ERIC Number: EJ1442365
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0024-9033
EISSN: EISSN-1916-0666
"They Are Just Five-Year-Old Boys": Examining the Role of Childhood Innocence in the Early Normalization of Sexual Violence
Jessica Prioletta
McGill Journal of Education, v58 n2 p248-269 2023-2024
The purpose of this article is to examine how the discourse of childhood innocence masks the ways in which sexual violence by boys against girls is perpetrated in kindergarten. Findings from a year-long ethnographic study conducted in two Canadian kindergarten classrooms show that narrow understandings of gender and sexuality in childhood obscure schools' responses to problematic gendered behaviors enacted by certain boys. The author contends that in failing to attend to gender and sexuality with young children, kindergarten education may contribute profoundly to the early normalization of sexual violence. The article concludes with a discussion on the role that kindergarten education can play in countering sexual violence inside and outside of schools.
Descriptors: Sexual Abuse, Violence, Males, Young Children, Sexuality, Child Behavior, Gender Issues, Kindergarten, Role of Education, Females, Gender Bias, Feminism, Social Influences, Early Childhood Education, Masculinity, Foreign Countries, School Role, Sexual Harassment, Prevention
McGill Journal of Education. McGill University, 3700 McTavish Street, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1Y2, Canada. Tel: 514-398-4246; Fax: 514-398-4529; Web site: http://mje.mcgill.ca
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A