Final thoughts

Influences of Family Culture and Society course challenged how I view people who do not share the same cultural background, sexual orientation, religion or social class as myself.  The course challenged me to examine microaggressions that I have committed towards others who do not belong to the dominant group in American society and look at the intolerance through another person's perspective. Marsha Hawley recalled how classmates would say, "Watch out for her, the yellow peril. Watch out for her. She can't be trusted. Or, she's cheap. She's made in Japan" (Laureate Education, 2013).  Her mother told her to ignore these comments and her father told her to be proud that she is Japanese.  In reality, she had no avenue to explore her feelings.  As I viewed her story throughout the course, I realized that she used childhood adversity to guide her passion and to form her career choice. 

One of the most influential course readings was When the Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Fadiman. This book exemplified how the lack of communication, cultural awareness, and cultural sensitivity transformed the life of a child, Lia Lee.  Lia had epilepsy.  In the Hmong culture, epileptics were fitted for divine office and often become shamans. The seizures gave them powers to perceive things other people could not see and facilitate trances (Fadiman, 2012). While in Western society, the seizures were caused by misfirings in the brain and needed to be controlled by anticonvulsant medicine. When the parents could not follow the complicated daily medicine routine, Social Services removed Lia from the home.  However, if the doctors and the parents spoke a common language and understood each others culture and beliefs, the child may never have been removed. If the doctors had realized that the Lees desired the best for Lia rather than surmising that they were deliberately disobeying doctors’ orders, Lia may have never been placed in foster care. The parents could have explained how the medicines were effecting their daughter, and the doctors could have altered her treatment. After reading the book, I reflected on how as Americans many times we think that our way is the best way, so we do not take the time to understand other ways.  If the American doctors had taken the time to communicate with the Lees and to understand their beliefs, Lia's life would have been different. 

Click on this link:  It shows the influence adults have on children's lives.    
As I reflected on the video clip and the course material, I realize that we do not understand the influence that we have on children. Our words and our actions help mold children.  For example, one mother recounted an event where one of the neighborhood children came after her oldest son with a knife because her husband had been deployed. She concluded that the kid was insinuating that her husband was personally responsible for the war and that he should not be in the war (Mmari, Roche, Sudhinarest, and Blum, 2009). Most likely, an adult influenced his attitude towards the war either through social media, news outlets, or a parent. The child's action could have been catastrophic. As an early childhood professional, I need to be cognizant of not only the words I say but also my actions.  I need to teach love and respect, but I also need to show these characteristics in my actions towards everyone I come in contact.  

References

           Fadiman, A. (2012). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors and the collision of two cultures. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
  Laureate Education (Producer). (2013). Biases and microaggressions passed on through generations [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu 
 Mmari, K., Roche, K., Sudhinaraset, M., & Blum, R. (2009).  When a parent goes off to war: exploring the issues faced by adolescents and their families.  Youth Society 40(4), 455-475.