Temika Mccann

Week 4 Blog

I have chosen to talk about Hunger for this week topics in   the world we live in today we take food for granted; however in other parts of the world such as Africa food is not freely available. I feel that people don’t realize how bless they are when they and their children can select a variety of kinds of foods and drinks from their refrigerator.  In other third world countries do not have the foods we have to.  Sometime we as adults do not understand how children are under so much stress due to the lack of food support that parent can provide for her child. Grown-ups usually miss the mark to be aware of the occurrence and enormousness of constant worry in the lives of children. According to research "parents perceive children as having lower levels of stress than children perceive themselves as having." (Humphrey, Helping Children Manage Stress, 1998, p.8) This is long-established by a nation-wide survey that "parents underestimate how much children worry" (Witkin, KidStress, 1999, p.11). This so true with the high level of stress w experience today, we know our children have somewhat effect by the stress.

I have not personally experience hunger myself, but had a family member that had experience huger. They experience stress, depression and worrying about what will eat from day – to –day. This took a huge toll on my cousin, causing a lot of angry and embarrassment. My cousin went through so many changes and how he was able to cope with the issue was by reading his word, support groups, meditation and help from food banks. He also survive daily meals were provided by supported neighbors, food banks and “this might sound disgusting”  it got to the point where his family had to eat out of trash bins just so they could survive to be alive. That why we should never look down on anyone; you never know how it feels unless you walk in someone else’s shoes.

The consequences that followed all that my cousin experienced was a lack of interest this took a huge toll on my cousin causing a lot of angry and embarrassment. It also affected his self-esteem. Children in South Africa are currently feeling these stress in a huge way. In the is unnecessary African people experience hunger in a huge way children and adults are affected by it these stress. In our current word, hunger has amount of stress on families. Grown-ups and children are all affected by it. In the “third world countries “around us, children are experiencing more stress at younger ages that. I could not even imaging if I had to go through what some of other women’s have to experience in other countries, I will have known Idea how I would be able to cope  with it. That is  why I do not take anything for granted and we are  bless to be able to have the freedom we have and the foods we can provide for our families is a blessing within itself. According to the 2012 Global hungry index  that south is ranked 9th in the world for highest hunger levels.

I truly believe what happens to those children that experience such trauma, it affects their bio social in a tremendous way first I will like to expound on some ways that children might be affected by it. For example, they may withdrawal from society.It also can affect one’s self – esteem and the child schooling, how well he/she performs on their schoolwork. Secondly, it can have emotional impact  on a child cognitive development  and by long-term stress this just add to what a child is already experiencing with all the trauma there are facing can overwhelm them  and can affect their thinking abilities to do well in school, Thirdly, when children experience ongoing stress it will affect their psycho-social development. For example, fear of the scrutiny and judgment of others exposure to natural disasters has a devastating impact on the psychological and social well being of children. The brain is affected when a child goes through this type of stress at a very young age. This can have a long impact on his adulthood in a significant way.

Conclusion,

We have to be thankful and always be mindful of how grateful we are. After during my search. I did not realize how much South Africa was really affected by huger. I did not realize that so many people around the world are experiencing so much lack of food and how children are under so much stress because of a lack of food. When stress takes a toll on a child’s life not only can it affect them psychologically, but it can have a long lifelong affect on their adulthood as well.

References

Humphrey, James. Helping Children Manage Stress, A Guide for Adults, Child and Family Press, 1998.

Worldwide, C., Thompson, J., Scenery, G., & Rahall, J. (October 2012). Global Hunger Index: The Challenge of Hunger: Ensuring Sustainable Food Security Under land, Water, an D Energy Stresses.Washington D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Witkin, Georgia. KidStress: What It Is, How It Feels, How To Help, Viking Penguin, 1999.