Let's Show Love

                        

It is so unfortunate that a lot of our children today become isolated from the world because they feel unwanted. I can recall meeting a wonderful young girl by the name of Kaylah, who I assisted when I was an assistant teacher for a summer program. She was very shy and distance from everyone, as she would play alone most days during recess. When she came into the class, she always laid her head on her desk and it was very hard for the teacher to keep her active on her assignments. The teacher communicated to me that Kaylah's mother had a hectic work schedule and rarely had time for her. Her father was not in her life and she was the only child at that time. One day during recess, I ask her, "Kaylah, are you not going to play with the other kids? It looks like they are having fun". She replied, "no one wants to play with me, they are mean to me". I thought, why would the other children treat her so bad? Of course I went to the playground where the other kids were and asked them why were they being so negative towards Kaylah. Their response was, "she's a cry baby". I told them that their behavior was inappropriate and that we all cry sometimes from sadness and pain. I told them that if they would play with her and make her feel included, then maybe she wouldn't cry often. I then told Kaylah that it was okay to cry sometimes but you have to be the big girl that you are to just hold your head up and smile. I complimented her in every way I could to make her feel appreciated and wanted. For the rest of that day, she came to me and talked with me and was very happy that someone was willing to listen to her. She eventually became more comfortable and started communicating with the other children. It wasn't much communication, however, it was a good start for her.

In Canada, one out of every five kids shows signs of an emotional or behavioral problem. There, they feel as though stress is needed for children at a young age so that they can know how to deal with it in the future. However, if the stress becomes a bit too much for the child, then the parent needs to be more attentive and to seek help. They have developed a new program called the Stress Lesson program that introduces stress management strategies for parents and teachers to use for kids in grades 4 through 6. The program offers health information, activities, conversation starters and breathing techniques that can help them during the time of their stress. They also offer strategies as well for younger children.

Indeed, isolation and stress is a very crucial matter as we now see today that a lot of our youth have resulted in taking their own lives because they did not know how to deal with certain issues. Hopefully, we as people can do a better job in making our children feel wanted and to teach them that it is very important for them to respect and to make their peers feel wanted as well.

    

Public Health

 

There are numerous of public health issues that can affect a child's development. One issue that is meaningful and personal to me is SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). On February 17, 2005, my nephew Ashaud Oliver was born and seemed to be a healthy baby boy with a promised future ahead. I do not recall his mother having any severe complications during birth or after birth. I would babysit him some nights and hold him, wondering what and who he will be when he grew up. I told him "baby Shaud, you will be an excellent football player and will have opportunities waiting for you." I wanted him to hear that because I know that babies can feel vibes and hear everything that is going on around them. I would lay him across my chest and rock him to sleep as he would leave a little surprise on my clothes (urine). It was always funny to me when he did that because I never felt it on my clothes until I got up the next morning to fix his bottles.  On April 22, 2005, on a normal day and no complications, Ashaud Oliver passed away in his bed and left the world way too soon. Doctor's said it was said to be SIDS, in which I had never heard of this before as I was a senior in high school at the time. I thought how could this happen to him? What went wrong? Many questions played through my mind as I just couldn't understand why my precious nephew was taken away from us so sudden. I often wonder how he would be and what he would look like if he was still with us. Although he was only with us for two months, he indeed left a huge impact on my family. We miss you dearly Ashaud and your mother posted this wonderful picture of you with a nice poem. Rest in Love my baby.

SIDS deaths occur unexpectedly and quickly to apparently healthy infants, usually during periods of sleep. It is not caused by suffocation, choking, smothering, child abuse or neglect. It is something that cannot be prevented even if the parents are doing everything right to raise their healthy baby. Meanwhile, in Mid-Atlantic, researchers feel that there are ways to avoid SIDS from infants. One way to avoid it is to omit the baby from sleeping from his/her tummy. According to their studies, sleeping on the tummy can cause trapped carbon dioxide around the baby's face. They also feel that the parents should not use a pacifier during sleep time because it causes the baby to get into a deep sleep and they are less likely to respond to complications through the night. In the future, I will keep this research in mind as it may be helpful to share with soon to be mothers, although other studies have showed that SIDS cannot be prevented. Hopefully, in the near future, researchers will find ways to prevent SIDS and find out what causes this to happen to our innocent babies.

Around the World-Africa

              Could you imagine having to give birth without any medical attention and if any complications arise, you will have to literally walk while in labor to the nearest help? This is common for Africa women, as they have no choice but to give birth at home without any medical assistance. In 2010, more than 170,000 Africa women died in pregnancy and childbirth due to lack of access to basic medical care. They are most likely to die from high blood pressure, breech births, and hemorrhaging. In fact, almost 4 million children under the age 5, die every year in Africa due to malaria, acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, and AIDS related diseases. Although some women in the United States prefer to have home births, most are surrounded with some assistants and if anything becomes critical, they have access to help. Unfortunately, African women are very limited to access and treatment, which can result in death for them and the child.
            Although my mother was experiencing pain after birth, I am happy that if she needed assistants, it was in her reach. For these women it is almost impossible.

Child Birth in my Life

          I have never witnessed anyone give birth and I could not imagine in a million years giving birth! Watching the women on television giving birth and to see the pain it caused my mother is the reason why I can't imagine this, as it seems like the women are always having a hard time with complications. I can recall when I was eight years old when my mother was pregnant with my little sister. During her pregnancy, everything was fine until after she gave birth. When my mother came home with my baby sister, she was very weak and sore and had a hard time standing up on her feet. Whenever she would lay in the bed, she didn't allow anyone to touch the bed because I am assuming that the movement of the bed was a bit much for her. Watching her experience the pain is partially the reason why I am not ready to have a baby of my own.
             I chose this example to share with everyone because this is the only memory I have of someone giving birth. I am not sure if I am ready to witness anyone give birth yet because I am afraid to watch anyone going through such pain. I have been told that some women have had  a smooth pregnancy and did not experience complications while giving birth. I'll take their word for it :)
            My thoughts regarding giving birth is that I would recommend all women to try their best to have a healthy experience. Smoking, drinking, being involved with violence, etc should be prohibited from your birth experience as these things can harm a child's development. Take care of yourself, eat healthy, and exercise from time to time and continue to do these things after birth.