Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

"The beneficial aspects of stress diminish when it is severe enough to overwhelm a child's ability to cope effectively" (Middlebrooks & Audage, 2008, pp. 4).

Stress is an important part of life.  There is good stress such as starting a new school, meeting new people, and getting shots.  There is also bad stress such as abuse, neglect, and other long-lasting issues.  Some stress is right in the middle and includes things such as death or a disaster.  Stress can have a positive impact on life if dealt with in a healthy manner.  Otherwise, stress is harmful especially to children.

An acquaintance - let's call her Suzie - shared her stressful childhood with me.  Suzie was neglected as a child.  She started school and went until 1st grade and then her parents pulled her out.  They didn't want to send her, so they didn't.  Nor did they homeschool her.  Online school was nonexistent then.  Suzie was left to fend for herself at home most of her life.  She learned what she taught herself... without the use of a TV, radio, or any other outside connections.  When Suzie turned 18 she left.  She moved far away from her neglectful family and home.  She took in any bit of information like a dry camel filling up on water.  The world became a wonderfully exciting place that could give her things nobody else ever had.  She eventually married and now has a child who is in PreK.  Suzie is not a product of some horrific neglect stories; she took care of herself and believed in herself when nobody else did.  She is taking evening classes to get her GED.  She talks excitedly about things such as long division, chapter books I read in middle school, and reading in general.  You see, Suzie can barely fluently read a children's book to her child out loud.  She has come such a long way and is doing everything that she can to provide her child with the life she never had.  Her child is smart, well taken care of, and exuberant.  The child is full of life that is backed up by a caring mom and dad.  Suzie learns new things from her PreK child and checks with me to be sure the child is correct before believing her sometimes!  It's an exciting life to be involved in.

My mom works closely with Asian exchange students here in the US.  She places them with host families, helps them with traveling, meets with them to study, and does evaluations.  I have gotten to know several of her students and have observed some stress in their lives.  Many of the students do not take time for social interactions.  They go to school and come "home" and study.  The study on the weekends, too.  Most of them, when asked by my mom to go do something as a group, say they would rather stay home and study.  It seems as if there can never be enough studying.  I decided to look into this stressor a little bit.  It just so happens that Asian children are "taught to respect, honor, and obey their parents" (Fung, Ho, Louie, Martinez, & Lau, 2010, p. 176) above all else.  Individual goals are often pushed aside in order to fulfill family goals.  A positive side of this is that there are less conduct problems with Asian young-people but this in turn effects them developmentally.  Studies on Asian children show high levels of achievement academically, even from a young age, but also show low achievement socially in the areas of self-esteem and social interactions leading to loneliness and depression.  The big stressor, even in young children, is in that fulfillment of family oriented goals.  Success is a family thing; succeed and the family succeeds, fail and the family fails.

I think that the exchange programs deal with this well.  They encourage social interactions, especially within the host family.  Students come to the United States to study and get to know other students their age and desire to fit in.  They begin to open up to peer invites to hang out or go do social things.  Perhaps some of them take this lifestyle back to Asia with them and allow it to influence their lives and those around them.

Resources:

Fung, J., Ho, L, Louie, J., L., Martinez, J., & Lau, A. (2010). In F. Leong, L. Juang, D.B. Qin, H.E. Fitzgerald (Eds.) Asian American and Pacific Islander Children and Mental Health Handbook, Volume 2: Prevention and Treatment. California: Praeger. 
Middlebrooks JS, Audage NC. The Effects of Childhood Stress on Health Across the Lifespan. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; 2008.

Breastfeeding - From Central PA to Hong Kong

I am a strong supporter of breastfeeding.  I realize that not all mothers are able to breastfeed their children for a variety of reasons, but when it is possible it should be done.  Breastfeeding is meaningful to me because I have done it; in fact, I am still breastfeeding my son who is now 13 months old.  I plan to continue until he decides to stop or the next baby comes along.  Breastfeeding has fabulous benefits: bonding time and many health/nutritional benefits for baby.  Why wouldn't you want to do it if you could?

Many women in the US don't feel as if they have enough rights when it comes to breastfeeding, especially in public.  Depending on what state you live in the law varies.  In most states breastfeeding in public is not against the law.  The only problem is this: although it's not against the law there is not any way for the mom to enforce her right should she be harassed.  I think that some mom's are scared out of breastfeeding because it's difficult to go out in public especially when the baby is young and still feeding often.  There have been many lawsuits filed regarding breastfeeding in public, many of which have not been yet settled or have not been settled in a sufficient way.  Perhaps this is the bigger issue in the US.

