Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

There are many consequences of stress on a child's development. Many of my students suffer from hunger and poverty. I work at a Title 1 school and the majority of our families are on free and reduced lunch. Thinking about one child specifically in my own classroom at one time, she was not only living in poverty and hunger, but she was also being neglected from her parents. I had her when she was 5 years old, and her sister the following year in my class. Both girls were far behind academically. They were literally blank slates coming into my classroom and couldn't not even write their own names until the end of the year. Most of my students who came in as blank slates, would eventually be caught up academically around Christmas. Both girls were far behind in all subjects. I wondered if part of this was because they were not getting the support at home for homework and extra practice like most of the other children. They were the sweetest girls I have ever taught, but would get upset easily when learning new subject matter because they were not catching on as quickly as the other children. Socially, the girls seemed fine because they had each other, as well as their older sister to talk to and play with. At one point, we found out that the mother was not getting out of bed and the oldest sister was cooking and taking care of her younger sisters. (The oldest was only in the 5th grade.) We found out this was happening after their father had left the picture. When the girls were in their father's custody, they came to school clean and well-fed. And when they were with mom, you could clearly see the neglect. I was hesitant to send them both to 1st grade, but the older sister was far enough along, that she did not need to repeat kindergarten. Her younger sister, however, did need to repeat because she did not know all her letters still by the end of the year.


I found an article titled, Child Neglect, Social Context, and Educational Outcomes: Examining the Moderating Effects of School and Neighborhood Context by Dr. Constance L. Chapple and Dr. Jamie Vaske. They discovered that children who were neglected had a higher chance of worse developmental outcomes than children who were not neglected before age 5. Some negative outcomes listed in the article were antisocial behavior and poor school performance. 15% of the children followed in the study were retained at least one grade level between kindergarten and 9th grade. They concluded that children who were neglected suffered much worse educational outcomes than children who were not neglected. The article supported my thinking on why the two sisters struggled much more than most of my other students.



I chose to research Romania and find out what type of stressors impact the development in their children there. I chose Romania because my sister went there when we were in college and her experience there really touched my heart. She told me about how all the gypsy children would literally come up to you take whatever you had in your pockets, and you wouldn't feel a thing. They were told to leave everything valuable at home because of the risks of everything being stolen in Romania. Adoptions have been closed and the orphanages are so full that many children are neglected and do not have human contact every day. I found it very difficult to find any articles dated after 2003 and my sister believes that is because they have closed down the country to anyone outside of their borders.
The children there are suffering poverty, neglect and hunger. My sister also talked about how racism exists there because the families living happily there look down upon the gypsy families and make them feel like the scum of the earth. I did find a newspaper article the read "This adorable little girl is Adi. With dark brown eyes, an infectious smile and a sweet giggle, she could be anyone's four- year-old daughter. But Adi has no parents to call her own. Abandoned in a bleak, overcrowded orphanage, she has the physical and mental development of a child half her age. She cannot talk and struggles to gain weight; consequences, her carers say, of the trauma she has experienced in her short life. Adi is one of a generation of children trapped in Romania's orphanages for two new and unforeseen reasons, both the result of its political unshackling (Collcutt, 2006)."


The article stated the reasoning for orphanages being overcrowded... "The first is the number of adults migrating west particularly to Britain, where immigration controls are shambolic and work is plentiful who dump their children in institutions. The second is a ban on international adoption forced on Romania by the European Union. When the world's cameras captured the horror of its orphanages following the overthrow of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu 16 years ago, there was a rush of adoptive parents from Europe and America. Millions of pounds were spent and around 50,000 children found new homes (Collcutt, 2006)."

As for what is being done to prevent the neglect in Romania... this is what the article says... "
Anna Feuchtwang, chief executive of the EveryChild charity, says not enough is being done to solve the myriad of social problems that lead to abandonment in the first place. 'We have found that in many cases, there simply isn't the will to change the habits of the past,' she says.
'Although there has been an enormous improvement in living conditions for children in care, it is disturbing that the trend is rising. The Romanian government is not addressing problems such as a lack of housing and jobs. For very little money, a national database could be established to trace parents, register abandoned children and locate Romanian families willing to adopt (Collcutt, 2006)."

