Consequences of Stress on Children's Development WK4Assignment 2

I personally have not dealt with these particular stressor as a child , but I can tell about a family that was impacted by one of the stressors listed. On August 29, 2005, in New Orleans, Louisiana this student and his family would be affected for the rest of their lives by this Natural Disaster.  Hurricane Katrina had impacted the Gulf Coast and all the residents near it.  I met this family in mid September they moved to St. Francisville, Louisiana from New Orleans, Louisiana. The family had to relocate and find a place to live, new jobs and a school that would take their son.  The federal government allowed our center an additional 12 slots for families that would relocate from New Orleans. This family and others were able to enroll at the facility.  While talking to JB parents, I found out they did not loss any of their family members, but did experience the loss of personal property, stress and depression from the natural disaster.  Not only was the student afraid when it rained or the weather became bad. He also had nightmares at rest time and at bedtime.  The mental health counselor visited with this student on a weekly basis to find out how he was transitioning to his new environment. His mother was also having problems when the weather would become bad or it rained. She would have symptoms like an anxiety attack and would have to rest herself. The family went through counseling for a year and are now coping with their experience of hurricane Katrina.  They ended up buying a house and moving to a great school district that provides resources for their son and his experiences  and offers a great education.  His parents are really involved in his education and his life. The nightmares are not as frequent as they were at the beginning and he understands that every time bad weather comes it will not be a natural disaster like hurricane Katrina.

Studies show that children of Hurricane Katrina six years later, mental health effects are still evident in Gulf Coast children. Children exposed to Hurricane Katrina were nearly 5 times likely to exhibit serious emotional disturbances. The research also concluded that disasters affect children different and important ways which can negatively affect a child's physical, mental, and social development.


The country I chose to gather information about is South Africa. I wanted to know about the issues related to food, civil wars, health conditions, and orphans just to name a few.  Most of the children in this country are malnourished, with no food, clean water to drink or bathe in. The health conditions are really bad they don't have a chance to see a doctor unless a missionary comes to the area on a mission trip. The way they minimize this problem is by receiving help from the United States, different missionaries are sent to this country and they bring doctors, medicine, teachers and food to help the children and people here. Television Evangelist also send truckloads of food and water to help with the stressors they face. Commercials asking the public to make donations for the children in this country also help out with the resources and supplies that are sent to South Africa.

References
Tull, M. (2012). The effect of hurricane Katrina on children.
Nursingworld.org (2010). Children and disasters
Kaminer, D., Eagle, G. (2010) Traumatic stress in South Africa.