In Hong Kong breastfeeding is becoming more 'normal' these days, although the majority of the population don't breastfeed for long.  Many mothers quit between 1-3 months.  I found that the reason for this is mostly cultural influence.  Breastfeeding is considered embarrassing (especially around anyone else), and there doesn't seem to be much support from family, the workplace, or other organizations as there is in the US.  (We have lactation consultants... WIC services... and it's just not abnormal around here so employers tend to be more supportive of pumping, etc.).  More recently the government in Hong Kong as well as the World Health Organization has begun to actively promote breastfeeding for at least 6 months exclusively and then up to a year.  Perhaps more women will do so in the future.

As a PreK teacher in the daycare setting I interact with many families, not just my PreK families.  I have had discussions with new moms several times about breastfeeding and I plan to continue to do so.  It was interesting to look at this topic from another perspective and I think that I will continue to look at other countries and how they handle breastfeeding.  I'm sure the the more developed countries do it less and the less developed ones do it more.  I guess I'll find out! 

Oh, and a website that I have taken a liking to - for personal information as well as research now - is the LLL site:

La Leche League International

It's great!  There's great information for mothers (or anyone interested) as well as links to information from around the world.

Another great resource is:

Breastfeeding Law

*Some of my info about Hong Kong came from the following article:
Tarrant, M., Fong, D. Y. T., Wu, K. M., Lee, I. L. Y., Wong, E. M. Y., Sham, A., . . . Dodgson, J. E. (2010). Breastfeeding and weaning practices among hong kong mothers: A prospective study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 10(1), 27-27. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2393-10-27

Childbirth Experiences: U.S. and Spain

I gave birth a little over a year ago for the very first time.  My husband and I were blessed with a great hospital that offered childbirth classes; these included a tour of the hospital and staff introductions.  We got to know the space, nurses, possible procedures, and how the place was run overall.  My due date changed several times.  In the end, my midwife was concerned because the baby hadn't grown much in about a month, so she suggested induction.  She knew my wishes for as natural a labor as it could be so she started me with the minimum.  Fortunately, that's all it took - 10 hours later my water broke on it's own, 6 1/2 hours after that I went from 4cm to 10cm in a matter of minutes, and after 10 minutes of pushing we had a beautiful baby boy.  My husband was allowed to stay with me the entire time.  He was encouraged to coach me as well as see the birth take place.  I was asked permission to have a nursing student observe from a distance.  Besides the student, only 2 nurses and my midwife were present with my husband and myself.  The room was spacious, I was asked if and when I wanted music, food, or drink, I was asked many times if I was comfortable.  Most importantly I was asked what I wanted.  My opinions, thoughts, and plan mattered.  The birthing experience was wonderful (and yes, painful for awhile!).  It is my belief that my son was impacted by the prenatal care, birthing care, and postnatal care that not only he received, but that we received as well.  When things go as smoothly as they can because doctors care about the life they are helping to come into the world it makes a huge difference!

On the other hand I did some research on birthing experiences in Spain.  I chose Spain because I have traveled there many times and it interests me.  Overall, it sounds as if birthing experiences there are not up to par.  Doctors and staff were described as very professional but uncaring/unfriendly.  Birth plans go out the window; you do what the doctor tells you to do.  There isn't a whole lot of choice.  Doctors insist that you wear monitors from the minute you get to the hospital until you give birth meaning that you are immobile.  You are in a shared room with up to 4 other women until 8cm and then you move right back to the room when you are cleaned up.  The only pain relief is an epidural in most hospitals and an episiotomy is done regardless of whether or not it is really necessary.  It makes things easier and faster, so it's done.  The baby is shown to the mother and then whisked away immediately.  Fathers are generally told to leave after so long and the first breastfeeding experience is in front of that room full of people.  In general, most people are not satisfied with their experience.  I read some comments that even included the words "scary" and "traumatic". 

Comparing the two experiences, I will take my own any day!  I think that it is a woman's right, no matter what country she is in, to have a say in how birth goes.  I realize that sometimes doctors need to make the final decision if something goes wrong or isn't going as it should, but opinion should be taken into consideration.  I think that the negative experience has an effect on children born into it.  Babies are impacted by these things more than what I assume most people realize.  The time that mother and baby are given to bond immediately after birth in the U.S. are priceless moments that impact a child for the rest of their life!

Thank you!

Thank you to my fellow classmates, colleages, for your support during our first course together.  I hope that I 'see' many of you again as we proceed through our time at Walden.  Your words of encouragement and support have meant a lot.  Good luck as you continue on your professional journey!  What do you foresee as a challenge along your way?  What do you look forward to the most?