Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

In today’s society, there are a lot of stressors that affect children.   I don’t know anyone personally that experienced these stressors as a child.  However, my mom shared with me once I got older about the violence she went through with my biological father.  He is now deceased.  My mom and dad got a divorce when I was very young.  She said that he would go out and have drinks, and once he returned home he wanted to fuss and fight.  She said that was not the environment she wanted to raise  a family in.  She would leave and go stay at her mom’s house, and he would beg her to come back.  Her mom and sisters were her support system.  They didn’t want her to be with him because they knew how crazy he acted when he got drunk.  He would give her a sad story about how much he loved me and her.  She would constantly go back only to endure the same violence month after month.  She finally got fed up and couldn’t take it anymore. That’s what brought them to divorce. 

Poverty is a stressor that affects a lot of children.  I know poverty affects a lot of countries, but I chose to explore the issues in Guyana.  Guyana is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, but has a wealth of natural resources, including fertile agricultural land, minerals and large swaths of tropical forest.  It ranks 117th out of 187 countries on the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Index and is classified as a lower-middle-income country by the World Bank.  Roughly two-thirds of Guyanese citizens living in poverty, or 29% of the population, can be classified as being extremely poor. Most of the poor live in rural areas and work as agricultural laborers. Though Guyana’s farmers have access to adequate land resources, their productivity is extremely low.  It saddens me to know that countries such as Guyana experience poverty like this.  It really makes me appreciate the abundance of resources that we have in the US.  I hope that one day these same resources can be sent to places like Guyana to help eliminate some of the stressors the children face.

References

http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/country/home/tags/guyana

Child Development and Public Health

I chose breastfeeding as my topic for this week.  Breastfeeding is meaningful to me because I breast fed both of my kids.  After taking a breastfeeding class with my first child I knew I wanted to at least try it.  My first child was breastfed for six months because we had some latching issues from birth, and I had to supplement with formula.  At first I was beating myself up because I had to supplement.  I had read all these comments about how you are letting your child down if you are not strictly breastfeeding.  I finally had to get myself together and realize that as long as my child was getting the nutrients she needed that was all that mattered.  I received encouragement from a breastfeeding peer counselor that really helped me through the process.  The encouragement I received just reinforced my reasoning for wanting to breastfeed when I had my second child.  My second child was breastfed for one year.  We didn't have to supplement formula with her because she latched on with no problem from birth.  She was a stubborn baby that wouldn't take a bottle so needless to say she was attached to me.  With my first child, I had to get comfortable with breastfeeding in public.  However with my second one, I wasn't nervous at all about breastfeeding in public.  I came across an article that talked about how different parts of the world view breastfeeding in public. In this article a mom talked about how in the US people frowned upon her when she breastfed her baby in public.  However once she moved to Europe, she  didn't experience any bad looks.  I feel like breastfeeding is the best for a baby.  Unfortunately not all moms are able to breastfeed, and they shouldn't be criticized if they are not able to.  I feel like as long the baby is healthy and getting all the nutrients he/she need society shouldn't be making a big deal out of it.

References:

http://wsimag.com/wellness/10973-breastfeeding-in-europe