Consequences of Stress on Children's Development: Natural Disaster and Poverty

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans, Louisiana and affected many of the surrounding states in the U.S.A.  Consequently, members of my family were directly affected by this natural disaster.  Many people would describe hurricane Katrina as “living nightmare”. Although forecast as a severe threat, no one, I knew could really fathom the devastation that would occur as a result.  My cousin, Mike Scott, and his family were directly affected by the natural disaster. My cousin was 7 years old at the time.  The hurricane forced my cousin and his family to relocate. They lost their house, cars, and many of their personal possession. The services that assisted my cousin and his family during their transition came from the American Red cross, FEMA and the Washington, DC school district (where Mike and his family relocated). He was able to enroll in his appropriate grade level and was offered in school therapy sessions and a mentor.  My mother would tell me after having conversation with Mike’s mother, (Aunt Pat) that Mike was starting to wet the bed again and that he would wake up in the middle of the night crying. For a short period of time before moving to Washington, DC Mike and his family lived in a shelter staff by the American Redcross, this was a very difficult experience for my cousin Mike to adjust to. Mike was born and raised in New Orleans, LA and did wasn’t really aware to the extent of his parents how devastating hurricane Katrina was to the community at large. Once Mike adapted to his new home, school and supportive services, he began to flourish and is now performing at a higher level of that of his peers academically. His transition wasn’t smooth; nonetheless, he was able to cope with the change and was able to obtain the necessary support from, family members, friends, school teachers and governmental resources.

In the article, Child Labour among Working Children in Ogun State, Nigeria, by Akinola Dosunmu and Babajide Abidogun, the authors highlight how poverty is one of the main contributing factors in regards to children being forces to entire the workforce.  Children in Nigeria with poor parental background often engage in working instead of continuing school. Consequently, working children are then latter offer low paying jobs, which inevitable fosters the cycle of poverty. Many children and their families are homeless in Nigeria. Therefore children enter the workforce as a part of survival and employers find that child labor very attractive, because they are able to pay them substantially less than an adult, (Dosunmu &Abidogun , 2011). Dosunmu and Abidogun, (2011) recommend that “parent should be recommended of the adverse effects of child labor and that  The government should by providing a favorable economic environment for Nigeria because it has been identified that poverty is the cause of child labor in developing countries (Nigeria inclusive),” (Dosunmu &Abidogun , 2011). Dosunmu and Abidogun, (2011) survey/research concluded that the majority of child workers do not want to enter the workforce, but feel obligated to in order to help supplement their family’s income.  Although poverty is an endless issue in Nigeria, the Unites of America and around the world, I find that it is most vital for authors like Dosunmu and Abidogun to create awareness on the poverty epidemic crisis to the general public and politicians/world leaders in order to generate movement towards decreasing the effects of poverty on children in general. It is evident that the effects of poverty certainly trickle down to younger generations and play a role to the development of children and the field.

References:

Dosunmu, A. and Abidogun, B., (2011) Child Labour among Working Children in Ogun State, Nigeri. European Journal of Social Science, (25)3, p411-417, 7p, 2 Charts.  Retrieved July 21, 2012, from Academic Search Complete.