Not everyone is aware of children, and their basic development. Most know that children are sometimes raised by one parent, abused, neglected and malnourished. People chose to accept or deny the fact that these actions are happening here and now, everyday and everywhere around them. But they do not know how to prevent It. These are environmental Impacts on child development. Children are affected by the amount of love shown towards them.
The majority of the evidence, done by searchers, is clear that mothers are more effective as parents when they themselves and fathers are both supportive partners and nurturing parents. Children are great recipients of affection when raised by warm, loving parents. Most used to believe mothers were solely important in child development, because of this researchers tended most often to study mothers’ behavior. When research concluded that there are significant effects of maternal behavior, in a child’s life, the researchers were motivated to study maternal bond even more.
At the very most, fathers were Hough to be a hindrance to the difficult and taxing undertaking of parenting; because children spend most of their first few crucial years of child development with their mothers. Some even argued that fathers have no biological aptitude for childcare, because women were said to have many of the traits and skills necessary for raising children. That helped to re-enforce the researcher’s beliefs that fathers were not very important (Thompson). The love shown by a father is one of the determining factors in a child’s self esteem.
The self esteem of a daughter is redirected by father’s affection and mother’s general support on her decisions. With a son it is a little bit different; the child’s self esteem has been predicted by father’s sustained contact and mother’s companionship in his life. Researchers have even discovered that a father’s love sometimes explains a unique, independent portion of variance In specific child outcomes. This is over and above the portion of variance explained by a mothers love. Indeed, some studies reviewed later found that a father’s love Is the sole significant predictor of specific child outcomes.
This was found after removing the Influence of a mothers love (Thompson). Researchers have even discovered that a fathers love is turning out to be just as important as, and sometimes more important than, a mothers love. The individual development depends on how a child responds psychologically. Father’s are cited more than mothers in issues such as psychological maladjustments, substance abuse, depression, and conduct problems. On the positive side, a father provides a buffer against the development of these difficulties and can contribute to a child’s good physical health.
Yet, fatherly love- or lack of it- is still critical and an understudied factor in child development. The study of the impact that fathers have upon their children, has Just begun taking its first steps towards a new chapter in child development. This new area of study will broaden the field and world view of child development as a whole (Thompson). Differences In child experiences shape the future actions of the person. This Is the case of nature vs… Nurture. In 1993 people and nurture both impacted their subjects.
The Scientist found that a little of both makes the child who they become. Their findings are inconclusive on which is more vital in a child’s development; though both are important in child development. Still, most believe nature has the greater impact on child development (Nature). Even little things such as neighborhood environments can have a great impact on child well- being. Some of the factors that have the most impact are housing quality, toxic exposure, access to natural settings, transportation and health services.
Natural settings have a constructive effect by providing children with the opportunities to develop gross mother skills and reliving the negative effects of the children’s exposure to chronic stress (Nature). Acts of kindness plays a key role in child comprehensive development. Research has concluded that kindness is contagious. When a person sees someone else help another person, it gives the person watching a good feeling as well, which in turn causes the observer to go out and do something altruistic and the cycle continues.
This study was done, by the researchers at the University of Chicago, and it was the first of its kind to systematically document this tendency in human nature (Emmer). A perfect example of this would be the cliche, “What goes around comes around. One kind act of ten leads to another until it becomes a never ending cycle. Kindness does affect happiness more than most understand. The University’s findings suggest that good deeds do in fact make people feel good. There may also be specific benefits from various acts of kindness (Dixon).
All acts though, help someone, whether better or for worse, it helps someone get closer to where they need to be in life. Acts of kindness whether small or large in a child’s life can have a great impact on child development. “Remember, there is no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end” (Adams). When a child sees a person they admire do the wrong thing, the child will make the same mistake, as a mimicry action of comprehension. Children see these actions, and how the people are treated due to these actions, then they shape their lives according to what they want or need out of their lives.
While children are positively affected by being shown and observing kindness, they are also greatly impacted by being shown neglect and abuse. Often in such cases children are impacted more than what can be seen. The neglect and abuse of a child leads that individual to have an inability to control their emotions; they cannot display empathy, and are likely to provoke fights. Children who face neglect and abuse are usually quiet and have difficulty learning and interacting with others. They usually are socially or emotionally inappropriate for their age.
They usually have unusual eating and sleeping habits (Dependable). Recognizing the signs of neglect and abuse is challenging but an important skill to learn. The two signs that are usually given by an abused or neglected child are physical indicators and behavioral indicators. Physical indicators are the easiest to detect and diagnose. The child’s appearance and the presence of bodily injury are the typical signs. Behavioral indicators are more difficult to detect and interpret than physical indicators. Often, children will send behavioral messages suggesting that abuse or neglect is happening.
These signs may be in the form of “acting-out” behaviors which reflect the child’s attempt to deal with or hide the abuse or neglect (Alleviation). When told about neglect or abuse it is difficult for child. Adults do not need to “lead” or interrogate the child, they need to let the child hare what he/she is willing to tell. To reassure the child that he/she has done the right thing by telling them is a challenge that needs dealt with appropriately. To acknowledge the difficulty of the decision and make it clear that any abuse and neglect is not the child’s fault is also a struggle for the child and the person listening.
They need to keep their personal feelings under control. The adults cannot express their own emotions. They need to be calm and non-judgmental towards the child and use the child’s own vocabulary. One thing that is very important is that the adult not remises not to tell about the abuse, the child needs the truth that there may be actions taken which people have no control over. All people listening to the child need to be supportive; and provide help and guidance, letting the child know that confiding in someone was the only way to possibly end the abuse.
Reporting the case immediately; ensures something can be done for the child. They can contact an Extension agent and report what has occurred. Most importantly they can not share information or discuss the situation or contact anyone involved (Alleviation). Malnutrition is associated with both structural and functional pathology of the brain. Chronic protein malnutrition is when a person is not receiving the correct levels of protein in their diet; and so the body solves the deficiency by braking down organs in the body.
The effect of chronic protein energy malnutrition is the stunting and wasting of a child, witch can also affect the ongoing development of higher cognitive processes during childhood when the child is less than five years of age. A present study examined the effect of stunted growth on the rate of development of cognitive processes using neurophysiology measures. They studied the effects of brain dysfunction and age related improvement was employed in this study. The tests were of motor speed, attention, executive functions, comprehension and learning and memory.
Development of cognitive processes appeared to be governed by both age and nutritional status. Malnourished children performed poor on tests of attention, working memory, learning and memory except on the test of motor speed and coordination. Age related improvement was not observed on tests of design fluency, working memory, visual construction, learning and memory in malnourished children. However, age related improvement was observed on tests of attention, visual perception, and verbal comprehension in malnourished children even though the performance was poor compared to the performance level of adequately nourished children.
The results of this study show that malnutrition could result in slowing in the age related improvement in certain and not all higher order cognitive processes and also results in long lasting cognitive impairment (Cognitive). There are many potential environmental influences that help to shape personality. Child raising practices are especially critical. In the U. S. , children are usually raised in ways that encourage them to become self-reliant and independent. Children are often allowed to act somewhat like equals to their parents.
For instance, they are included in making decisions about what type of food and entertainment the family will have on a night out. Children are given allowances and small Jobs around the house to teach self reliance and are usually encouraged to think and act as a member of their family. Independence and self-reliance are encouraged for children a human is developed during the first four years of life. When a child is neglected or bused during this time of their lives they believe this is how they should express love. Those children that grow up without a parent will suffer from the effects of low self esteem.
