The only major stressor from the list that I recall
experiencing as a child is natural disaster.
When I was a child, I was often home alone after school until my parents
returned from work. One day, there was a
big thunderstorm as I was walking home from school. I got home and started to watch TV, but the
power went out. Being little and home
alone, I was very scared. I remember
hearing the tornado siren in our neighborhood go off. I ran to the basement and sat in a corner to
wait out the tornado. My hands were
shaking and I was crying because I was so nervous about the storm and possible
tornado. The whole situation lasted
probably an hour before my mom was able to get to me from work.
I know that this is nothing like a hurricane Katrina-type
disaster. There were really no after
effects of the storm on our house or the neighborhood. I was, however, scared of storms for a very
long time after that incident. I
compensated for my fear of storms by staying home when it was storming
out. I even slept on the floor in my
parents’ bedroom when there was any kind of bad weather. While it wasn’t a huge natural disaster, it
still had an effect on me growing up. I
cannot imagine how a child might be shaped or influenced by a real natural
disaster. It must be very hard for them
to cope with the traumatic event.
For my research of another country, I chose to look at
Africa. One of the major stressors
facing children in Africa is hunger.
Many children in Africa are facing hunger because of poverty. To fight the growing issue of hunger in
Africa, many organizations are working to send food and money. There are also organizations that allow
people to sponsor children, learn about their lives, and contribute money to help
feed them. UNICEF is one organization
working to provide relief to children in Africa. I also read an article that talked about the
types of things mothers are being forced to provide for their children because
they have nothing else. The article
talked about mothers having to pick leaves and berries to feed their
children. They spend all day finding and
picking them, and the leaves and berries are hard, bitter, and nearly
inedible. It is sad to hear stories about
the amount of poverty and hunger facing children in other countries.
I too was a latch key kid. My parents could not afford childcare after school so I was to lock the door as soon as my sister and I got home. Thank goodness you were taught to go to the basement whenever there was dangerous weather on arise.
ReplyDeleteAllison- I like you was fortunate enough not to have any major stressors in my life as a child. When I look at children that do have stressors in their life, whatever they may be, my heart goes out to them. My mother always says to me, you can't bring them all home. But I want to!!! In reality though, as educators we need to know how to share resources with parents to get them help when they need it. This year, I have three children with Social Work on their IEP, and I think that will be very eye opening for me, because I know I will want to take them home and feed them and bathe them, but I cant. Knowing good resources to give the parents to get help, may be a better route.
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