Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

I spoke with my best friend regarding any stress she may have felt growing up and she said isolation. Her family was close knit and didnt feel the need to have friends outside of the family so she couldnt have sleepovers or even friends outside her family and if caught she would be disciplined. She said she tried following those rules until she was in middle/high school she found herself sneaking to have friends.  I think that type of treatment made her the social butterfly she is today.  There is an old saying "She meets no strangers" and that is her personality today she talks to everyone and does it with such ease.

The country I researched is Africa the stressors are poverty and HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Children endure exhaustion and stress from work and worry, as well

as insecurity and stigmatisation as it is either assumed that they too are

infected with HIV or that their family has been disgraced by the virus. Loss

of home, dropping out of school, separation from siblings and friends,

increased workload and social isolation may all impact negatively on current

and future mental health

In order to help children and their families

the strength and quality of social institutions, such as the

family, school, church and community associations are critical for children’s

capacity to cope with the effects of the epidemic, and to avert personal

distress, maladjustment and social disorder. It is also true that these

institutions are likely to be weakened as a result of the epidemic, as key

individuals become ill and die, and as those people who remain become

demoralised and overwhelmed by loss and the demands placed on them by

difficult conditions. Therefore, every effort has to be made to support and

strengthen these social institutions in the face of the epidemic, as they

provide the cornerstone for the protection of children. In particular, schools

need to be adapted to provide a range of supports for children: schooling

must be available to all children and every effort must be made to ensure

that all children remain in school; educators and older children can be

sensitised and trained to provide support for children; food and clothing,

especially uniforms, can be provided through schools; and shorter- or longerterm

accommodation can be developed for children in especially difficult

circumstances. Maintaining children’s schooling is an important intervention

in several ways. It retains children’s connectedness to peers, familiar adults

and to an institutional identity. Schooling provides children and society with

future knowledge and skills. Keeping older children in school could also help

to prevent vulnerability to HIV infection, by protecting children and reducing

the child’s need to seek shelter, food and clothing through risky encounters

with unscrupulous adults.