Stress and Children's Development

There are many stressors that can affect children's development in all areas. These stressors include war, poverty, hunger, abuse, disease, and many others. While I am fortunate enough to have had no experience with any of these, I am very aware of the reality of these issues and the damage they can do to a child.

A close friend of mine spent the first few years of her life living in poverty. Her parents moved to the US from the Bahamas hoping to find a better life. They already have one child and then, while living in a two bedroom apartment, have five more. They could not afford to take care of these children and were having a hard time keeping food on the table. They visited the local food bank often and while their home was very crowded, they made it work. A few years late, Habitat for Humanity built her family a house. They were incredibly grateful and still are today, as her father donates money regularly to the organization.This house and help with their bills allowed the father the opportunity to save a little bit of money that lead to him starting his own business. He is now able to support his family without any assistance and is doing very well. Living in poverty did not negatively affect my friend because she did not have to live in the situation for very long. She always had food and parents that did all that they could to improve the situation. While, thankfully, my friend was not affected, it is a sad reality that many are. Children here in the United States and all across the world live in poverty that also leads to hunger and unclean water. These factors can affect a child's physical development and in turn, slower cognitive development.

The country that I decided to research for this assignment is Greece. Greece is such a beautiful country and it is a place that I would love to visit. I am aware that Greece has been having a hard time with their economy lately, but I had no idea to what extent. The economy in Greece has fallen 20% in the last five years with an unemployment rate of 27%, the highest in all of Europe (Alderman, 2013). Due to the lack of work available, many families are having to ration food, leaving children and adults alike, going hungry. According to a recent report, 10% of all Greek elementary and middle school children are suffering from hunger. The schools in Greece do not offer reduced and free lunch programs like America does, so if a child does not have food from home or money for lunch, the child will go hungry. These statistics are incredibly saddening and leave my heart very heavy. The Greek Orthodox Church has started collecting food from the public to help those in need while individual schools are also coming together to collect food for families. It does not seem that the government is assisting much with this issue. Children that are left hungry will not only suffer from delayed physical development, but will also reduce their rate of learning, slowing cognitive development as well (Alderman, 2013).

References
Alderman, Liz. (2013). More Children in Greece are Going Hungry. The New York Times. [Online         Journal]. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/world/europe/more-children-in-greece-start-to-go-hungry.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0