Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

 

Maltreatment

This week’s assignment was to select a stressor that has affected either me or someone else that I know as a child.  I wanted to share a personal story that has affected my family member and our family growing up.  
 

Maltreatment is the stressor that I wanted to address that occurs in homes all across the world. Maltreatment comes in many faces and disguises as it can come in the form of physical, mental and emotional abuse and maltreatment. The negative effects of maltreatment can hugely impact the life of a child well into his/her adult years. It is so important that adults and caregivers pay attention and look out for signs of maltreatment in any capacity.

Growing up in a family of five children, we always had a house full of children and adults that was part of our family structure.  My cousin Jasper lost both of his parents at a young age of eight years old. Both of his parents passed away because of health problems related to alcoholism and cirrhosis of the liver. Jasper’s dad passed first and then his mom a couple of years later. Jasper had an older sibling but she was already out of the home and living on her own.  My cousin was taken in by an aunt relative (my grandmother’s sister) who provided care for him. Jasper lived with my aunt and uncle for about 10 years or so until he graduated and went off to college. We hardly saw him after moving in with the relative.  During that time, we did not know that he was being abused, emotionally, physically and mentally. Jasper kept it very well hidden. It was not until his junior year of college that it all fell apart and the truth was exposed. He failed and dropped out of college because of a mental breakdown, failure to keep up with his grades and partying. He needed a place to go as he did not want to go back to live with my aunt and uncle. My mother took him in our home and loved him, encouraged him and got him the help that he needed.

Presently, my cousin is 56 years old, married to his wife of almost 20 years and has no children. He is being treated and seen by a team of medical doctors and counselors for bipolar disorder and manic depressive tendencies. He is learning to cope with life and deal with the anxieties that have developed as a result of his abuse and childhood stressors that have had a negative impact on his life. Berger (2012) implies that deficits of an abused child are considered lifelong. In addition, they have difficulty in their emotions and have trouble keeping a job. The consequence of maltreatment as a child is devastating and does shake all developmental aspects of a child’s development to include, biological and academic impairment (Berger, 2012, p. 251).

 

 

 

INDIA & POVERTY

The county I chose to read about is India and how their lives are affected by the stressors of poverty. There are about 22 million people living in the country of  Mumbia, India and 7 million are children. Children living there are experiencing poverty in the worst possible way and are subjected to extremely poor living conditions. Families live in slums and many leave rural areas just to live in the slummed out areas, which they say offers better living conditions. Slum areas make up about 70 percent of  Mumbia. Families have no electricity, clean water, or ample food. Many children are forced to fend for themselves and are responsible for going out bringing in resources to help feed their families. Young children as young as four years of age take on jobs such as rag pickers and sewage cleaners. Exposure to these types of living conditions all pose as a health concern for these children.

Children's International has said that 1/3 of  India's population has HIV/AIDS. Malnutrition has grossly affected children under the age of five. Young girls living in India are also at risk as they are expected to work. Many are sold and used as indentured servants. Many are also prostituted and abused. Many girls are at risk and become young teenage mothers and are not able to take care of themselves or their children, therefore subjecting them to an early death. 

Education is the key to help alleviate some of the stressors that currently exist. Unfortunately, many parents overlook the need for education as they are in survival mode to stay alive. Educating the children and especially the girls would be a benefit as it would help them with their illiteracy problem. Developing skills that would allow them to advance and improve their quality of life is the best investment that can benefit them (Gabriel Project, 2015). 

 

 

References

Children's International (2015). retrieved from https://www.children.org/fight-child-poverty-india

Gabriel's Project. (2015) retrieved from, http://www.gabrielprojectmumbai.org/Poverty_in_India.html