Stressors in a child’s life: Violence

One year I dealt with a child, who was in kindergarten, who would hit other children and throwing things in the classroom. He worked a lot better one-on-one, and a calm voice to redirect him. I felt as though the other children would get him worked up and want to see him get upset. For instance they would take a crayon out of his hand because they wanted it. When I was there I would try to tell the other children that it is not nice to get someone worked up on purpose.

One day he hurt another child so badly, they had a nose bleed and I asked him why he put hands on another friend. He was trying some kind of reason, and then it boiled down to him saying “my dad hits me”. I kind of just was in shock to hear that. I told the main teacher about it and she took actions into her own hands. However, it hurt to know that this child was being abused, so he raged out when someone would bother him, or he did not understand something. It was his way of reaching out for help.

Depending on the child’s culture or family morals, families believe that violence helps to discipline the children. However, there are other means to disciplining children then resorting to violence against them.

Around the World

Sadly children fall into many tragic situations like violence. “In 2016 alone, 1 billion children around the world experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence. Globally, one in four children suffer physical abuse, one in five girls are sexually abused at least once in their lifetime, and more than 240 million children live in countries affected by conflict” (Huffington Post, 2017). 

Places like Haiti, Nigeria, Cambodia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Swaziland, have children both girls and boys who are sexually abused. Many of which are girls who were sexually abused before the age of 18 years old.

It is very sickening to know that children are facing some kind of violence every year. This violence can imprint a long lasting effect on the child’s development, and can cause to obtain diseases such as HIV, mental health problems, chronic diseases and much more. There has to be some kind of way we can prevent this from happening, and eventually decrease over time to become non-existent.

Chart of violence around the world: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/vacs/

Reference:

Huffington Post. 2017, Aug. The Global Epidemic Of Violence Against Children. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-global-epidemic-of-violence-against-children_us_58e7ca87e4b06f8c18beeb55

CDC. Towards a Violence-Free Generation. Using science to fuel action and end violence against children. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/vacs/

Child Development and Public Health: Breastfeeding

1) Describe in what ways this topic is meaningful to you.

Although I did not yet get to experience childbirth and breastfeeding, I still believe breastfeeding is important because that is a great bond between a mother and her child to experience. It also helps prevent from many infectious diseases, sickness, obesity etc. In today’s society, many people frown upon breastfeeding publicly because they believe women are doing it to seek attention. I believe it is something beneficial to babies, so why should it be stopped?

I know for some women this may be hard, due to not producing enough supplement for their child, it can be painful, or because they have a HIV. Of course, this does not mean they are a less of a mother because they cannot provide breast milk to their child. Sometimes nature takes its course and makes it hard for women to do what they are meant to do.

2) Information about this topic from a different part of the world

Doucleef, from NPR morning edition radio, spoke upon breast-feeding around the world. She speak about a women named Brooke Scelza, who visited the desert of northern Namibia, and came cross a village isolated from the modern city called Himba. These people live in mud huts and survive off the land (Douclee, 2017). Scelza said “All the mothers she came across gave birth at home and breast-fed their babies…I have yet to encounter a woman who could not breast-feed at all,” Scelza says. “There are women who have supply issues, who wind up supplementing with goat’s milk, which is not uncommon. But there’s basically no use of formula or bottles or anything like that.”” (Doucleef, 2017).

Scelza believes the reason these women are successful in breastfeeding is because “the mom and her newborn have long, uninterrupted contact right after birth. Since women are at home, there are no doctors and nurses whisking the infant away for weighing, fingerprinting or tests. This contact allows the newborn’s suckling instincts to kick in, researchers have hypothesized” (Doucleef, 2017).

Another reason why she believes other women are succeed better than women in the United States is because they have support. For instance, in many Asian cultures, women have traditionally practiced what’s called “sitting the month,” or zuo yue zi in Mandarin. For 30 days, a woman stays confined in her home and is looked after by grandmothers, in-laws and aunts. These women cook and help the new mom recover from giving birth. They also teach her how to breast-feed” (Doucleef, 2017).

3) Share ways the information you have learned may impact your future work.

I work with children ages 4/5 years old and sometimes their families have younger children. This could help me because I would be able to provide some sort of information to families who need that extra support. The center could provide programs for women how friendly ways to breastfeed. For instance, the CDC provided examples of programs. One program called “Breastfeeding-Friendly Child Care in Wake County” is a “project [that] seeks to improve breastfeeding support in child care centers in North Carolina, especially those serving low-income families” (CDC). They also provide classes such as “How to Support a Breastfeeding Mother: A Guide for the Childcare Center”, where child care centers can support mothers who breastfeed and “Ten Steps to Breastfeeding Friendly Child Care Centers” (CDC).

References

Doucleef, M. June 26, 2017. Secrets of breast-feeding from global moms in the know. NPR  morning edition. Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/06/26/534021439/secrets-of-breast-feeding-from-global-moms-in-the-know

Strategy 6. Support for Breastfeeding in Early Care and Education. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/pdf/strategy6-support-breastfeeding-early-care.pdf

 

Childbirth In Your Life and Around the World

••Write about a personal birthing experience. It can be your own birth, your child’s birth, or one you took part in. What do you remember about the event? Why did you choose this example? What are your thoughts regarding birth and its impact on child development?

I have not experienced child birth yet, but I asked my mom about her experience having me. She got up at 6:30 in the morning to use the bathroom, however, she began to feel pain and at first she ignored it. She began to realize she was having contractions, and as they got stronger, each contraction was a puddle of water because she was retaining a lot of water. At around 9:30/10 o’clock in the morning, she headed to the hospital with her husband (my father) and they said she was not dilated enough so they sent her back home.

Back home she laid around, walked and had some tea. However, because the contractions were 10 mins apart, they decided to go to the hospital again, however, once again they sent her back home to some more walking. Therefore, she walked around, refreshed herself, and fell asleep. The next day was the same scenario. Hospital and home trips.

Around 8 o’clock pm, they induced the labor. She told me she could not lay down because of so much pain, so she took walks in the hospital hallway. The funny thing is, the nurses knew where to find her because she left a trail of water. On May 29th, around 9:40 in the evening, a baby girl was born at 7lbs 8oz, and 19 inches long.

My thoughts on regarding birth is that it seems like a wonderful, painful experience. It becomes such a strong bond between a mother and her child throughout the nine months and after birth.

••Choose a region of the world or a country, other than the U.S., and find out how births happen there. Write about what you learned, and the differences and similarities with your experience (in the personal example you provided). What additional insights, if any, about the impact of the birthing experience on development, did you gain from this comparison?
In the Netherlands, expectant mothers deliver their child with a midwife. Doctors only intervene if the child or mother is at high-risk. Mothers have the choice to have either a home delivery or at the hospital. Home delivers are more common. However, if you do opt for a in hospital birth, it is unlikely that you will receive an epidural because you would need to see if it works with the anesthesiologist’s schedule.

If all goes well, the baby will be able to go home in less than two hours. Then a nurse or kraamhulp (maternity home care) to provided medical care, and home assistance for a week.

There are many more interesting stories from Germany, Japan, Brazil, and Turkey in the link below:

http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/giving-birth/vaginal/birth-customs-around-the-world/