Stressors on child development--War

I have been thinking about this assignment all week, and I truly cannot think of any stressors I experienced personally. I feel very connected to a family I knew in Missouri who were foster parents to 2 siblings, Mariah and Taven. I was Mariah's teacher when she was 2, 3, and 5; and I also taught Taven when he was 3. I watched their development for three years. Their mother was given two specific chances to have them back while I was there, and honestly, it broke my heart because they were no longer in my care. I could not provide the consistent care they needed during those times of transition. They had a special bond because they had to stick together while their lives were in chaos. A couple times, I heard stories about mom or dad that I had to report. Social Services sent people out to investigate, but those two never said what they said to me those times. Emotionally and socially, I noticed certain behaviors that were cause for concern on their development, but it all factored into what was happening in their lives. The foster parents that had them all those times they were taken from mom were such great people. They also legally adopted another boy that had been in their foster care for 2 years. I can see things differently now after reading the text this week. They did have a delayed development in speech and social skills.

Another thing that I started thinking about, due to my own situation, was the stress of war on families. I am married to a Marine, and although we do not have children yet, when we do, how much will be around for? What will our future children experience in their development if their father is not around that much, and it's out of his control? I know 2 families going through this right now. One family, the mother is a Marine and deployed, while the father raises their 3 children, aged 1, 2, and 4. Isn't it harder for the father to play both roles as mother and father, than it would be for a mother? The other family is one of my friends whose husband is Air Force, stationed in Georgia now, but they have 2 kids, aged 3 and 6. The 3 years in Missouri, I met him twice. When they first came to my daycare, the youngest was 1 and the oldest was 3...dad has been away for a long time. Those two are growing up with a fantastic family of a mom, grandma, aunt, and greatgrandma living very close, but what is happening in their development without a male figure? I have never noticed anything stressful with their situation, except what it does to mom who also plays both roles of mother and father, and does not have the day to day support from her husband. What I gained in this reflection is that these children are doing okay considering they have a network of support from family. There will be challenges arise that would be easier faced with both parents, but for the most part, they are doing just fine with consistent care in their school and daycare, and with secure attachment to their family.

Along the lines of armed services, I chose to look further into the role of war in child development. I found a website that covers this type of stress, from an organization working to provide support for families. In Uganda, there has been a very long war between Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army. This army would emprison children in order to force them to fight and mold them into the soldiers they want for their army. Women and children were being abandoned, either by death from the war or from the fathers leaving due to the stress. Mothers became very depressed and stressed; therefore, not providing adaquate care or nutrition to their children. Women were also forced into marriages with soldiers, and they became pregnant often and close together. These women would abort or abandon many of these children. The number of orphaned and abandoned children has vastly increased due to this war. The SOS Children organization is helping these orphans cope with life in Uganda. They opened a SOS Social Centre to support the mothers and children abandoned, as well as the abandoned children. The website says this: "Education, health care and employment are human rights. Due to poverty, illness and the political unrest in the area, the number of children without the support of their natural family is increasing steadily and SOS Children is constantly developing its approach to child care in order to meet these changing needs.The aim of our “Family Strengthening Programmes” and SOS Social Centres is to respond realistically and effectively to the situation of orphans, vulnerable children and their families and to prevent child abandonment. Through skills training, literacy classes, education, counseling and improved nutrition the families know they can become independent, self-reliant and confident in their own ability to provide for the children in their care. Ultimately the communities want to care for their children." (SOS Children, n.d.)

SOS Children. (n.d.) Child soldiers in Uganda. Retrieved from http://www.child-soldier.org/children-in-conflict-child-soldiers-in-uganda