Power of early childhood

Power of early childhood

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

The fame of Sigmund Freud hangs on a simple idea: the first five years of life are developmentally crucial. Through the care of a loving mother a new born learns to trust adults emotionally. The way a toddler is trained to eat, sleep, stand, walk and talk- in all these developmental skills- the quality of the first lessons of independence is set. Between the ages of three and five, children expand their verbal abilities rapidly, begin friendships with peers and sharpen their sense of enquiry about life. If young children do not learn to trust, to be independent, to form relationships and be curious, they are bound to face immense challenges in school and in their adjustment in society in later years.

Along with emotional and intellectual care giving, health services in early childhood are vital. Children’s poor nutritional status in early years can stunt their physical growth. Many infants die due to infectious diseases that parents can easily learn to prevent. In severely deprived communities about one in three children is anemic. In many Arab localities hunger, disease and emotional neglect gravely affect young children by arresting their normal development.

Most traditional societies are not aware of the critical importance of early childhood. When Arabs discover the value of early childhood development programs they will have found a new kind of “energy” that empowers women and spreads wellbeing evenly and more abundantly than their vast resources of oil.

For wisdom we turn to an Arabic proverb: “Open a school, close a prison.” This adage reveals the high esteem Arabs have for education. But opening more schools is not enough to guarantee quality education. Educational (process) reform is needed. A February 4, 2008 World Bank report on education in the Arab world, reveals that schools do not prepare children to think independently. The report notes that the curricula are not “inquiry-based.”

Having grown up in the region, the author has witnessed first-hand that Arab children are not encouraged to question norms. Children are often punished when they dare to challenge higher authority, whether it is in school, family, work place, place of worship or government.

Tens of millions of Arab children live in low income neighborhoods, in highly urbanized cities, in refugee camps or in communities for the displaced. Overburdened parents, especially those who live in crowded cities without the support of their extended families,

do not know how to protect and support their child’s growth and development.

Early childhood development programs, based on intellectual stimulation, protection from neglect and prevention from illness, set the child on the right track for a bright future in elementary school. A five year old is known for a keen sense of curiosity.

Early childhood programs are needed to help children to establish the habit of thinking on their own from the early years. Because of the way the brain is wired, learning and other forms of developmental stimulation are crucial in the early years.

Arabs leaders must face the reality that the school system is failing the child and the family. The World Bank report on Arab education shows that dropout rates in elementary and secondary schools are high. The study reveals that university degrees do not lead to jobs. The report offers familiar recommendations for changing the educational system, but it does not mention adoption of early childhood education as a basic measure of system change. Adding early childhood development (ECD) programs to the national curriculum will not only expand coverage of children but it will enhance the quality of the entire system of education.

An important component of early childhood education is the involvement of parents. In the Middle East most parents are emotionally and physically close to their children. If mobilized, parents, especially mothers, can contribute valuable time and resources to the pre-school system. Through their voluntary services mothers can help reduce the cost of universal public education. In child-centered programs groups of mothers receive basic training on how to stimulate the children’s development.

The mother is also the focus of attention in ECD. Among the endless possible varieties of empowerment for mothers are literacy, vocational training, job orientation and health services. These comprehensive activities contribute to family and population planning. An educated mother is more able to plan the size of her family than a mother who is burdened by poverty, ignorance and isolation.

Poor policy squanders human resources. There is growing evidence that children who receive early childhood education are more likely to succeed in elementary and secondary school, more likely to enter college and less likely to commit crime. Educational economists reveal that financial returns on investment in ECD programs are extremely positive: a dollar invested in ECD returns six to eight dollars. ECD is a smart investment.

Arab American Thoughts on Super Tuesday

Pam beach Gardens, Florida

United States politics has become intimately tied to Arab politics since the 9/11 events and the start of the ongoing war in Iraq. Sixty one percent of Arab American voters mention Iraq as the top issue in the election. Sixty six percent of Arab American voters also rank “Palestine” very high on their presidential election preference. (Zoghby poll,2007)

There are about 3.5 million Arab Americans. More than half of this community is Christian, and the majority are of Lebanese origin.
Arab Americans are actively involved in the political life of America.

In the past most Arab Americans, especially the more affluent, voted Republican. But currently most Arab Americans vote Democratic. Sixty two percent are Democrats and 25 % Republicans. (Zoghby poll,2007). Republican candidates tend to support permanent presence of American troops in the Middle East and are more vocal in support of the Israeli occupation.

In the vote on Super Tuesday, Democrats confirmed two liberal presidential candidates as the front-runners nominees. Hilary Clinton now has 1045 delegates (out of 2025 required for winning the nomination) and Barack Obama acquired 960 delegates. On the Republican side, Senator John McCain holds 707 out of the total of 1191 delegates needed; he has a commanding lead over Romney and Huckabee. Ron Paul, the only “dovish” Republican candidate that Arabs tend to support, is likely to soon withdraw from the race.

