CONSEQUENCES OF STRESS ON

CHILD DEVELOPMENT

When I was four years old, there was an outbreak of the swine flu, which led to a mass immunization program. The vaccine was associated with numerous reports of the Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which is a rare disorder in which your body's immune system attacks your nerves.  In 1976, the CDC released that people who got the vaccination did have an increased risk of contracting the Guillain-Barre syndrome was “approximately one additional case of GBS for every 100,000 people who got the swine flu vaccine.” (Eschner, 2017). Unfortunately, my mother was one of the 1 in 100,000 affected by the swine flu vaccination.  For thirty-four years, she battled with effects until her passing in 2010.  When we lived in Wyoming, my parents were socially active in the community and had a close group of friends.  After my mom fell ill, we moved to Texas and left behind their social support system.  My parents did not develop a new social group of friends.  Our family life revolved around my mother’s medical needs and multiple stays in the hospital.  Christian (2006) recommended an educator create a classroom climate of safety and positive feedback.  I recall an incident during first grade that left a lasting impact on me.  After a long night of helping care for my mom, I shared with a classmate that my mom had diarrhea.  The student told others, which led to multiple students giggling and making fun of the word.  When my teacher heard that I used the word diarrhea and miss understood the context.  I was immediately taken to her office, given a spanking, and told that diarrhea was not an appropriate topic for a first-grader.  That was my first and last spanking at school.  It was, also, the last time I shared my family life with classmates.  I learned that what happened at home, stayed at home.  To this day, I prefer to keep my personal life, personal.

Since I was the youngest and the one at home the most, I took on the role of caregiver.  Even though my dad was the primary caregiver for the family, it became my self-assigned duty to help care for my mom so that my dad was not always burdened by her needs.  Whenever my mom needed help she would call for my dad, so I learned to step up and offer to take care of her needs, which ranged from fixing her another cup of hot tea, getting her a blanket, helping in and out of her wheelchair, to even helping her go to the bathroom.  This continued even after I graduated, moved away, and started my own family.  According to Christian (2006), family roles can be carried over to work, school, and social settings.  This has proven true for me in so many ways, my high school friends gave me the nickname of Mother Hubbard because of my mothering tendencies during social gatherings.  In my work as special education teacher, I was able to devote my time and energy to caring for the needs of children with disabilities.  When asked to describe me, my coworkers would say that I am nurturing.

References:

Eschner, K. (2017). The Long Shadow of the 1976 Swine Flue Vaccine ‘Fiasco’.  Retrieved June 1, 2018 from https://smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/long-shadow-1976-swine-flue-vaccine-fiasco-180961994/

Garris Christian, L. (2006). Understanding families: Applying family systems theory to early childhood practice. Young Children, 61(1), 12-20.

In South Africa, there are many children who are growing up caring for relatives with HIV and Aids.  Approximately 40% of kids in Aids-sick homes are missing or have dropped out of school, compared to 22% in homes affected by other illnesses, and 5% in healthy homes. "Almost a third of the young carers – sometimes as young as eight – report carrying out intimate care, such as washing sick people, helping them go to the toilet and cleaning their wounds" (Tobin, 2010).  "Children are also affected by HIV through the loss of family members. In South Africa more than 2 million children have been orphaned by HIV and AIDS" (Avert, 2018).

References:

HIV and AIDS in South Africa. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/sub-saharan-africa/south-africa

Tobin, L. (2010). South Africa's children caring for parents with Aids.  Retrieved June 1, 2018 from hpps://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/jun/22/hiv-aids-child-carers-south-africa