Poverty And The Development Growth In Young Children

For children to develop their full holistically development, it is of paramount importance for having healthy growth and development. The disadvantages of poor child growth regardingthe holistical development are severe and far-reaching (de Onis, 2017 pp. 119). A child that is conceived should be in an environment where all the needs are met. This should be the case from birth through to adulthood. If the conditions are less conducive, this can lead to many challenges affecting the growth and development of the child. A very integralrole in shaping the behavior and development of the child is the physical environment. The overall quality of the environment determines the level of involvement of the children and interaction between adults and children.

The circumstance that is depicted in the picture is one that describes a lacking in modern facilities where children can consume food in a healthy way. It highlights poverty and a detrimental living situation that can be harmful. The children are consuming food while sitting on the ground. This living condition can cause a range of factors that will affect both current and long-term well- being. The environment can be infested with insects and bacteria that can cause the children to become sick. Furthermore, there are no adults present that could encourage them to wash their hands to promote proper hygiene. As a result of this, diarrhea and vomiting will occur. In addition, there is garbage to one side of the yard. The children are living in a very deplorable condition without essential amenities. The lack of these crucial amenities creates the ideal condition where bacteria and viruses can be quickly grown and spread. The general environment seems unhealthy for human habitation.

The most precious time of your life is during childhood. This stage is where your experience shapes you into the adult we become. A child’s healthy growth and development are dependent on many factors, including the physical environment in which they reside. Additionally, Children who reside in poor or overcrowded conditions are at higher risk for respiratory problems, infections, and mental health problems (Chances of a lifetime, n. d). The nature of physical surroundings can influence the wellbeing of children within the environment.

The reason why the children’s living conditions could have a negative impact is that their bodies are in a developing stage and are considered at greater risk especially when they are opened to environmental contaminants (children's environmental health, n. d). For example when children put their hands in their mouth as you see depicted in the picture they are likely to be contaminated.

Additionally, social development plays a central role in a child’s personality. Parents often believe that their children’s social skills are a fundamental part of who they are, however, living in a condition as the one depicted in the picture may result in stress which may reveal in the form of shyness. Arising from the shyness one may become withdrawn and may pass over for opportunities. The more assertive you are in life, the higher the possibilities of you succeeding. Being physically active gets your child moving. It develops his motor skills and gives him or her opportunity to explore his world. Davis (2017) accentuates that “stress can profoundly affect a child’s social development. " She further added that "children exposed to maternal stress in the uterine environment tend to be more fearful and reactive and could grow up to be shy children” (Davis, 2017, para. 2). Stress in children can causes changes in the brain development. According to the Centre for Developing child (2017b), “toxic stress also weakens the architecture of the developing brain, which can lead to lifelong problems in learning, behavior, and physical and mental health. ” What assistance can you provide for them and their family?

Both the schools and families have essential roles to play in promoting children’s positive development and academic performance. When educators and parents work collaboratively, they create valuable opportunities for children’s growth and development (NEAPD Van Roekel, n. d). The assistance I would offer to this family is to seek to explore what assistance the school and government agency have to offer, whether it be monitory or in the form of a kind. Where I find programs that they are qualified for, I will introduce them to it. Secondly, I would offer to monitor so that they are doing what they are supposed to do. After I have done my investigation, I would meet with the family to ensure their willingness to accept or participate in the assistance. To ensure their cooperation, I will point out the benefit of the intervention. Then, I will emphasize the benefits. The school feeding program focus on providing breakfast lunch and a small snack after children arrive at school (Henrichs 2010 Benefits Of School Feeding Programmes Health Essay, 2015). Breakfast usually provides children with approximately one- third of their daily energy and other nutritional benefits that they need to function effectively. Also, I would introduce them to the school bursary. The bursary funds are offered at the discretion of the school, via consultation with the principal or school board. They are designed to assist families of children with high potential. Also, the bursary funds are usually provided to pay for a specific part of your child’s education such as tuition fees.

With this, I will provide them with differentiated instructions. In the meantime, I will scaffold them. According to Lev Vygotsky (1960) postulates that scaffolding refers to a process in which teacher model or demonstrates how to solve a problem. I will provide the support that required them to move beyond their current skill and knowledge levels by asking questions and providing a challenge that is just beyond what the children can already do easily by themselves. Subsequently to this, I will model the steps involved, and when the children show effort, I will praise them for their efforts, by giving them high five’s, and so on, This will certainly boost their confidence and their self-esteem.

