Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

My biggest stressor as a child was suffering from social anxiety.  I believe I developed this because my family moved so much and I changed schools every year until I reached the 9^th grade.  When you are already shy, constantly being forced into strange places with strange people is too much.  At least for me it was.  I never really learned how to create long lasting friendships.  By high school I was completely socially stunned.  I did not participate in class or with activities for fear of rejection and not being accepted.  I lived life strictly alone in my room and through TV.  As a result in my adult life I continued to move all the time out of habit and searching for a place to belong.  I slowly learned the skill of small talk and engaging with others in college and work.  These are things children usually learning in primary school when they are in a comfortable environment.  I basically socially matured or bloomed late.  I started to date or have any interest in it in my 20’s.  I honestly had to learn things most girls learn and experiment with in their teens in my 20’s and still in my 30’s.  I have learned to master my social anxiety now, but certain situations can bring it back.  The only thing I can think of that truly helped me to overcome it was simply age.  With age I seemed to stress less about others and their views of me, hence less anxiety of what they think of me.

The Children of Haiti

The Haiti Children Project lists’ the following as issues of children in Haiti:

·         Hunger and malnutrition is widespread.

·         80% of the population lives below the poverty line.

·         80% will never attend high school.

·         60% of the population lacks access to basic healthcare services.

·         HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death among Haitian children.

·         65% will never finish elementary school.

(Retrieved from http://www.haitichildrenproject.org/children-in-haiti)

Cecile House Academy lists the following as issues of children in Haiti:

·     Haiti has the highest rates of infant, under-five and maternal mortality in the Western hemisphere. Diarrhea, respiratory infections, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are the leading causes of death.

·     Some 60% of people in the in rural areas, lack access to basic health-care services.

·     Numerous schools and hospitals have closed because teachers, social workers and health providers do not go to work for fear of violence.

·     It is estimated that about 5.6% of the population aged 15-49 years old in Haiti are living with HIV/AIDS. This includes about 19,000 children. Antiretroviral drugs are extremely scarce.

·     As many as 2,000 children a year are trafficked to the Dominican Republic, often with their parents’ consent.

·     Approximately 1,000 children are working as messengers, spies and even soldiers for armed gangs in Port-au-Prince.

(Retrieved from http://cecilehouse.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6&Itemid=59)

Unfortunately the government is corrupt and not providing programs, policies, or any real form of help.  Thankfully they do allow some nonprofit groups, such as churches, to created safe haven orphanages for the children.  They do a great deal for the children.  Parents even bring their children to them to have or care for until they can return because they feel they will at least have food and shelter.  The scary thing is that they are not really regulated and there have been many cases of so called orphanages that are selling the children in adoptions.  With all of the natural disasters, poverty, violence, bad government, and so much more there is no real way to track the children.  They are disappearing every day as if they never existed.