I taught first grade for 7 years. All of those years were spent teaching at an inner city charter school in Indianapolis. 85% of our students were free lunches, behavior was huge challenge schoolwide, and we had very low parent involvment.
The effects of poverty, hunger, chaos, and violence could be seen some of my students' performaces in the classroom. One particular student I remember was a six year old boy. This child was so tired everyday. He often fell asleep during instruction and independent work. One day he came to school and seemed even worse than usual. At recess that day he told me about how his night had gone the previous night. He was sleeping in his bedroom, when his door flung open and closed, his mother's boyfriend ran in very quickly and hid under the covers next to my student. Minutes later my student heard loud yelling voice outside his bedroom door. The police then busted down his door, ripped back the covers, handcuffed and arrested his mom's boyfriend. My student not only watched it all, but was right in the middle of it. The interesting part about all of this is that he acted like it wasn't that big of deal, kind of like it just interrupted his sleep a little. It really made me start thinking about what kind of true chaos and violence this young child sees on a daily basis. This chaos affected him physically, mentally, and emotionally. He should be in middle school right now, and I often think about how he is doing. I have no doubts that this stress as a young child has had lasting effect on him.
My brother-in-law just returned from Afghanistan, so I was curious about how the war effects this children in this region. Not only are Afghani children experiences the stress of war, but they are also faced with violence, trauma, chaos, abuse, and poverty. One consequence of facing these stressors is post-traumatic stress disorder. According to Science Daily, some of the solutions to this problem are "better education, immediate mental health interventions and treatment after a violent conflict, and humanitarian assistance for trauma-affected populations in resource-poor countries." Knowing the lasting affects war can have on grown adults who return back to civilian life, really makes me scared for how much more damaging life like this can have for children who aren't removed from it.
Source taken from:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623112106.htm
As educators we have to take into consideration school might be a child's only happy place or environment where they feel safe. Thank you for sharing your students story. I often wonder about the children who play and live in the environment of war. I wonder what do they dream of at night. Great post and pictures!
ReplyDeleteThat is such a horrible situation for the little boy in your class, and that he didn't even realize it was not normal! I'm sure all of the solutions Science Daily suggested would be helpful when a child is removed from a war-torn area, but I wonder what the lasting psychological effects would be. I like your picture of the soldier with the little boy, it's very touching.
ReplyDeleteThe little boy is like so many kids today violence is so common place it is normal. We as educators must be on the alert for signs of stress, take the time to listen and understand, this may help to relieve some of the stress. You spoke about the children in Afghanistan how the war has torn their families apart. I look at the American families that are torn apart they have lost
ReplyDeletelove ones. Their lives have changed,though they are here they still have stress due to a war on the other side of the world. They worry about their safety as well as their family member that is gone.