As I reflect on the multimedia presentation from this week and think of the 'current state of early childhood' my thought is people in the United States currently believe if they have no children or their children are grown, early childhood is not of importance to them. What I feel a lot of people do not realize is the importance of a person's life from birth to age 8. A child's future educational career, place in society, choice of job, etc. can all be impacted one way or another based on their early childhood. Therefore, as an advocate I need to work with other advocates, or on my own if I must, to raise awareness of how early childhood now will impact our society later.
If awareness can be raised and more people see the impact of the difference early childhood makes, more stakeholders will support early childhood, laws will change, and lives will be enriched.
Heidi,
ReplyDeleteHave you watched the YouTube Video "Day without Child Care"? When I read you sentence if they have no children or their children are grown then early childhood is not important to them. The video clip overdramatizes the importance of early childhood on the local community. I am including the link to the YouTube video for you to watch. It is a great advocacy tool. It was developed for a specific local community as an advocacy tool, but it is great for any early childhood professional to use in getting the idea across that early childhood is important. This would be a great public awareness campaign. I think if more people understood the early childhood system and its value then public opinion would increase and then funding would come our way.
Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGpEXKgU20A
Enjoy the video!
Jill
Hey Heidi,
ReplyDeleteI agree that many people without children do not see the necessity for early childhood education. Sadly, it has been my experience that people do not want to pay for or be inconvenienced by things that do not directly affect them. I have also seen plenty of parents of young children who do not understand the importance of healthy early development and education. Many parents are not equipped to take care of themselves, let alone a child. We have a lot of work to do to get our children the care that they need.