Discussions of Chapter 8: "Students and Their Families"
Kishon
SS203Spring2019Chapter8StudentsandTheirFamilies.pptxChapter 8
Students and Their Families
Angela Drake
Onika Grant
Tamea Mobley
April 10, 2019
Today’s Families
Families in the United States have changed dramatically since the 1950s when the norm was a working father and a mother at home with two or more school -aged children.
Today families include mothers working while fathers stay at home with the children, single-parent families, families with two parents working, childless marriages, families with adopted children, gay and lesbian parents, extended families, grandparents raising children.
As a teacher, you should monitor your interactions with students and their families to avoid labeling a child as dysfunctional because he or she lives in a family structure different from your own.
Too often, teachers develop a self-fulfilling prophecy about students in nontraditional families not being able to achieve academically.
It will be important to listen to the families of your students and not judge them because they do not meet your ideal of a family.
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Parenting
Most parents want what’s best for their children, but there is no simple guidebook for steering children through the complex terrain they will have to navigate as they grow up.
Parents and caretakers are critical in setting the stage for the future learning during the early years before children begin school.
To increase students’ chances of making it safely through childhood and adolescence, teachers and parents need to work together, setting high standards and helping young people meet them.
Economic Stress
Many families suffer from economic stress due to the lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, and low wages and that stress can result in homelessness.
Individuals and families with low incomes often temporarily lose the ability to pay the rent or maintain mortgages.
Many families are just a paycheck, illness or emergency away from being homeless.
In the United States 2.5 million children, or one in thirty are homeless at some time during the year.
Homeless children lack regular medical and dental services and can cause treatable problems to interfere with their ability to concentrate in classrooms and focus effectively on academic lessons.
Economic Stress cont...
Unaccompanied young people are most often homeless because they have been released from foster care or some other institutional setting or have run away from home due to family abuse, conflict, or other reasons.
Homeless youth are disproportionately lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) who experience higher rates of assault, mental health problems, and unsafe sexual behaviors than heterosexual youth.
Homeless teenagers who are not with their families find it very challenging to attend school on a regular basis.
Homeless students in general do not typically fare as well as their classmates in life or in schools. They are more likely than their classmates to have experienced trauma such as domestic, and other violence that can lead to anxiety and depression or feelings of helplessness, powerlessness, and even terror.
However some students are resilient and are able to overcome and succeed in school against all odds.
Federal Programs for Students from Low-Income Families
Federal legislation in the 1960s provided an influx of financial support to schools to support students form low income families with the goal of making up for some of the educational disadvantages with which many of them entered school.
The programs are available for low income students at all levels of the educational system.
Free or reduced price lunch is the National School Lunch Program that provides school lunches to students who live in families with an annual income of 185 percent of the federal poverty level.
Title I is known as the cornerstone of the programs for students from low income families. It was passed by Congress in 1965 and it provides financial assistance to schools with large numbers of low-income students to help students meet state standards.
Head start is a federal funded program designed to serve three to five year old children from low income families by addressing the needs of the whole child. It is designed to close the academic gap between them and more advantaged students before kindergarten.
Children Left Alone After School
Most single parents work outside the home, and many two parent families, both parents work. Unless the parent has arrangements with their jobs to leave work to be with their children the result of it is the children end up being left at home or in the care of others.
Students that are in the care of others are in after school programs, extracurricular activities (sports, arts, clubs, etc.), or attend center based programs. Most of the time some of those things cost and many parents can’t afford it causing the children to stay home alone and fending for themselves.
Children who are responsible for themselves are prone to more accidents and injuries. They also are at risk of behavior problems, lower social competence, and poorer academic performance.
Educators should be sensitive to the realities faced by children left alone after school.
Child Abuse
Most children have been yelled at by family members and even spanked by some.
However, some family can really harm children.
Approximately 3.9 million referrals of child abuse were reported to Child Protective Services in 2014.
