Impacts on Early Emotional Developments

               I chose America and the Caribbean, one of the main reasons that this was my choice was because they are people of color. I would love to one day visit Latin America and see the land and the people.

                A large part of the population live in poverty and poverty can affect the developmental process for children. The physical development may be hindered, their ability to focus in class and learn things so that that they can succeed in school, or develop illness from lack of immunization.  The children of these counties are dealing with low levels of nutrition and the services may be non-existence for some.  With over 40% of the population being under the age of 18, if they are not vaccinated then the country itself could be at risk without the power to fight off diseases.  UNICF calls chronic malnutrition a lifetime imprisonment and serve malnutrition equal to a death sentence. These children may develop mental illness (Harstone, Bergen, & Sweetgrass, 2010) stemming from depression.

               Another challenge that these nations face is violence in the homes, where nearly 85,000 children die a year because of the violence. Living with violence in the home can cause anxiety and sleep disorders leaving the children scarred from the things that they have seen.  These children may also repeat the cycle and future generations will be harmed. Who they are as a person could be harmed. Another issue that they face are natural disasters, the regions face flooding and hurricanes that can displace the families for long period of time and cause more anxiety and distress for the families.

               These issues are the six that UNCIF is working to counteract the effects on the people of these nations.  We can not do anything about the natural disasters that strike, but we can help make plans to make them less drastic in the aftermath.  Plans to get food and water to the families would go a long way. Helping children to get the right food and immunizations works to ensure the rights of every child is something that we all can do.  No child should feel like there is no one to care for them or fight for them.  When I think about how families come to the United States looking for the dream of a home and clean water and food to feed their families, I think about the struggles that they might have gone through to get here and the stereotypes and prejudices that they may face once they are here.  How can we not respect the struggles of others when most of our histories involve some kind of struggle to reach the point of where we are?   I would not feel right if I did not do all that I can to help the children and families make the adjustment to a new way of life and a new place to live.  That is a personal and a professional pledge that I have to help children and families find their way and to make it as easy and welcoming as I can. 

References:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Harstone, A., Bergen, S.J. and Sweetgrass, M. (2010). Young carers: Children caring for family members living with an illness or disability.

Trustees of Columbia University, The. (2010). National Center Center for Children Children in PovertyPoverty (NCCP).

UNICEF (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html