Impacts on Early Emotional Development

East Asia and the Pacific is a region that I want and feel like I should learn more about. Living in Singapore, an advanced first world country, it can be difficult to comprehend the difficulties that pertain to many other countries in the same region. Having had the opportunity to travel in this part of the world, I have witnessed poverty and people in distressed situations due to economic situations stemming from certain dynamics in the country and natural disasters. I wanted to learn more about the effects on children given their various circumstances, especially considering that I had never given thought to the repercussions after natural disasters, such as Tsunamis and Earthquakes. One article in particular mentioned that this region is the world's most natural hazard-prone region (Protecting children from poverty, disaster, and climate risk, 2014). The number of affected people and the economic losses associated with disasters are increasing. Low income families and children are most exposed to natural hazards and are suffering the most from consequences of these hazards. The devastated lands result in lack of resources for food and water, destroys shelters, and provides disharmony amongst communities where rebuilding takes priority. Children become forced to work in order to gain more resources and help their families survive and education takes a backseat. In poverty-stricken areas, children are expected to work at a young age in order to help provide for the family, thus creating an endless cycle of lack of education where they grow up and require their children to work instead of study; never being able to obtain a higher standard and achieve utilities that would end the poverty for one family.

Growing up in poverty, short term effects on children include their lower education levels, lower household incomes, increase in symptoms of depression where they may a skewed perception of emotions and how to cope. However, in the long term their social competence in school, if accessible, may suffer. Mothers with lower household income and and lower levels of education are more likely to be negative in their play interactions with their children (Winer & Thompson, n.d.). Children become less able to understand emotions in others and themselves, leading to greater difficulties in following rules, putting them at a disadvantage compared to their peers when entering formal schooling.

I feel an obligation to help impoverished families. If unable to do so financially to a particular extent, I would like to provide healthy educational options for those who need it and facilitate this in rural areas where schooling may be unaccessible or of a lower priority. As early childhood professionals, it is important for us to understand how environments will effect children in order for us to be able to mediate and help children's development in worsened circumstances.

References:
Protecting children from poverty, disaster, and climate risks. (2014). UNICEF. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/eapro/Protecting_children_from_poverty_disaster_and_climate_risk.pdf

Winer, A., & Thompson, R. (n.d.). UC Davis. Retrieved from http://poverty.ucdavis.edu/policy-brief/impact-poverty-childs-social-and-emotional-competence