According to the World Health Organization (2011, p. 10) defines Intervention strategy as a "set of activities aimed at modifying a process, a course of action or sequence of events to change one or several of their characteristics, such as performance or expected outcome. " First and foremost I would work on their self-esteem. Therefore, building self-esteem is imperative. The three intervention strategies are differentiated instruction, scaffold, and modeling. The differentiated instruction is a framework or philosophy for effective teaching. ‘Differentiation as I envision it does not seek to label and segregate students, but rather to serve them effectively in the heterogeneous classrooms that are responsive to their various needs’ (Wu, 2013, p. 127). Wu (2013) further stated that a size one fits all does not work in a classroom when you have diversity. I would design lessons based on students learning styles, group students by shared interest, topic or ability for activities or assignments. Another aspect is modeling the behavior. According to Albert Bandura 1961 postulates that “Behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning” (McLeod, 2016). Henderson (2018, para 4) posits that "many children or teenagers do not know how to act solely because they have not seen or experienced the behavior to reproduce that particular demeanor. " Some ways to model behavior are to watch a video and create rules that the students and adult will model together. After this the student agrees to follow what they help create.

Furthermore, Jerome Bruner coined that students need active support from teachers when learning new information. Also, he made mention that the support will eventually fade after students mature independently in their thinking and acquire new skills and knowledge (Wheeler, 2017). Lastly, I would use parenting education and support programs. These programs are designed to ameliorating the adverse effects of poverty on family characteristics, such as lack of responsive stimulation or learning materials, with the goal of improving child well-being. Armstrong(2013) opines that “the positive parenting program promotes an environment that is safe and engaging, creates positive learning environments, uses effective discipline, creates clear and reasonable expectations and self-care for parents. I would use these intervention methods so that the children do not feel isolated, or inferior but instead they will now feel a sense of belonging and soon realize their full potential.

Human beings have three major sides to the individual which are mental, physical and emotional. Ifthere is lacking in any of the three areas, the holistic development of the individual is affected. ‘A growing body of research in the United States and Western Europe documents significant effects of the physical environment (toxins, pollutants, noise, crowding, chaos, housing, school and neighborhood quality) on children and adolescents’ cognitive and socio-emotional development’(Ferguson, Cassells, MacAllister &and Evans, 2013: 437). Having this knowledge, I know that an unhealthy environment will affect children whether it is physically, mentally, cognitively and overall their holistic development. Leo (2018) posits that the environment can affect all of us. But with children, they do not acquire the skills as yet to filter out certain things. Therefore, they tend to soak up sounds, sights, smells, textures and all the emotions around them. If any of these children are removed from this environment then over a period, we will see positive changes starting to occur. As a parent, I believe that the environment has an immense influence all the way throughout children’s life. Over the years of being in the classroom, the children that come to school hungry and display characteristics that they are less fortunate tends to be sicker, low achievers and is not able to concentrate. According to Children Medical Services (2012) Nature has to do with the biological or hereditary aspect that affects how children develop while nurture is the contact that children experience within the environment on a day to day basis. If a child is not receiving nurture, then it will have a negative impact on that child. For example, where a child grows up in the environment where most of the financial industry or even spirits, they are likely to take that path as they are brought up in an environment nurturing them towards such.Moreover, if those children were to be removed to a different environment, then it will promote improved child health and development. As a result, it will help the child to form quality social relationships with peers. Leo accentuates that providing a nurturing environment for children helps by providing for their surviving physical needs whether it be comprised of food, shelter, protection, and clothing. For example, when a child is born of high pedigree, this means their parents are of higher standard when it comes to a certain attribute. It is imperative to create a warm, caring and loving environment where children can thrive. Martinez (2017, para 1) articulates that an important aspect of how the child progresses depends on the condition of a child's environment.

ETS (no date: 6) posits that ‘The poverty rate is an important social and economic indicator that is used to allocate resources for scores of federal, state, and local programs. Work should continue to expand the official definition of income to include government spending directed at low-income families and to recognize cost-of-living differences across regions’. It is essential that as a society we join hands and hearts together in taking care of our children. Children that lack a safe, caring, nurturing and loving environment will end up being affected in the future. Some children based on the picture highlighted are denied the rights to their basic needs and often forced to live in deplorable conditions.

In situations like these, we see where significant changes are needed, and social change is a fundamental part of creating an impact in society. Therefore, my recommendation is to encourage more influential people to start advocating for these children.