Unschool Radical

Argh. Yes another example of the sexualization of the female body and people being disgusted over the site of a baby getting its food from its mother. We think nothing of the violence in Television and video games yet flip out at the site of an infant breastfeeding.
In this case, Babytalk magazine features a very nice cover of a baby nursing at his mothers breast- nicely photographed and no nipple be shown.
Here is article on Cbs’s web site about the controversy
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/28/national/main1844454.shtml
and here on CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/27/nursing.cover.ap/index.html

I am personally saddened when I see an article like this in mainstream media. It just reinforces to young women, pregnant women and society in general that breastfeeding is”bad” or “dirty” or “shameful”
Its the reason why last week at a family BBQ I almost told my 2 1/2 year old he couldn’t nurse because I was worried about what people would think- and I am not a shy person or embarrassed at all about nursing in public. Lest you think I am some kind of exhibitionist, I am 41 years old and quite “rubanesque” anf feel no desire to flaunt my body
I wish breastfeeding would stop being America’s dirty little secret.

Tags: Breastfeeding Support, Unschooling by Administrator
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From The Toronto Star, April 27: Tales out of school

Who started it?

The age-old question

“He started it!”

But did he? A new study shows teachers often struggle to recognize when bullying is taking place among their students, especially if it’s the psychological kind, rather than the physical bullying for which teachers often get less training.

In a University of Toronto study of 157 Grade 4 and 5 students in Toronto, researchers interviewed 18 students who had been bullied — but their teachers were aware of only 10 of the victims, and they tended to be children who had been bullied physically, rather than through other methods such as text messaging.

The study, led by U of T social work professor Faye Mishna, found teachers sometimes don’t recognize bullying if it takes place between friends, and that students often don’t report bullying to teachers early enough to allow for intervention.

“Most teachers would like more training to provide them with better intervention strategies,” said Mishna. “To understand bullying, we need to examine not only the behaviours of children who bully and the children they victimize, but also teachers who may be present when bullying happens.”

Tags: Unschooling by Administrator
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