I find it heartbreaking to hear what is going on in Romania and how the children are suffering due to the corrupt adoption laws there and how there is not a lot of change being done. These children are not going to school and will have a hard time making it in the real world when they turn 18, if they do not get adopted and get brought up in a household where education is valued.

References

Chapple, C. L. & Vaske, J. (2010). Child neglect, social context, and education outcomes: Examining the moderating effects of school and neighborhood context. Violence and Victims, 25, 470- 485.

Collcutt, D. (2006, February 6). Orphaned. Mail on Sunday, p. 66.

Health in the Early Childhood Field

I chose to research on immunizations because my mother is a nurse. She used to give vaccinations to infants and hated every minute of it because she did not enjoy making babies cry all day by giving them their vaccines. But she still does recommend that all parents get their children vaccinated so you don't put your child or other children at risk. So I was interested in research WHY parents are hesitating about getting their children vaccinated and what the health professionals have to say.

After doing some research, I remember hearing the buzz about how parents were worried that vaccinations could cause autism. In Goodwin's (2010) article, she wrote about how vaccinations carry thimerosal, which is loaded with mercury that was thought to cause infants to develop autism.  The use of thimersol has been used in vaccinations since the 1930s (Goodwin, 2010). The research supports that even infants who were given the highest levels of thimersol, were not at risk any more than infants exposed to a little thimersol (Goodwin, 2010). Dr. Frank DeStefano, director of the immunization safety office at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that vaccinations do not increase a child's risk of developing autism (Goodwin, 2010). The article also stated that thimerosal has been reduced or removed to little amounts in all vaccines for children six and under, except the flu vaccination, for any parents who may be concerned of risks still (Goodwin, 2010).

The second article I read verified the same findings. Kemp & Hart (2010) found that many parents of children with autism feared autism was linked to the MMR vaccine because autism in diagnosed around 15 to 24 months, just after the infants received the MMR vaccine. The United States immunizations have been proven to drop the risk of measles, mumps and rubella (all deadly diseases) by 99% (Kemp & Hart, 2010). I believe this just emphasized how important it is to get children vaccinated and avoid any risks of preventable diseases.

Today, in the United States, children are immunized against 14 diseases by receiving 10 immunizations (Kemp & Hart, 2010). I was interested to see what type of immunizations were given in another part of the world, such as Vietnam. I discovered that the overall healthcare in Vietnam is much better than one would expect even though it is one of the neediest countries in Asia (Thang, 2006). The Expanded Program on Immunization has helped prevent millions of deaths by providing immunizations in Vietnam (Thang, 2006). The Vietnamese Government have made it a priority to provide immunizations and education on its importance in isolated areas to reduce/eliminate poverty and people living in hunger (Thang, 2006).

After reading up on immunizations, I feel I am better equipped to educate my friends and any families I may come in contact with the importance of getting their children vaccinated.

References

Goodwin, J. (2010 September 13). More evidence that vaccines don't cause autism. U.S.News & World Report. Retrieved from: http://health.usnews.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2010/09/13/more-evidence-that-vaccines-dont-cause-autism  

Kemp, M. L. & Hart, B. (2010). MMR vaccine and autism: Is there a link? Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, 23, 48-50.

Thang, N.M. (2006). Child immunization in Vietnam: Situation and barriers to coverage. Journal of Biosocial Science, 39, 41-58.

Early Childhood Development: EDUC - 6160 - Week 1

Sonorah's Birth:

When my niece was born in Sept. 2011, she had some complications. My sister had a great pregnancy, no major problems, but after she delivered, her sweet baby girl had trouble breathing. So they whisked Sonorah away to the NICU and left our family crying and worried about what was going on. A few hours later they came back to tell us they were monitoring her because of her breathing complications. Sonorah ended up staying in the NICU for a week after her birth. It was heart wrenching!

My sister touching her baby for the first time. (The doctors and nurses didn't want Sonorah to be stimulated because she could wake up and start pulling her breathing treatments off her body.)

