Running head: NAEYC STANDARD 2A
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NAEYC Standard 2a
Mary Fowler
Ivy Tech Community College
NAEYC STANDARD 2A
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STANDARD 2 Building Families and Community Relationships
Candidates know about, understand, and value the importance and complex characteristics of
children’s families and communities. They use this understanding to create respectful, reciprocal
relationships that support and empower families, and to involve all families in their children’s
development and learning.
2a. Knowing about and understanding family and community characteristics
Rationale:
Developing a take-home learning packet for families, creating a childcare needs
assessment, and completing two case studies provided me the opportunities for developing my
knowledge about and understanding of family and community characteristics. For NAEYC
Standard 2a, I selected from among those assignments my Technology and the Family research
paper completed in ECED 204 during the fall of 2010. The paper addressed the growing issue in
the community locally and nationwide of increased use and dependence on technology and its
effect on the family structure.
In preparation for this paper, I researched the forms of technology that are available in
my community and beyond. I also took into consideration the ways in which that technology
could permeate family life.
With that in mind, I was able to thoroughly explore the influence each had on the other.
My paper demonstrates my knowledge and understanding of the characteristics of families and
the communities in which they live. Through completing this artifact, I am able to build
supportive and empowering relationships with the families I serve.
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Reflection:
Writing this paper helped me see beyond the four walls of the classroom and take into
consideration ways in which families are influences by the changing world around them. I also
saw that the classroom is a great place to demonstrate appropriate technology use which can
then be mirrored in the home. When used within limits, technology can be a great learning aid
as well as a means for connecting people socially.
Completing the research required for this paper has inspired me to keep current with
the issues families are faced with everyday as they live their lives outside school. I see the
benefits the classroom can have on modeling appropriate technology use and empowering
families.
Artifact:
Technology and the Family
Awake to the alarm on the cell phone. Next check to see if any texts were missed during
the night. After a quick trip to the bathroom, log onto Facebook and check for status updates.
Chat with a few friends. Head down to breakfast and send an important email on the
Blackberry. On the way to school the kids watch a DVD in the backseat. After work dinner
consists of a meal eaten in front of the TV. Finally the day concludes as the family breaks off
onto four different computers in four different rooms foregoing time spent together. Does this
sound familiar? As technology becomes increasingly important in our society the effects on the
family unit have equally increased (Berns, 2007). Communication and time spent together has
been altered. The idea of family time has been reinvented. Overall, the result of the influence
of technology on the family has produced both positive and negative effects.
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One negative effect technology has had on families has been the rise in over-scheduling.
Every member of the family from mom down to preschooler has the tendency to be overscheduled (LeFebvre, 2005). Children spend time doing homework, playing sports, attending
church activities, taking dance lesson… The list goes on and on. Parents are just as guilty of
working overtime or volunteering for various organizations. Technology helps families achieve
such hectic schedules by providing PDA’s and planners for preschoolers (Conner, 2007).
Multitasking has never been as easy as it is in the information age. Now families can
successfully (or unsuccessfully) over-schedule their time without any though to the harm they
may be causing.
These new schedules cause harm to the family because there is less time for interaction
and conversation. LeFebvre (2005) defines family conversations as “time for just talking, not
doing anything else.” This time that may have once been precious and ample has now
decreased greatly. When families miss out on this time they miss out on getting to know one
another on a deeper level.
One other negative effect technology has had on the family unit is its overuse. Laptops,
TVs, DVD players, cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, iPhones, MP3 players, and digital cameras,
among others, have all led to a generation absorbed with electronics (Conner, 2007). Children
can spend an afternoon playing video games, eat dinner while searching the internet, and fall
asleep watching a movie. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter have hindered social
interactions in the home.
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Also as children and parents spend more time using technology, they spend less time
outside. Picnics, walks, and days at the park are quickly becoming a thing of the past. LeFebvre
(2005) reported that a 16 year study done by the University of Michigan showed a 50 percent
decrease in unstructured outdoor activities for children 3-12. This outdoor time is useful for
further family interaction and physical fitness. With decreased activity comes the threat of
obesity. It only goes to prove the old saying true, “The family that plays together stays
together.”
However, up to now we really have been looking at the glass half empty. The negative
effects of technology cannot overshadow all of the positive effects. Advances in technology
have proven beneficial to families in the areas of “science, medicine, industry, agriculture,
transportation, communication, media, and electronics” (Berns, 2007). One example is the
advance in medical technology that is now able to better support families with a member who
has special needs. Another example could be agricultural advances that allow better, more
abundant crops to be grown. This directly affects families who buy the food at the market.
Because of this progress we now see a healthier family unit growing in society.
Outside of these major advances some, albeit smaller yet still significant, newer
technology has been developed in the field of social media and is affecting the family unit daily.
The early discussed evils of the overuse of sites such as Twitter and Facebook can be defending
here. While they do take time away from family interaction they can enable families to
communicate across long distances. Peggy Orenstein (2009) describes her experience with
Skype, an internet program that allows people to make video phone calls, in an article for the
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New York Times. Orenstein describes her attempt to communicate with her parents who live
across the country. While her experience was not as positive as some might expect, it still
makes a valid point that technology can serve to connect families.
To utilize technology or not, is that really the question? Thankfully families do not have
to make that choice. As with most outside influences for family time, regulation is the key. In
this case a little bit can go a long way. Families who rely too heavily on computers, cell phones,
TV, and video games are missing out on the great experience of getting to know one another.
An unlimited number of benefits come from a family who truly spends worthwhile time
together. At the same time, technology is something that we cannot live without. It permeates
our society from the trip to the bank to enrolling the kids in school. Families have benefited in
inestimable ways. Medical technology continues to better the lives of parents and children
making today’s families healthier and better cared for than a decade ago. Also social media
connects families across long distances in ways that could never have been imagined before.
There is no doubt that technology has changed and will continue to change families in many
ways.
NAEYC STANDARD 2A
Resources:
Berns, Raberta M. (2007). Child, Family, School, Community. Belmont, California: Wadsworth.
Conner, B. (Interviewer) & Doherty, W. (Interviewee). (2007). Making Time for Your Family Life
[Interview Audio File]. Retrieved from The Parents Journal Archives Website:
http://www.parentsjournal.com/node/987
LeFebvre, J. (2005). Parenting the Preschooler. Retrieved from http://parenting.uwex.edu/
parenting-the-preschooler/documents/Over%20Scheduled%20Kids.pdf
Orenstein, P. (2009, June 5). The Overextended Family. New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/magazine/28fob-wwln-t.html?fta=y
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