A good friend of mine had a rough childhood. Growing up my
friend lived in a rough neighborhood where he was exposed to gang violence and
drugs on a daily basis. He was out of his house by the age of thirteen and
found himself in with a violent crowd. Eventually the violence he was exposed to
lead to aggressive behaviors. Now, even though he has completely turned his
life around and is on the right side of the law he still has to attend therapy
once a month to deal with his aggressive behaviors.
From researching violence exposure in countries around the
world I came across an article that studied a group of children that discovered
that “Viewing extreme violence and terrorism, either directly by witnessing
acts or indirectly by watching them in the media, affects children’s mental and
emotional health” (Pediatrics, 2016). This research also discovered that “Children’s
vulnerability, immaturity, and developmental state change their perspective, and
the tools used to confront these issues do not affect each child equally”
(Pediatrics, 2016).
I decided to look into this stressor because my friend is
someone that I care deeply about and children’s exposure to violence is a
stressor that can cause lifelong consequences for the child.
Resource:
Pediatrics, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. (March
23, 2016). Mental and Emotional Health of
Children Exposed to News Media of Threats and Acts of Terrorism: The Cumulative
and Pervasive Effects. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4803729/
Hello Nicole,
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about your friend, but amazed that he was able to turn it around because often the violent crowd's lead to being in gangs and when you do not really have a family it is tempting to be a part of a gang. I'm glad he was able to turn it around and he is getting support from medical professionals. My husband used to tell me the children in Afghanistan were pretty damaged due to violence and cultural beliefs, he said he would feel horrible every time he seen them because, they just look so emotionally hurt. Growing up in violence is extremely damaging to development and I believe that these children learn to live in "fight or flight" mode.