Consequences of Stress on Children's Development
Natural Disaster:
I remember in 1989 my city was hit by Hurricane Hugo, at that time I was 8 years old and can vividly remember everything that occurred. I remember my family wanting to evacuate, but we didn't because my grandfather refused to leave. There was no way that we would leave him behind, so I remember my family members packing up their belonging and heading to my grandparents house, it was about 20 of us in a three bedroom brick house, but we made it work we were determine to all stick together and pray for the best.
Once the lights went out and we lit candles and a kerosene light. all I remember is bundling under covers with my face covered listening to the wind whistle and trees crackling. I remembered being so scared no one knew what the outcome would be once this storm passed over. There was the constant sound of the rain hitting the tin roof, loud rolls of thunders, popping sound of lightning. This stressor was something that I will never forget.
After the storm pass we had a lot of damage we lost homes, cars, but most important blessing was that we did not lose any of my relatives. All though a lot of families did lose relatives and a lot of personal belongings we were able to cope and slowly rebuild our community. Being a part of this stressor with a category 4 hurricane hitting South Carolina with 30 mile nautical wide and storm surges, that affected 1.8 million people and being able to speak on it is a blessing in itself.
In 2017 Hurricane Matthew hit Jamaica and Haiti as a category 4 storm flooding the streets and sending many to emergency shelters. With winds of 140 mph, although many went to shelters many chose to stick it out and not evacuate. The effects of these natural disasters on children can be long lasting, it can affect them physically, they can be injured or killed. Most importantly it can cause malnutrition caused by the lack of food supply during natural disasters. Children can also suffer psychological from damage of homes or death of family members.
Natural disasters no matter where or whom they affect, have similar affects on children and adults. These disasters are unpredictable and can affect us when we least expect them to. I have learned to stay calm and pray for the best because we just will never know the outcome.
References:
www.scemd.org/component/content/article/21-home-page/public-information/200-hugo25
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/03/hurricane-matthew-jamaica-haiti-flooding
Kousky, Carolyn: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1101425.pdf
I remember in 1989 my city was hit by Hurricane Hugo, at that time I was 8 years old and can vividly remember everything that occurred. I remember my family wanting to evacuate, but we didn't because my grandfather refused to leave. There was no way that we would leave him behind, so I remember my family members packing up their belonging and heading to my grandparents house, it was about 20 of us in a three bedroom brick house, but we made it work we were determine to all stick together and pray for the best.
Once the lights went out and we lit candles and a kerosene light. all I remember is bundling under covers with my face covered listening to the wind whistle and trees crackling. I remembered being so scared no one knew what the outcome would be once this storm passed over. There was the constant sound of the rain hitting the tin roof, loud rolls of thunders, popping sound of lightning. This stressor was something that I will never forget.
After the storm pass we had a lot of damage we lost homes, cars, but most important blessing was that we did not lose any of my relatives. All though a lot of families did lose relatives and a lot of personal belongings we were able to cope and slowly rebuild our community. Being a part of this stressor with a category 4 hurricane hitting South Carolina with 30 mile nautical wide and storm surges, that affected 1.8 million people and being able to speak on it is a blessing in itself.
In 2017 Hurricane Matthew hit Jamaica and Haiti as a category 4 storm flooding the streets and sending many to emergency shelters. With winds of 140 mph, although many went to shelters many chose to stick it out and not evacuate. The effects of these natural disasters on children can be long lasting, it can affect them physically, they can be injured or killed. Most importantly it can cause malnutrition caused by the lack of food supply during natural disasters. Children can also suffer psychological from damage of homes or death of family members.
Natural disasters no matter where or whom they affect, have similar affects on children and adults. These disasters are unpredictable and can affect us when we least expect them to. I have learned to stay calm and pray for the best because we just will never know the outcome.
References:
www.scemd.org/component/content/article/21-home-page/public-information/200-hugo25
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/03/hurricane-matthew-jamaica-haiti-flooding
Kousky, Carolyn: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1101425.pdf
Living in Kansas, I have also lived through my fair share of Tornadoes! I have many memories of hiding down in the basement, hoping that when you emerged the rest of the house would still be there. I also was in Japan in 2011 when they had their huge earthquake! It was quite terrifying, especially because I have a fear of earthquakes. I'm fortunate that I lived far enough away from the center that I only felt a 6.5 magnitude earthquake.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story. I can't imagine how terrifying that must have been. I'm glad that your family made it out okay, because belongings can be replaced, but people cannot. Do you find yourself afraid of storms or other natural occurrences? I'm curious of the lifelong effects this type of trauma can have when it comes to experiencing the sound of rain or high winds, even if they're not disastrous.
ReplyDelete