Photo Credit - Karen Arnold - Public Domain Pictures
Modern day living has given our society some marvelous
benefits, but some of those benefits may be costing us dearly. Living in the
world today is tough, there’s no question. Every adult has seen the changes
from technology, to global warming, to the health and welfare of ourselves and
our children. But, some of the things that we take for granted today may be
causing us a lot of harm. Yes, technology is having a giant effect on our
brains and I will get to that, but first, I want to talk about our children.
This article isn’t just about the technology that everyone, including our
children, is affected by. I’m also talking about the effects of society on our
kids. Listen up parents! Their future may be permanently altered because of
your financial status.
Oh sure, everyone knows about the disparity of social
classes and that the rich will always benefit more than the poor, but now we
know why. Recent studies have discovered that children who live in poverty will
grow up with substandard brains. In an article presented by NPR
we learn that a child’s environment has a physical effect on the development of
their brain. This isn’t due to a poorer diet, or a lack of housing in and of
itself, but rather the stress which is caused from those situations. Along with
worrying about violence, the daily stress that is present in a poor child’s
life is changing their brains. It is being called “Toxic Stress” and a child
who has suffered three or more traumatic events within a year may very well be
dealing with this. A school in LA did a survey and found that eight in ten
students fell into this category. A traumatic event may include such life
issues as losing a home, or a family member, neighborhood shootings, divorce,
having to deal with the stress of an unemployed parent, or not having enough
food. These stressors in a child’s brain become cumulative and physically
change the brain.
The changes that take place are primarily in the prefrontal
cortex. This is the area of the brain responsible for problem solving and
learning. It also carries the brunt of the weight when it comes to learning how
to control emotions. We often hear adults making remarks such as, “What’s wrong
with these kids today?” or “Kids today are more violent.” I say, what do you
expect? Poverty levels continue to rise, the income gap grows larger and larger
with each passing year, and now we have proof that these circumstances are
creating a generation of children who, not only don’t care, but are physically
unable to. The mental health of tomorrow’s adults is being dealt physical blows
that they may never be able to recover from because their brains have been permanently
altered. If the parts of the brain needed to process emotions are not there how
can we expect a person to properly deal with emotions? If the problem solving
area of the brain is stunted why are we shocked to find children who can’t
figure out something we would consider to be a simple task? This is plainly showing
us that we need to take the mental health of our children much more serious!
Okay, so I have your attention, I hope. Now let’s talk about
how we can fix this. One of the most efficient ways to reach children is
through the schools. The kids are there which basically creates captive
participants, so to speak. The schools which participated in the studies found
that having more counselors in the school was a good start. Where the child
felt like they had the support of an adult, they improved. The schools also
equipped themselves with more after school programs and tutoring. They set up
programs for the adults, too. Parents were given help in the areas they needed,
as well as, being taught how to better handle these same stressors. Most
parents want to help their children, the problem, I think, is that mental
health over the years has received such a bad wrap no one wants to deal with
it. However, if parents can see that there is physical damage being done to
their child, just as if an arm or a leg were being lost, they would want to
help.
There is, of course, one big problem with getting our
children the help they desperately need. Money. Where will it come from? Across
the board school systems have had to deal with cuts to their budget. We’re not
talking small cuts either. These cuts are so large that schools have had to let
go of counselors, administrators, and even teachers. Why have the schools seen
such dramatic cuts to their funding? The simple answer, politics. Our
representatives see our children’s education as a non-priority. Let’s face it,
most of our representatives are millionaires, this is not going to be an issue
which directly impacts them. Their children are sent to the finest schools and
chances are pretty good that they will never have to worry about a neighborhood
drive by. So what can we, in the trenches, do about it? We can vote! Duh! This
is the only way things are going to change. We need to demand that the
educational system gets the funding it so desperately needs to combat this
problem. Without the support of the house and the senate our children will
never be able to grow a healthy brain. We need these support programs and we
need them now. Oh look! It’s an election year for our representatives and
senators. How convenient is that people? Let’s make some noise and tell the
people who are supposed to represent us that we want to see the educational
system get the necessary funds to run these programs. If we wait until our
children are grown and out of school we will have lost the fight, recovery for
them will most likely never happen. Is that what you want for your son or
daughter?
Next post will look at the brains of adults and we will see
how that well loved internet is working to change our brains. Yes, there is
more physical evidence. And speaking of the internet is it possible that it
could become self aware, a living entity which in its all knowing self may one
day reign as earth’s new dominant life form? Tune in and see.
