#elemenary school

[slappappy]

A little chunk of my elementary school. Weird that I stood in these exact spots before. I was among the first few classes to go to school at its opening so everything felt so new and fancy at the time lol ;~)

[newwavefeminism]

Bias Isn't Just A Police Problem, It's A Preschool Problem

A new study by researchers at Yale found that pre-K teachers, white and black alike, spend more time watching black boys, expecting trouble.

A fascinating study that all involved in or interested in education should read. Required reading for educators, seriously. When observing a mix raced (black and white) classroom and told to look for mis-behavior, this study tracked which students teachers focused on.

A some of the article’s review of the findings are:

"What we found was exactly what we expected based on the rates at which children are expelled from preschool programs," Gilliam says. "Teachers looked more at the black children than the white children, and they looked specifically more at the African-American boy."

Indeed, according to recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, black children are 3.6 times more likely to be suspended from preschool than white children. Put another way, black children account for roughly 19 percent of all preschoolers, but nearly half of preschoolers who get suspended.

One reason that number is so high, Gilliam suggests, is that teachers spend more time focused on their black students, expecting bad behavior. "If you look for something in one place, that's the only place you can typically find it."

The Yale team also asked subjects to identify the child they felt required the most attention. Forty-two percent identified the black boy, 34 percent identified the white boy, while 13 percent and 10 percent identified the white and black girls respectively.

Not only does this confirm what we already know - that black children are view through this dangerous perception of inherent criminality - but it also expands on other important implications. Along with this nefarious over-focus on black children as sources of mis-behavior, the needs of girls, and especially black girls, are largely ignored. 

In my last year in elementary school, 2 young black girls stick out because they tended to exhibit a lot of attention seeking behaviors. Seeing that they were upper elementary students, this article makes me now wonder if years of being ignored in an elementary setting caused them to internalize that the only way they can receive attention, care and the support they need is through extreme actions.

[yandere-magica]

Looking through old pictures from Elementary school, I come across a picture of the infamous Squishy, my 5th through 9th grade nemesis. He was the root of all evil and we sang songs of his evilness as we rode into battle each morning. What the hell was he doing on my mom's computer, Lord Starcatcher will never know, but it unsettles me that our computers have been infected with Squishyitis for so long. No amount of purging can save us now so why even bother.