Violence has a stressor

 

I believe that violence is a stressor for many children. I had a friend whose son was shot and it took a toll on his children. They were scared to sleep and started doing worse in school.  They would not trust anybody except their family. Violence to me is one of the biggest stressor for everyone but really bad for the children. They do not understand what is happening and why people would be so mean and want to hurt another person.  According to an article in the Daily Science; "We know that exposure to violence is linked with aggression, depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms and academic and cognitive difficulties in the short term, but little is known about the long-term effects of such exposure," said Elizabeth Susman, Jean Phillips Shibley Professor of Biobehavioral Health, Penn State. "Our data show that the stress reaction to violence exposure is not just immediate.”( www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120703162630.htm).

To help them along their parents got them into counseling to help deal with their emotions and to help them find other ways to deal with the stress of it all.

A country that I am interested in learning more is Kuwait my son was stationed there and he told me some things that sounded interesting.

I was wondering how the children were doing after the war. According to the article I read the children are still having problems many years later.

People suffered from this brutal and fateful period when the country was under occupation, either by being forced to start over from scratch or by working in a new job, building a new house. Many people fell into poverty.

Experts have identified a number of different unhealthy emotions felt by those who lived through the occupation. The emotions themselves are not particularly different or unique from what children experience in many other situations. However, in this PTSD context, the Kuwaiti children are experiencing a number of these emotions simultaneously and with greater intensity. And this intensity, if left untreated, increases with time. Anxiety is the most common aspect of post-traumatic stress disorder especially in children. It is an unpleasant emotional state. It is frequently followed by physiological symptoms that may lead to fatigue or even exhaustion. It is something that I hope the children and all the people can get over what has happen and learn to be happy once again.

Penn State. "Exposure to violence has long-term stress effects among adolescents." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 July 2012. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120703162630.htm>.

Post-traumatic stress disorder in Kuwait." 123HelpMe.com. 30 May 2015
    <http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=44228>.

 

 

 

Safe Water

Access to healthy water is important to me because I have seen what it is like not to have clean water. So many people in the world does not have clean water and children get so ill and many die. In the United States about the only time we do not have fresh water available is after a severe storms of floods. Most of us in the U.S. have easy access to bottled water or water  filters that we can use.

In Africa where there is lack of clean water 1 out of every 5 deaths under the age of 5 is due to a water-related disease. Most of these waterborne diseases are not found in developed counties because they have a sophisticated water systems that filters and chlorinate to eliminate all disease organisms. Clean and safe water is essential to healthy living. As you might know there is lots in poverty places that have no water in Africa because they cannot afford to clean the water.  So if someone does find a source of water than everyone rushes to it and then the clean water is gone.
The information that I have learned and would share is by talking about this with my students and together maybe start some type of fundraiser to help those in Africa to help the children over there. I worked at a school that we did to a fundraiser to help dig a well in Africa so they could have clean water and the children felt proud because raised enough for two wells.