So I'm not going to lie...this class is kind of depressing. It is really not pleasant to see all of the issues that students have to go through. However, I certainly see the relevancy of this class. Some of these issues are so foreign to me. I have not had to grow up with this reality. That is the main reason why this class will be so helpful. I know that learning about it here certainly will not prepare us for dealing with these sort of things in the future, however getting this introduction now will help to take away some of the shock factor when we do face these issues at teachers.
The most striking issue that we have discussed (at least for me) has been child abuse. It is difficult for me to even imagine how parents can do such awful things to their children. I have always been led to believe that when people have children there is some sort of parenting instinct that kicks in and parents are able to love and care for their children as they should. However, as we have seen, parents do not always do this. It is truly sad when this is the case. This is why we must care for our students in as much as we have the capacity to do this. Unfortunately parents cannot be replaced, so we must do the best we can to give these students every opportunity to succeed.
Another topic that I was struck by was bullying, namely the correlation between suicide and bullying. I guess I have never really stopped to consider how fragile of a time that adolescence is. Many of the students are trying to find their identity and it is clouded so much by negative comments made by others that they are unable to see their worth. I once read a book which defined leadership as communicating another person's worth and potential so clearly that they begin to see it in themselves. I believe that this is our duty as educators. We must see our students worth and potential and communicate it to them so clearly that they are able to move past the pettyness of bullies and truly begin to see themselves for what they truly are.
ED460 Personal and Social Well Being is a course taken by college students in education during their student teaching semester. Topics covered include: poverty, child abuse, bullying, drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, counselors' role in school, adolescents and choices, and the use of technology.
I totally agree with about child abuse being a striking issue. It is hard to believe that parents could be so mean to their children. Your statement about parent instincts coming into play. To most of us parenting may seem difficult at times, but it never crosses our mind to physically, mentally, or emotionally hurt our children. One comment from Mr. Rueb that I really liked and believe it goes along with what you are saying is that parenting is the one thing that people don;t have contracts for. My question is why not? Parenting should only be allowed to those who are truly ready and are able to handle it.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that as teachers we need to do our best to help our students succeed. We need to be the people that help them see that their futures are bright.