Impacts on Early Emotional Development

I choose to explore the regional area of Latin America and the Caribbean. I choose this area because I thought about all of the places I have visited on vacation and I wanted to know what lied beyond the blue skies and clear blue waters that tourist are privy to.

In exploring the site, some of the challenges that children in this region of the world are faced with on a daily basis including lack of secondary education or any education at all. A sever lack of adequate housing, clean drinking water, and sanitary means of excreta disposal. Children also face family income poverty. According to Unicef, “countries with the highest income poverty rates also have the highest child poverty rates” (Unicef, 2011). Malnutrition is another challenge of the region with around 9 million children suffering from stunting.

These experiences might have an effect on children’s emotional wellbeing and development in that child will learn mere survival skills versus learning appropriate cognitive, social and emotional skills needed to properly cope to life’s challenges. Children’s brains are developing most rapidly in the early childhood years, in addition to the basis for emotional and social developmental skills, poverty and challenges faced by disadvantaged children will deeply affect the development of these skills. In addition, both biological and environmental factors affect brain development and behavior. Unicef explains that young children who experience extreme stress are at greater risk for developing cognitive, behavioral or emotional difficulties. Trials faced in this region can have lasting effects on a child’s readiness for school and later on their performance in school if they are able to advance forward. “The initial deficit of interventions for development has a multiplying effect: children raised in poverty complete far less education than middle class children, due in part to their lowered ability to learn in school” (Unicef, 2011). Basically, to sum it all up, children who experience poverty, a lack of secondary education, adequate housing, clean drinking water, and sanitary means of excreta disposal are at a great disadvantage of being able to live a high quality holistic life.

Personally, I am almost ashamed of being so naïve. I have realized this is a growing trend in my learning experience with this entire program, I have been so oblivious to the fact that there are children through the entire world that are suffering day in and day out while I rest at night in a great place. It makes me realize how much I have taken the simple things for granted. As a professional, I want to do more but I realize that I am a bit overwhelmed as to where to start and what would be realistic. I mean, am I to join so type of professional organization, am I to donate money, am I to create a blog spreading the information around, do I involve my children at my center in a partnership with another center around the world, perhaps an orphanage and if so then how do I get started. Again, professionally I realize the importance of taking a stand, but where do I (realistically) start? 

Reference: UNICEF (2011). http://www.unicef.org