Consequences of Stress on Child Development

Many children are affected by stressors in their every day lives.  Personally, I was one of many children whose parents divorced when I was young.  Prior to their separation, however, there was quite a bit of noise and chaos (both stressors) going on in my life.  My parents argued frequently, though they tried to wait until I was asleep I still heard them often.  Once they separated my life was really chaotic, bouncing between parents and homes.  I was lucky though because both my parents made a concious effort to ensure that I was happy despite the bad situation.  I don't think it had a negative impact on my life, though.  I do think that I dealt with it by trying to overachieve in school, which turned out to be a really big positive in my life.  I think it did affect how I form relationships with other people, though.  I feel like I have to be "tough" all the time and sometimes that comes off as being cold towards people.  I am not at all a "cold" person and once I get to know someone I care deeply for them.  I sometimes have trouble showing that I care though, and I think it is directly related to my parents' relationship.  I do not like to complain about the situation because I know that there are so many children who have to endure so much worse.  Some children have to go through things that I don't even want to imagine as an adult having to deal with. 

One region of the world that I feel children have to deal with a lot of stress is the Middle East.  These children have spent their whole lives living in a war zone.  Every single stressor you could think of they deal with.  Violence, war, poverty, hunger, racism, noise, chaos, etc.  They live in such an unstable world it is sad to think the kind of effects the war will have on them as adults.  They will probably grow up having negative views of certain races and cultures.  Many of the children's physical growth, as well as cognitive, could be negatively affected as well.  There are organizations dedicated to reducing the negative effects of these stressors for children.  War Child International is one of those organizations. 

War Child International implements projects in Afghanistan, Burundi, Chechnya, Colombia, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda, West Bank and Gaza according to the following themes:

• Child protection: to protect children and young people against the consequences of armed conflict.
• Education: to enable children and young people's access to education.
• Justice: to ensure children and young people's access to justice when their rights are violated.
• Livelihoods: to build sustainable local livelihoods that address children and young people's fundamental needs.
• Psychosocial: to stimulate children and young people's own psychological and social development.

The progragm is dedicated to helping both the short and long term needs of children living in war zones.  I love to see that there are other people out there who care about the effects this is having on children and are in a position to help make it better.