A few days before Super Tuesday, the Arabs took an electronic straw poll, sponsored by Aljazeera. Aljazeera network which reports internationally on US elections and educates Arabs about American politics in the Middle East. Aljazeera viewers were asked to vote electronically for their choice for US president. The majority voted for Obama; Ron Paul was the nominee for the Republicans; Obama scored 61% and Paul 10%, a distant second.

There has been no uniformity of sentiment among Arab Americans on the results of Super Tuesday. It is false to assume that this diverse community votes as a block and is guided by any single issue. The majority of Arab Americans are assimilated into American society. The process of integration of minorities in society widens the latitude of their opinions.

“Arab Americans should be greatly encouraged by Tuesday's Democratic primary results,” says Abdeen Jabara, a civil rights attorney and the former President of Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee. Jabara continues, “Senator Obama's credible showing and the number of convention delegates that he garnered demonstrate that he is not only still a serious contender for the nomination, but that his message of change is resonating with large segments of an American public, of which Arab Americans are a part, who are deeply unsatisfied by the status quo and the business-as-usual prescriptions for America's foreign and domestic policy ills. This was a truly historic day and Arab Americans can be proud of the part they played in it.”(email message to author)

Maysoon Haddad, an Iraqi American, is fascinated by Super Tuesday. He represents many Arab Americans and many people living abroad who are impressed with Americans’ respect for the rule of law in electing politicians: “As an American originally from Iraq, I watch Super Tuesday, admire the system and appreciate the real democracy and hoping to see the same thing happening in Iraq.”
Haddad holds a Republican point of view on the continued military US presence in his home country, Iraq: “I'm looking for a president who supports the war wholeheartedly; a president who doesn't want to rapidly decrease the United States presence in Iraq and who doesn't waiver with public opinion. A quick troop withdrawal is asking for trouble and an exact time line might be too much-- giving away too much to the enemy and allowing them to form a time line to attack our troops or harm other Americans.” (personal commentary)

The 300,000 Arab American community of Dearborn, Michigan, is diverse in politics and ethnicity. M. Kay Siblani, the Executive Director of the Dearborn weekly, The Arab American News, supports Obama as her candidate who will overhaul American politics. Siblani says, “Super Tuesday proved that Arab Americans and American Muslims must forge ties with African American voters. They must all work harder together to get Barack Obama elected. Clinton or McCain in the White House would be a disaster for the country and the world.” (email response to author)

In Washington, Subhi Ghandour runs a center for political and cultural dialogue. His electronic newsletter is well respected and has a wide circulation among Arab intellectuals. In a conversation with him about the US elections he explained that Arabs do not have a better choice than Obama “in dealing with the Arab Israeli peace process, ending the Iraq occupation with diplomacy and opening channels of dialogue with Iran and Syria.” Ghandour added that Obama cannot be expected to see the entire world through a Palestine lens, and that “Arab Americans must chose among the existing candidates, even if there is no ideal custom-made candidate to fully suit Arab requirements.”

Arab sentiments on Obama are not at all uniform, especially among Palestinians. The Electronic Intifada, a Palestinian activist website, angrily criticized the senator from Illinois, who “offered not a single word of criticism of Israel, of its relentless settlement and wall construction, of the closures that make life unlivable for millions of Palestinians.” (Arabisto.com)

In contrast, Obama fascinates Jim Zoghby, the founder and president of the Arab American Institute, an organization promoting Arab American access to mainstream politics. Zoghby opines, “It appears from the excitement he generates that Barack has tapped into a deep vein in the contemporary American psyche. While it is always useful to parse out the positions he has taken on critical issues, and even to weigh in the balance the importance of ‘experience’ versus ‘judgment,’ or ‘change’ versus ‘Washington’ - these being the matters discussed by the candidates - they, alone, do not explain the phenomenon we are witnessing. Something more profound is occurring in this election. And it appears to be wrapped up in the person of Barack Obama, himself.” (Huffington Post, Dec. 14, 2007).

On Super Tuesday, the midpoint in the race, Obama has come close to matching Clinton’s popularity. Many of his supporters believe that he will gain momentum over the next few months and be chosen as the Democratic nominee to face McCain, his almost certain Republican counterpart.

Obama’s Arab-American supporters see that a man with such a diverse international, interfaith, and inter-racial background is bound to make America more inclusive domestically and globally.

For Arab Americans, the 2008 presidential election offers a strategic opportunity to tie America with the Arab world, not through war and fear of terror, but through ideas and aspirations.



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