My Resignation Letter to Beach CIties AEYC

December 16, 2012

Dear BCAEYC Board, BCAEYC Members, and ECE Colleagues and Friends,

During the past 4 years, my term as BCAEYC President has been both personally and professionally fulfilling. Working alongside phenomenal colleagues and professionals has been incredibly rewarding and I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished. It is with much thought and consideration, that I submit my resignation from BCAEYC and renounce my membership. As many of you know, I have struggled over the past two years or so with many of NAEYC's decisions and revised policy statements. Continuing to serve in this organization implies that I agree with and support their new stands on technology and media involvement for young children and their blatant disregard of developmentally appropriate practices for young children.

I joined NAEYC as a young student just starting out in the field, some 22 years ago. I felt welcomed and felt like a true professional being a part of this leadership organization. I learned about the importance of developmentally appropriate practices and play in the lives of young children. NAEYC helped me develop a voice to advocate for young children and educate families and colleagues about this most important issue. I joined the Board approximately 12 years ago and have served continuously until now. I have presented dozens of workshops at the local, state and national level. I have helped organize multiple workshops, school tours and helped with logistics and various planning committees at state level conferences. Along the way, I have networked and met a variety of amazing people.

I, along with fellow Board Members and colleagues have openly voiced my opposition to NAEYC's Technology Policy. I attended the open session at the NAEYC Annual Conference in 2010 in Anaheim, CA. In a packed room, hundreds of us questioned where this new stance was coming from and why NAEYC had reversed it's previous opinions and was now ignoring the recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics that clearly state, "Television and other entertainment media should be avoided for infants and children under age 2." http://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/Pages/Media-and-Children.aspx.  Attendees were thanked for providing feedback and said that this version "was only a draft" and our feedback would be considered as NAEYC continued working on it. Months later, the position statement was released as is. It made the cover of Young Children and prominently featured Hatch, a software company throughout the journal. http://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201205/McManis_YC0512.pdf Hatch, a corporation, is also now a major sponsor of AEYC conferences.

The BCAEYC Board drafted a list of grievances and demanded a meeting with members of the NAEYC governing board. http://eealeague.blogspot.com/2012/08/statement-of-grievances.html This telephone meeting eventually did occur and we were able to voice our concerns, but still, nothing has changed.

 In 2012, dozens of workshop proposals for the annual NAEYC conference promoting play and limiting or eliminating technology in accordance with American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines were rejected, yet multiple workshops promoting technology use for young children were accepted and highlighted. I learned that others in this field were also shocked and dismayed by NAEYC's practices. ECE professionals from all over the United States started contacting me about BCAEYC's letter of opposition to the NAEYC Technology Statement and our letter of grievances. Several were leaders that I had followed and admired for years. I was amazed that they were contacting ME and thanking BCAEYC for taking a stand. I was invited to sign onto a letter that was sent to NAEYC in July 2012. 

http://eealeague.blogspot.com/2012/12/i-have-been-waiting-and-waiting-to.html. NAEYC responded months later with some generalized statement about their "many workshops on play", yet never addressed why or how a technology workshop for infants is now considered appropriate to them.

NAEYC's values are no longer my values. In my opinion, NAEYC has sold out. I am choosing to no longer support this organization and will continue to actively oppose their position statements that I disagree with and feel are wrong and inappropriate. Many have suggested that I stay put and continue fighting from within. I have struggled with this, but believe that my continued membership and service may be viewed as an implicit endorsement of their agenda. I no longer have any confidence in NAEYC and cannot and will not stand by and support this organization with their biased and unethical decisions.  

I hereby resign as the President of Beach Cities Association for the Education of Young Children and renounce my membership.

Sincerely,

Stacey J. Smith-Clark, MA