Blog – Reading #5

Blog – Reading #5

This week the blog is on Christensen – Unlearning the myths that blind us.  It mainly has to do with cartoons in our society and the “subliminal” messages within them.  She does state some people may look way to much into decoding these cartoons, etc.  I believe these cartoons are here for entertainment, they are to amuse us and pass the time.  Sure there are hidden messages and meanings within them but it’s up to you the viewer to make of it what you want.  If you find it entertaining then continue to watch it and support the advertisers that pay to put the cartoon or show on every week.  On the other hand, if you have a problem with the messages and appearance of character’s and how they are depicted then change the channel and watch something else.  Leave Cinderella and Barbie alone, let the Ninja Turtles eat pizza and entertain young kids and if you don’t like what you see then change the channel, shut the tv off or read a book!  These people who provide all of this controversy by creating there fairy tales and cartoons must be doing something write because they are making loads and loads of money.  Just like everything else now a days people want to break down everything until its totally neutral in society and doesn't hurt anyone’s feelings by being a blonde, skinny, white princess.  I didn't see Christensen critique the Fat Albert show, that was a great cartoon, very funny.  Should Fat Albert have been skinny and white instead of Fat and black?  Maybe there was more to the Pink Panther than we knew about because male panthers should not be colored pink.

Blog - Reading #4

Blog – Reading #4

  The authors this week are Allan et al, Speaking the unspeakable in forbidden places.  I will blog using extended comments on Kevin’s blog as the center of my own.  The reading was very interesting and I found Kevin’s blog interesting as well.  I agree with him when he wrote that “everyone needs to be treated as who they are” and his comment, “It is easier to hide compared to something such as race”.  Kevin stated that, it must be very stressful for a person to hide their real identity.  That may be true or not, we don’t have that answer only the person who is in that situation has that answer.  We can speculate and guess but we don’t know unless they tell us.  I agree when he said people these days are now more open to their sexuality and I have seen many “alliances” and “clubs” around, I have a good friend who was a leader in one of these clubs in college.  I disagree with Kevin when he said these types of issues should be brought up more in elementary schools.  Elementary school is not the place for adults to push their beliefs on other people’s children, it’s a place where kids go to learn the ABC’s.  These kids are much too young for these very serious issues.  There are reasons why parents may want to “shelter” their kids from what “you” may think is the right hing to do or say.

  It’s much easier for someone to say these issues should be talked about in elementary school when you’re not a parent of a child or should I say when you’re not a parent of a “boy, girl, both, neither or purple penguin”.

  Confused?  Do you think a 6 year old is confused when their public school teacher tells them they are no longer a "boy" or a "girl" instead they are now each known as a "him, her, both, neither or purple penguin"?  Do you believe public schools have the right to teach its elementary students to avoid using the word "normal" to define any and all type of  human behavior.  Should our schools teach our kids the words "Ladies and Gentlemen" are bad words... well that's exactly what they do. All of this and much more is being taught to our kids today, click here for the news article.  To read what the Nebraska public school district told its teachers to teach click on the handout.

YOU ARE NOT A "GIRL"

YOU ARE NOT A "BOY"REMEMBER KIDS "STUDENT"

DO NOT USE THE WORDS

"Ladies and Gentlemen"

THE CORRECT WORDS TO USE ARE

"Both and Neither"

OR

"Campers and Purple Penguins"

Blog – Reading #3

Blog – Reading #3

    The author this week is Terry Meier and the article is called “Why can’t she remember that”?  I will be reflecting on the article.

    The article gives some ideas and examples to help teachers engage children in reading storybooks.  The article links the use of cultural language by adults, friends, siblings, etc. with the educating/learning of these children.  The link between hearing more of this “cultural language” amongst African-American children seems to lead to them talking four times more and engaging more than the European American non “cultural linguistic” children.  It’s written that by the age of three these cultural language kids have mastered all of the sounds and most of the grammatical writing for their culture.  I don’t know if I agree with that statement.  The article goes on to tell us how children use language to their advantage, even at such young ages.  There is the example on page 243 of the young girl that dropped the rice cake in the car with her mom and the young boy who created the railroad poem after his mom told him she would “tie him to de railroad track”.  We read how these two culturally opposite kids used language to their benefit to get out of trouble.  I agree with these two examples, I have seen kids use words wisely to get out of certain situations.  Books are known to give children a sense of identity in the world, I can see how this may be true in some cases but not all.  The article tells us about the “non-white” children having trouble identifying with storybooks because they can’t relate to the “white” characters and cultures in the books.  I don’t totally agree with that because kids have great imaginations and I believe no matter who the characters are in a book, the kids can imagine themselves being there.  I will say it’s easier for children to relate to books these days as everything is more “cultural neutral” or inclusive of all cultures as opposed to when this article was written back in 2003 with quotes and ideas taken from as far back as the 1970’s.  The article gives great ideas in getting kids to interact with the storyteller and engage in real conversations with the books being read to them by the use of props and puppets.

    My overall opinion of the article is that it was written when our culture and the culture of others were treated differently.  Today, we live in a “cultural neutral” society trying to please and include everyone with their cultures and beliefs.  If this can’t be done we make the situation so generic that everyone and anyone can relate.  I will reflect on the statement” Why can’t she remember that?” in class.