look up to!
We are the ones responsible for their every being!
So we as adults need to wake up and pay attention!
We need to know what we are doing and start seeing!
- One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that we one day we can all be on one accord.
- One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to bring these understandings to people on the outside of this field so that everyone will be aware not just early childhood providers.
- I want to thank all of my colleagues for their continued support in this class. It was hard at times but your words of encouragement has help tremendously!