702,000 were identified as children who suffered from physical and sexual abuse.
3 in 4 children suffer from neglect, which means the child is not being provided with his/her basic needs by parents, caretakers, or relatives.
As many as 1 in 4 children experience some type of abuse (physical, neglect, sexual, psychological, other) before the age of 18.
Under the age of 6, boys are more likely to be the victims of abuse.
Girls over the age of 6 are more likely to be victims of abuse.
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Child Abuse continued.
The youngest children are the most vulnerable for abuse.
Many children under the age of 1 suffer from abuse more than any other age group according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
High school girls are twice as likely as boys to be sexually abused. Abusers are usually family members, intimate partners, friends, or acquaintances.
Children and young people who are abused or neglected may arrive to school hungry, bruised, and/or depressed.
Child Abuse continued.
They may arrive to school early and have little desire to leave the safety of the school.
These students need teachers who are caring, have high expectations of them, and provide hope for the future.
Bruises, burns, broken bones, depression, withdrawal, extreme thinness, and nervousness that appear more often than normal may be signs of abuse.
Teachers should not investigate these cases, instead they should report them.
To help with abuse, get parents into session that help with their parenting skills.
These sessions will teach them how to interact positively with their children,
Sexual Harassment in Schools
Nearly half of the middle school and high school students in a national survey indicated that they had been sexually harassed at school.
The harassment of both boys and girls occurs electronically through text, email, or social networking as well as in person in the hallways, classrooms and cafeterias of schools.
The most common harassment that occurs is verbal abuse, which includes unwanted comments, jokes, or gestures.
There are no significant differences in sexual harassment victims based on race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.
Sexual Harassment in Schools continued.
Low income students report being touched in unwelcomed ways more than their affluent peers.
Sexual harassment is experienced less often via cyber harassment than in person.
1 in 5 students receive unwanted sexual comments or photos in a text message, email, or post of social media sites.
Rumors can spread through these sources that can embarrass students.
Harassment can affect students in different ways.
Students can switch schools, have trouble sleeping, quit sports, or do not want to go to school.
The most productive way students feel like this harassment can be handled is to report incidents anonymously.
Bullying in Schools
22% of students between the ages of 12 and 18 reported being bullied at school in the 2012-2013 school year.
Primary schools report the largest number of bullying.
Younger students may report a bully as someone pushing them in line, forcing them to do their homework, or giving them their money.
Factors associated with bullies are violent or disruptive behavior, a history of harsh parenting by caregivers, and attitudes of accepting violence.
Bullying in Schools continued.
Bullying occurs electronically through the Internet via cell phones, chat rooms, emails, and instant messaging.
This type of bullying will grow as young people engage in new technologies.
Bullying can be prevented by working with students and parents,
States and schools are developing safe school laws and policies to promote changing behaviors of bullies.
This includes reporting and investigating incidents involving bullies.
Schools who do not intervene to stop harassment and bullying are being sued.
TOP 4 THINGS TEENS ARE PRESSURED INTO DOING...
USING DRUGS, ALCOHOL & TOBACCO
STEALING
BULLYING
SEXUAL ACTIVITY
CHALLENGES OF THE TEEN YEARS
-Of course, young people face numerous challenges as they mature to adulthood this is one reason why it is imperative to have adult guidance or a mentor in their lives
-Young people face many difficulties such as increased pressures to grow up quickly, peer pressure and the media provide conflicting messages that contribute to the difficulty of this period
-During this period, teenagers are trying to figure out WHO they are and HOW they fit into their families, neighborhoods, schools and of course the world,
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SEXUALITY AND PREGNANCY
The defining of our sexuality- our nature as sexual beings- generally begins in the early teens and continues throughout life.
It includes recognizing our sexual identity as heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something else.
The start of sexual activity is when teenagers associate sex with freedom and sophistication of adulthood, this comes from mixed messages they receive from parents, teenage friends, religious doctrines, the media and older friends.
