Directions: Write your context paragraph, which should give some background about your topic for the benefit of your audience. Think about how you want your audience to come into this conversation (what are some pieces of the conversation that you needed or wanted to know before you began to think, feel and believe what you do about your topic?), and use your sources to illuminate the conversation for your audience.
Initial post due before class on Monday, March 10th.
In the early to mid-1900s, when there was any kind of deliberate separation, the word used to describe it was segregation. America has evolved, for the most part, into getting away from that term nowadays. However, having schools or even just classes that are only girls or only boys has sparked the term segregation to life again. The question is though, is it really segregation or just a better way to learn? There have been studies performed to find out if there is scientific proof that boys and girls learn differently, and therefore, should be taught separately. The thinking behind the separation is that of needing to teach each gender differently if they are learning the material differently as well. If there is a way to more effectively teach children, then it should be happening. An interview with writer Karen Houpper introduced some of said studies’ findings. She visited a school where only the classes were segregated and found, “[o]ne of the things that they do differently in the classroom is the boys are allowed to roam around more and to actually stand up when they do their work. They don't have to sit in their seat. And the thinking behind that is that boys are more active and they see better from a greater height” (Houpper). If some schools are already accepting the difference in learning styles with boys and girls and have begun implementing it into their classrooms, then the rest of the country should start paying attention to the “why”.
ReplyDeleteThe sexualization of children, especially girls, is not a new problem but it is one that parents cannot continue to ignore. "Journalists, child advocacy organizations, parents, and psychologists have argued that the sexualization of girls is a broad and increasing problem and is harmful to girls. The APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls was formed in response to these expressions of public concern." With the report that the APA Task Force released, attention was drawn to specific items that sexualize girls including media, toys and clothing. Since most children do not have control of their own money, parents are responsible for purchasing items that come into the home. Being aware of what is being marketed to our children and being aware of the damage that sexualization can impose on young girls is a great way for parents to take control of the childhood being sold to their daughters.
ReplyDeleteAmerica is thought of being the land of opportunity. With hard work anyone can achieve their dreams in a land where people live the American dream, whatever that dream may be. In truth, we live in a land where many times the poor stay poor. Today, the way out of poverty is through an education. Unfortunately, achieving an education can be the biggest challenge many impoverished children face. Children born into poverty are at a disadvantage from the beginning of their lives. With lack of nutrition, cognitive stimulation at home, and inadequate schooling, plaguing our poor children (Hanson, Hair, Shen, Shi, Gilmore, Wolfe, and Pollak ), how can we expect them to succeed? These impoverished children face difficulties that their wealthier counterparts do not. They live under constant stress. Many live in hostile environments (Engle and Black 246). Too many of these children are raised with mental and/or physical abuse. Their challenges are many. Yet they are expected to survive and succeed.
ReplyDeleteFor generations, education in the United States has been as effective as the buildings hundreds of students go to school at everyday. That is to say, rigid and unyielding. More and more we are seeing the cracks in this aging infrastructure. Children are being cursed with educational disorders, as more and more schools simply shrug off these students and fall between the cracks. (Davidson 8-9) It is clear, the current education system needs to evolve to survive. The reality is that our questions to such educational woes have been answered, video games. In the modern age we have been witness to an explosion of technology and new ideas. No where is that more evident than in the modern gaming industry. Game developers have spent the last twenty plus years learning how to teach their audience how to play games. As games have grown as a medium so have their complexity, concepts that could fill textbooks in a school setting have to be taught on the fly. In fact there are things that video games simply teach better than our brick and motor schools (Gee 34). We just need to learn how to incorporate the tools of game design into education for the evolution to begin.
ReplyDeleteIn popular culture thre are many different aspects of African American women that have been altered based off of stereotypes and misjudgements. Black women are portrayed as the not always true realities of being the baby mommas, angry black woman, homewreckers, uneducated, single mothers or sexual objects. This depiction statred back as early as the 1980's when "Mammy" or otherwise know as a black woman, with large lips and poor grammer who took care of her slaveowners children. In the media she was harshly depicted and for years after African American women havent had a fair chance yet. For example the hit series Scandal is an example of the way black women are allowed to be; scandalous, homewreckers, but deep down inside there is a beauty and passion behind every black woman. There have been very few roles that black women have been represented as a strong vice in the sicial media world. The portrayal of african american women in media can be based off of stereotypes and misinterpretations creating unfair variations of black women leaving behind prejudices and unheard voices.
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