Assessments

As an educator, I get to see the pressure and long term effects of assessing students. I am totally against the way we test in the US. Here in Mississippi  our students  test 3 times a year on computers to show academic growth. Some children aren't good test takers,  develop test anxiety,  or can be having  a bad day. There needs to be a whole child assessment by using observations of behavior, social and emotional, and academics. 

In other countries like China children are trained for years to take an entrance exam to get in to Upper schools. Now this is pressure. It's similar to the 3rd grade  exit exam in MS. 

Students need to  be evaluated and assessed, but not that often . Children are developing test anxiety before 3rd grade and this can be an ongoing problem in their life. 

Violence: America......Africa

          Violence was a stressor for me as a child. It wasn't violence in my home, but it was a lot in my neighborhood. I grew up in an area known as a "ghetto" or the "projects". The people in my neighborhood were poor, on drugs, or living check to check trying to make it out of the ghetto. My parents did not allow us outside after a certain time, we could not go to certain areas, and we were told to stay away from certain people. There were shootings, robberies, and fights weekly. Don't get me wrong it was not like a war zone, but it wasn't the safest place or ideal place to raise a family. Walking home from school one afternoon, my siblings and I saw a man beat another man until he was unconscious. This traumatized my siblings and I. I remember feeling sad, scared, shocked, and helpless. My parents talked to us about violence, reassured us that we would be okay, and made sure we stuck together. For about two weeks, I felt a little anxiety after getting off the bus. My parents got worried and talked to a school counselor about options. The counselor pulled my siblings and I for 20 minutes everyday for 1 month and we talked and I remember her teaching us how to breathe  when we feel stressed. She also said to find a way to calm down and relax for a few minutes after school. My siblings and I began to read and play games at the same time every day and this was our way of coping and staying close. 

         Coping with stress differs because of culture, age development, and many more factors. Coping with violence stress in South Africa will be my focus. South African children are no strangers to stress. They have to deal with stressors such as health, hunger, war, violence, poverty, and even sexual violence. After researching, I found that the children in south Africa cope the same way we do here in America. They go to adults for comfort and help. School counselors or parents help children cope by helping them to feel safe and calm. The difference is in America, counselors are more available and accessible than in South Africa.  

       When children are exposed to violence it has a psychological, biological, and emotional effect on them. If parents are around to intervene this can be the first step to coping with violence.