Teenage sex is not as prevalent as some believe.
The percentage of high school students who have ever had sexual intercourse has decreased during the past twenty-five years from more than 50% to 43% (CDC, 2015) with males being more sexually active than females.
Approximately, one in three high schoolers is sexually active.
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SEXUALITY AND PREGNANCY continued.
One of the results of early sexual activity is teenage pregnancy.
Although the number of teenage pregnancies and births has been declining, the rate of the United States remains one of the highest among industrialized nations. (2015)
Overall, teenagers are becoming more responsible about their sexual activity and are using contraception to reduce the risk of pregnancy and the transmission of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
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SUBSTANCE ABUSE
The most puzzling question with many teenagers struggle is whether to experiment with cigarettes, alcohol or drugs.
Teens use drugs for different reasons.
Sometimes biological tendencies or psychological problems trigger drug use.
In other cases, social pressures, family problems, family problems, or self hate lead young people to test drugs.
The abuse of drugs can lead to chemical dependency.
CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY- THE HABITUAL USE, FOR EITHER PSYCHOLOGICAL OR PHYSICAL NEEDS, OF A SUBSTANCE SUCH AS DRUGS, ALCOHOL, OR TOBACCO.
ECONOMIC REALITIES
Some young people may be worried and somewhat pessimistic about their economic conditions.
However, they continue to seek out postsecondary education to improve their job and career opportunities.
66% of high school graduates go to college soon after, although (African American 57%, and Hispanic (66%), students enroll soon after high school at lower rates than (Whites 67% and Asian American 81%).
Differences also exist in the immediate enrollment in college by a family's socioeconomic status: 49% of low income students go immediately after high school as compared to 64% of middle income and 80% of high income students.
ECONOMIC REALITIES CONTINUED.
...After school jobs can be beneficial to many students as they learn to manage their time. Develop good work habits, and develop responsibility as they earn extra money for themselves and/or their families.
Young people from economically disadvantaged families who work during school are less likely to dropout of school than their non working peers (CTD 2015).
EQUITY IN SCHOOLS
A democratic society is built on the principles of social equality and respect for individuals within society.
However, many persons of color: limited English speakers: women: persons with disabilities: people with low incomes: people affiliated with religions other than Christianity: and LGBTQs do not experience the equality of that other members of society enjoy.
Power relationships among groups influence young people’s perceptions of themselves and the members of other groups.
Schools are one example of institutions in which power relationships exist.
Power allows access to societal benefits such as good housing, tax deductions, the best schools, and social services.
An equitable sharing of resources for schools would guarantee that all students, regardless of family income or ethnic background, would have qualified teachers, sufficient books & etc
Unfortunately , such equality does not exist in all of our communities.
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PREJUDICE
One of the struggles of youth is the construction of self, including identification and affiliation with one’s genders and a racial or ethnic group.
This process appears to be tied to identifying “otherness”, which involves assigning characteristics and behaviors to members of other groups to distinguish oneself from them.
Prejudice is a preconceived negative attitude toward members of specific ethnic, racial, religious or socioeconomic groups.
This prejudice sometimes extends to people with disabilities or people with different sexual orientation or gender.
Such negative attitudes are based on numerous factors, including information about members of a specific group that is stereotypical.
These attitudes are often passed on to children through the socialization process.
THE IMPACT OF DISCRIMINATION
Discrimination is different from prejudice in that it is more than an attitude against the member of a specific group.
It is a process that prevents members of a specific group from participating equally in society.
Most students of color, females, low income students, students with disabilities, and students who are gay have experienced discrimination.
Zero tolerance policies are beginning to be abandoned by school districts to allow educators ro make professional judgements based on the circumstances of an incident.
RACISM
An assumption of superiority is at the center of racism.
It is intertwined with the lived experiences of people and evokes emotions of anger, gulit, shame, and despair.
