How to Help Children and Youth Affected by Intellectual/Educational Abuse
Being Called Stupid, Idiotic, Bad, Ugly; Exposure To Racism; Exposure To Sexism; Teaching, Instruction Methods Not Matching Learning Styles; Over-Stimulation, Too Much Going On; Exposure To Chaos; Too Little Stimulation/Uninteresting Environments; Intellectual Abuse By Neglect
Without help, a child or youth’s ability to learn can be temporarily or permanently damaged by improper education and wrong ideas. Children & youth tend to become what they are taught to believe about themselves. Learning can be decreased by learning environments that are not calm enough and structured enough, or by learning environments that are too controlled and too structured. This abuse can come from insensitive family members, neighbors, educators and anyone having contact with children & youth. Media can also deliver abusive ideas. Without help, intellectual abuse can result in a lifetime of having a lack of confidence in one’s learning ability. This can lead to a lack of success, frustration, self-condemnation and depression. Parents, schools, community and society too often conspire to ignore intellectual abuse by overvaluing academic achievement and success, and by under-funding education. The child or youth’s learning ability is abused when the teaching styles do not fit the nature of the child or youth. Intellectual abuse can also be complicated by a combination of: genetic factors; nutrition challenges; exposure to environmental pollutants; unhealed abuses of other types, and as a result of accidents.
Being Called Stupid, Idiotic, Bad, Ugly:
It is not true that “sticks and stones can break your bones but words can’t ever hurt you”. Children & youth are very hurt by names and insensitive labeling by parents, family, teachers, or their peers. This can lower self-esteem so severely that learning and living can almost stop.
Exposure To Racism:
Racism can come in many forms – economic, social, emotional and personal. Racism can shape expectations, limit access to learning resources, limit achievement and can create distorted self-concepts. Often, educational programs are not culturally sensitive, which can cause failure. Racism challenges logic: it can prevent success, yet the student and their family are blamed. It hurts children & youths’ self-esteem. Without help, racism can limit children & youths’ achievement in life. The causes of racism are many and complex and beyond the scope of this book. The good news is that racism is being openly acknowledged and actively addressed in many areas of American life.
Exposure To Sexism:
Sexism can come in many forms – economic, social, emotional and personal. It can effect both boys and girls. Like racism, sexism can shape expectation, limit access to learning resources, limit achievement, and can create distorted self-concept. Without help, exposure to sexism gives children & youth distorted ideas about themselves and others. These distorted ideas can be damaging to self-esteem and self-confidence, as well as relationships. Sexism based patterns can become habitual and can deteriorate adult relationships. Without help, sexism can limit children & youth’s achievement in life. The causes of sexism are many and complex and beyond the scope of this book. The good news is that girls & young women are catching up to boys & young men in some sport and academic fields and out-performing them in others.
Teaching, Instruction Methods Not Matching Learning Styles:
Without help, children & youth can develop habits of severe underachievement throughout their lives. Children & youth can become convinced they are stupid and that they are to blame for underachievement because they did not try hard enough. These self-concepts can be acted out throughout adult life. Each child or youth learns in a particular set of ways. Too often, children & youth are forced to learn in one or two ways. This can be due to society not being willing to invest money in teacher education and in small enough classes to allow for individual instruction. Traditional education tends to stress obedience and compliance rather than teaching how to be successful learners.
Over-Stimulation, Too Much Going On; Exposure To Chaos:
Too much stimulation can cause children & youth to short-circuit. Over stimulation can lead to habitual challenges with focus and being present. It can also lead to memory and school performance challenges. Children & youth can become addicted to intensity. This makes necessary practice of skills difficult and boring. Being negatively affected by over stimulation can be due to a combination of: genetic factors; family patterns; nutritional imbalances; exposure to environmental pollutants; prolonged stress; unreleased body tension due to accidents and unhealed abuses of all kinds. Prolonged exposure to over stimulation may have the same physiological and emotional effects as prolonged stress.
Too Little Stimulation/Uninteresting Environments:
Intellectual Abuse By Neglect: This is very hard on bright, talented children & youth. They begin to dislike themselves for not being interested and for being bored/frustrated. This happens for a number of complicated reasons, including community unwillingness to pay for quality education, parental depression or addiction, family blindness to the child’s or youth’s gifts and talents.
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First, We Would Investigate |
Second, We Would Investigate |
For Long Term Support |
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On Our Own We Would Try: • Bedtime Stories and Chats • Less or No TV, Movies, Video/Computer Games • Wholesome Pleasures • Replace sodas, juices, sugars, fats, fast foods with water, veggies, whole grains, nuts, protein, fruit, slow food • Long Walks/Hikes • Nature • Back Rubs and Foot Massages • Pets |
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For Parents: • Make sure that you protect your child or youth from the above abuses. • This may bring up painful memories of your own upbringing and childhood & youth. • Get help from other supportive parents, religious leaders, your family practitioner, and school officials. • Listen carefully to what your child or youth is telling you about her/his experiences. • Be compassionate about his/her struggles and suffering, but let her/him know you have faith that he/she will be okay. • Instead of blaming your child or youth for misbehavior, depression, etc., determine how the learning program is not suiting his/her needs and talents and work to change the situation. |