Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

I feel that I was very privileged as a child. I did not have to worry about when I was going to get my next meal or if there was going to be violence in the house. I was well taken care of and was a very lucky little girl. Everyday that I attend my job I see children that are not so lucky. There parents are working more than one job just trying to put food on the table. Other children have to see the violence and abuse that happens between their family members and sometimes themselves.

I have a little boy in my classroom whose mother was abused by his father. She stayed in the marriage until she knew the right time to get out. The young boy learned from what his father did and leads to violence to solve problems instead of working the problems out with words. His mother and I have had numerous conversations about his behavior and how to break his habits and what he learned at such a young age. By giving him a stress ball, a quite place to think about something before he reacts and tons of positive reinforcement he is getting better each day.

When looking into violence in other countries the one thing that really caught my attention was sexual violence in Africa. There were so many stories and examples of things that had happened to young children and even grown adults. When taken victim these children can b e apart of sexual violence, including rape, mutilation, and sexual slavery. This was so disturbing to me. These are children and they are asked to do these awful things. Children should be able to be themselves and not have to worry about when they are going to be taken advantage of and who is going to hurt them. I'm not sure how they are about to concentrate on thing that they are suppose to be doing or learning, they are just trying to survive.

To stop this from happening many different governments have stepped in to support these women and children. They are donating money to help educate and provide programs to stop the abuse from happening.

Reference: 

Alexis Arieff, (2009). Sexual Violence in African Conflicts. Congressional Research Service. 1-31.

Child Development and Public Health

I chose to look more into nutrition and how it effects our children. I see it everyday in my classroom. Children can't learn or concentrate because they are starving. My students receive free breakfast and lunch. I also give them a snack at the end of the day. This most times is still not enough for some of them. I few of my students also receive backpacks full of food to take home over the weekend.

As a mother myself I know that my child eats me out of house and home. Food is not a cheap thing to buy either! I can't imagine how I would feel if I couldn't provide the amount of food my child needed to stay healthy. At that I only have 1, so I can't imagine having more than 1 child to feed!

I went to the website for the Global Child Nutrition Foundation. From there I looked at the research and studies that they had done. One of their projects was feeding Mali, Chile and India. They were trying to feed school aged children and get their nutritional needs met. It was brought to my attention that in Chile the government helps feed the children to help their education. Different countries obviously have different priorities when it comes to making sure that children are being fed.

The way this impacts me is to continue to make sure that my students are eating as much as they can, as it does effect their education.When I see a child that is extra hungry I will continue to help them get food and give their parents the resources to help.


http://www.gcnf.org/

Childbirth In Your Life and Around the World

When looking back on a child birth experience the first thing I think of is the birth of my son, Layton.  I remember everything from that eventful day. I remember losing my mucus plug and calling my mom freaking out because I was scared. We went to the hospital twice before they kept me. I made it to 4 centimeters before my epidural. The epidural was not very strong om my left side so they had to keep turning me to make it effective. Before the nurse came in to have me start pushing we hit the epidural medicine a few extra times which was a huge mistake. 2 hours of pushing and we had a scary discussion to make, either we had to vacuum him or or go in for a c-section which was dangerous because he was so low in the birth canal. 2 vacuum pulls later and I gave birth to a 6lbs 8oz healthy baby boy.

I chose this example because it means the most to me. I love my son more that anything in the world and I would do it all over again to share that same love with another child. I was lucky to have an easy pregnancy and a pretty easy delivery.

My thoughts regarding child birth is to make sure that you are educated about giving birth before going to the hospital. Most hospitals gives classes. Is was so educational for me to know what was going to happen when my son was in distress and how it would effect my baby and his life is something went wrong. mothers need to educate themselves because so many things can happen during childbirth that will effect the development of their child.
In Ghana most babies are born at home. Most women live in a hut with only a midwife to help them. The mothers are not given epidurals or any medications. These mothers delivery naturally on their own with no help. The difference I had was that I was given pain medication and an epidural which I couldn't imagine giving birth without! I now understand that many countries deliver babies without the shelter of a hospital or the help of nurses or pain medication. It is great to know that if I had to do it again this could be a real option for me.