Most students have learned that the United States is a just and democratic society.
They find it difficult to confront the societal contradictions that support racism.
Engagement in School
A challenge that students face is staying engaged in academic work at school. Some students do not see the value of finishing their education.
Sometimes students are not meeting the minimal standards determined by standardized tests. This may cause their grades to fall.
Some believe they can learn lessons for survival more effectively outside of school.
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Leaving School Early
4 in 5 students graduate high school with a regular diploma.
In large urban areas, only half of the black, Native American, and Hispanic students complete high school which places them at a greater risk of not earning a sustainable wage or being hired as adults.
School that have less than a 60% graduating rate after attending high school for 4 years are called “dropout factories”.
High school graduation rates are improving but continue to vary across ethnic and racial groups.
Black and Native American students have the lowest graduation rates with Hispanics not far behind.
Leaving School Early continued.
The 9th grade is a critical year in which students decide to leave school.
Middle school and early high school are key times to engage students in their education.
Making a curriculum relative to students’ lives will help with engagement.
Students need to be engaged in what they are learning, not simply listening to a lecture.
To prevent dropping out, over 30 states have raised the compulsory attendance age to 18.
Leaving School Early continued.
Students from low income families dropout of high school at higher rates than students from middle and high income families.
A higher percentage of females finish school than males.
Only 57% of students with disabilities finish high school.
71% of college graduates are earning nearly double the income of high school graduates who did not attend college.
Resiliency
Many young people have the resiliency to overcome terrible childhood and adolescence experiences.
They go on to become successful workers, professionals, and community leaders.
Challenges, along with growing up in poverty, can put children at risk for developmental delays, behavior problems, and poor academic performance.
Even with these challenges, students perform well.
Family members who are involved with their children, provide caring environments, help with homework, and attend to grades help students become resilient.
Resilient students usually have a positive relationship with students.
Regardless of their challenges, these students are usually social, optimistic, energetic, cooperative, inquisitive, attentive, and on task.
Resiliency Continued.
One of the challenges for parents, caretakers, educators, and youth workers is to encourage young people to make sound choices among the unlimited possibilities while avoiding excessive interference.
Teens today are known as the “teenage mothers, gang members, abusers, and troublemakers”.
Potent influences are the circumstances in which teenage3rs live, which may include drugs, violence, and the lack of adult support.
Parent Involvement
School achievement is improved when educators and families work together to support the academic and social growth of children.
The National Parent Teacher Association reports that research has identified advantages of teachers, schools, families and communities working together and those are improvement of student achievement, better school attendance, and lower dropout rates.
Regular and consistent communication with families has long been considered vital to the success of students.
In the past teachers solely relied on mail, phone and students passing along notes with families. Today’s technology advances allows the communication to be right at the tip of our fingers. Those other tools are still available to be utilized but are not used as commonly.
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Engaging Families
Families with socioeconomic and racial backgrounds similar to those of the teachers have more successful interactions with educators.
When families volunteer to assist teachers and support school activities the teachers view these parents as supportive, caring families who monitor the academic progress of the children.
Parents are more likely to be engaged in schools when they think the teachers and school officials know the community and are involved.
Teachers have expectations of parents and they should assist them in improving their children’s learning. Teachers hold parents responsible for ensuring that their children get sufficient rest and nutritious meals.
Parents are more engaged in schools than in the past. Overall 4 in 5 parents rate their child’s teacher as successful in engaging them in their child’s education.
However, parents of high school students, low income parents, and parents in rural areas don’t rate their teachers as highly.
Engaging Families cont..
Effectively engaging families in the school has to be a two-way exchange. Parents could volunteer to work in a classroom, help with a school event or assist in fundraising. The school in turn could support families by offering after-school programs, ESL programs for parents, summer programs and resources for helping their children learn at home.
Teacher and parents are more optimistic about the improvement of the student’s achievement and the student learning.
Thank you!
