Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

 

Many families across the United States undergo many stressors when one or both parents have a responsibility to the arm forces. A soldier’s obligation to the military can put a strain on the relationship that they are building with their children, especially of young ages. It can become a challenge to help a small child to understand why one of their parents will not be home for an extended period of time. Although a child may begin to understand their soldier will eventually arrive home one day, it still does not fill that void in which that child is experiencing.

Chloe and Courtland’s father has been deployed since September of 2013. For the first few months of the deployment, the children spent their time wondering where their father was. As time progressed, Chloe and Courtland’s question changed to, “When will daddy make it home?” They completely understood that their father is away servicing the country, but they are beginning to feel that void in their lives.

Along with the children experiencing the void of their father being in Afghanistan, they are beginning to express this void through their actions. The children often say, “I want to see my daddy”. There are many times when Chloe and Courtland see their father’s car and they begin think that their soldier has arrived, but he hasn’t.  Courtland frequently express his void through anger and acting out. Courtland say, “I want my daddy” when the other fathers are picking up his classmates from childcare.

The children are still in the beginning stages of coping with their void. At least twice a week, Chloe and Courtland get a chance to talk to their father on the telephone or via face time. For different holidays, the children get a chance the make something special for their father and mail it to him. Chloe and Courtland take plenty of pictures throughout the week to send to their father. All of these things have been very therapeutic for the children. 

Pictured to the right are:

Courtland, Chloe, and Sergeant First Class Cedric J. G. 

Breastfeeding

            According to Wikipedia, “breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts rather than using infant formula. It is brought on by sucking reflexes that enables the baby to suck and swallow the milk. Some reasons why this topic is meaningful to me are because of the benefits to mother and child. As a mother, I breast fed my oldest child, however with my youngest child, I could not breastfeed because of a medication for my heart.

The benefits for mothers are:

-Bonding

-Hormone Release

-Weight Loss

-Long-term effects of lactation on health and body composition

-Gestational changes

-Postpartum changes

-Long-term health effects

-Financial Benefits

-Natural postpartum infertility

Benefits for the infant:

-Immunity

-Infections

-Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

-Diabetes

-Childhood Obesity

            In India, mothers commonly breastfed their children until 2 to 3 years of age. Cow’s milk is given in combination with breast milk though use of formula has been on a rise.

To impact the future work of others, different laws on jobs are being made in regard to mothers breastfeeding in the work place. At a school in our community, this is the new policy for mothers that will express milk.

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR BREAST-FEEDING MOTHERS

Each school under the jurisdiction of the School Board shall provide the following:

1.            An appropriate, private room, other than a restroom, that may be used by an employee to express breast milk. 

2.            A reasonable amount of break time to accommodate an employee needing to express breast milk that, to the extent possible, shall run concurrently with the break time already provided to the employee, and that shall be available to the employee for up to one (1) year following the birth of her child.

3.            Procedures for the employee to notify her supervisor or other appropriate personnel of her intent to make use of the accommodations offered pursuant to this policy and to schedule accordingly.

Any additional break time used by an employee to express breast milk shall be considered unpaid leave time.

Louisiana Department of Education New policy:  August, 2013

 

References:

“Nutrition in the First 1,000 days: State of the World’s Mothers, 2012 (October 2013)

www.wikipedia.com

Childbirth In Your Life and Around the World

The birthing experience I took part in was a vaginal birth in the United States of America. The birth took place at a hospital and it wasn’t scheduled due to urgent issues the mother encountered while away from home. Some events I remembered about the birth were:

-24 hour labor

-horizontal position of the baby

-minimal movements from the baby

            -the mother had to change her mind from not having an epidural to having one, due to an elevation in her blood pressure

-labor induction medicine (Pitocin) despite the need of urgency as the mother was being transported to labor and delivery; while being prepped for a cesarean section the baby positioned itself for a traditional vaginal birth. This was great because it allowed her family to participate in the birthing experience!

According to the United Nations, approximately 4,500 woman die annually in South Africa due to treatable and preventable pregnancy and childbirth related causes. Human Rights Watch personnel interviewed a large number of women, below is some of the highlighted details from those interviews are as follows:

-They pinched, slapped, and handled roughly during labor.

-nurses ignored help calls

-women were refused pain medicine

-family members were not allowed in the birthing areas because mothers had to “labor” by themselves.

One thing I appreciate as a United States citizen are the rights I have that differs from that of others in other their country. Having insurance, wonderful bed side manners, and pain medicine are major factors.

Walking on the levee is so refreshing!

Suppport

~A Note of Thanks and Support~

I want to express my deep appreciation for the help and support you have offered me throughout my recent online schooling experience. I feel very grateful to you for taking time out of your busy schedule offering me insight in the area of Early Childhood Education. I appreciate your wealth of suggestions and am looking forward to implementing many of them. It is also a delight to know there are others that are interested in forming our foundation, our future, which are our children!

Schooling with you was a great learning experience for me. I really value the knowledge and tips of wisdom you gave, and your willingness to share it with me. I credit our professor, you and our other colleagues for the success of this as well as for my own professional growth. I thank you for that.

You have truly inspired me to work with sincerity and dedication. I am looking forward to implementing all of your valuable suggestions.

Thank you once again for showing me how one can be an exemplary worker in my field and an excellent colleague. I consider you not only a colleague, but a valuable mentor.

Educationally Yours,

Clarencia Grimes

Examining Codes of Ethics

Examining Codes of Ethics

From the Division of Early Childhood (DEC)

Responsive Family Centered Practices:

-We shall respect, value, promote, and encourage the active participation of ALL families by engaging families in ways in the assessment and intervention processes.

-We shall respect families’ rights to choose or refuse early childhood special education or related services.

Enhancement of Children’s and Families’ Quality of Lives:

-We shall recognize and respect the dignity, diversity, and autonomy of the families and children we serve.

From NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct

Section II

Ethical Responsibilities to Families

Ideals

1-2.1-To develop relationships of mutual trust and create partnerships with the families we serve.

1-2.2-To welcome all family members and encourage them to participate in the program.

1-2.6-To acknowledge families’ childrearing values and their right to make decisions for their children.

The significance of these codes of ethics to my professional life is to know that parents feel competent and realize the roles as advocates for their children. An open door policy is another wonderful characteristic for a parent to know when enrolling their child in a school so they’ll know they are welcome in their child’s learning experience at all appropriate times. As educators have to realize and know that parents also have “Parent’s Rights and Responsibilities” and when engaged in IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) or IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan) meetings, they have the right to disagree or agree to their child receiving certain services and they can simply sign off on their tracking folders when meeting with ancillary team members. These are all meaningful to me and the role I have as a teacher in a public school system and having a child of my own with special needs.