Poor baby <3

Holding hands with her for the first time

Her daddy reading Sonorah her first book!

My sister feeding Sonorah for the first time.

After a day or two, they finally started letting 2 visitors at a time come in to visit with Soso for a while. We couldn't touch her, but we could stand there and admire what a beautiful little person she was. There were lots of tears shed the first time I met my niece. Seeing her hooked up to all the monitors and breathing devices was so upsetting. One memory I will never forget is going to visit her with her new daddy. She had never opened her eyes since they whisked her away from her momma to the NICU. Her poppa started talking to her and she opened her eyes and was trying to look at him. I started bawling like a baby. He got it on film and everything. It was the sweetest moment I have ever seen. At that moment, I never knew how much you could love someone, as much as I did her. (Makes me excited to have my own children someday!) Here is the video:

  Sadly,  I had used up all my personal days to spend time with my family 3 days after Soso was born, and was so discouraged when I had to return back to school, without holding my new niece. (Anyone who knew me, knew how excited I was to be an aunt... so it was a devastating experience leaving her in that hospital for our whole family (especially her new momma and poppa!)
The next weekend I raced home, knowing I could finally hold my newborn niece. The moment my sister put that baby into my arms, my heart melted into goo. No one could ever take that memory away from me. She was so perfect and reminded me so much of her mom when she was a baby herself.

The first time I got to hold Sonorah

My life has never been the same since that baby was brought into our family. She has been a huge inspiration in my life. When it comes to teaching, I try to treat every child as if they were my niece/nephew so they can get the best education possible. (B/c I know that is what their own parents would want!)
Sonorah's presence in this world is my biggest influence in life. She brings so much joy to our family and I can not imagine life without her. <3

One of my favorite pictures of Sonorah

I believe that a person's birth can have an impact on their development in all areas. But it doesn't set the path for a child's life. For example, if a child has a negative birth experience, but is brought up with a loving and caring family- they can live a normal, happy life and their development will be fine! However, children who are not stimulated, cared for and loved like all children should be, this can lead to devastating developmental delays. I have several students in my class who are far behind in where they should be in kindergarten because there was no stimulation at home.   

A VERY happy Sonorah on her 1st birthday! So blessed to have such a sweet, adorable niece! I am so excited to see what the future has in store for her!!!

I chose to find out how births happen in Haiti because I had the chance to visit there when I was in college. I found an article written by Amie Newman, titled "Giving Birth in the Streets" that talked about the effects of the earthquake had women giving birth in the streets because of all the chaos. Newman also wrote that Haiti has the highest mortality rate in the Western Hemispshere. I was not at all surprised by this after seeing first hand how these women and their families lived. They had no windows or doors in their homes. Some houses didn't even have roofs. They had dirt floors and the whole family shared a room to live in. They were living in such poverty that the women would beg for money in the streets and the men would offer to carry my bags for tip in return. 

A photo taking during my trip there- we saw several women trying to work by carrying large tubs of things like this on their head.

Homes in Haiti

The streets of Haiti

Children walking to school

  Here is a quote form the article that explains the high maternal mortality rate:
"According to the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA):

(W)omen of reproductive age face limitations in accessing pre-natal and post-natal care, as well as greater risk of vaginal infections, pregnancy complications including spontaneous abortion, unplanned pregnancy, and post-traumatic stress. An increase in violence against women was also recorded…
…(I)n natural disaster situations and in post-disaster recuperation, the cases of violence may increase. “Given the stress that this situation caused and the life in the refuges, men attacked women more frequently."

 They also found that 670 Haitian women die from pregnancy- related causes each year for every 100,000 live births. Only 26 percent of women in Haiti receive a skilled birth attendant during childbirth. They go on to say that women were giving birth, literally in the streets because the hospitals there are full. And without the appropriate pre-natal and post-birth care, they could die from complications.

I find this to be such a terrifying thought! The nurses and doctors at the hospitial took such great care of Sonorah and were very sweet and kind to my sister, her husband and the rest of the family through the whole time she was in the NICU. After the big scare when Sonorah was born, I feel so blessed to live in a country that values pre-natal care and taking care of women and their children.