Impacts on Early Emotional Development

Impacts on Early Emotional Development

UNICEF-East Asia and the Pacific

                I chose the East Asia and the Pacific region to research involving challenges that children are confronted with because my husband and his family are from the Philippines and many relatives of theirs are still in the Philippines. 

                Challenges that UNICEF are trying to help with involve trying to prevent preventable childhood diseases and mortality.  An example of specific challenges that children in this region are encountering involve child labor.  Children are being forced to work at very young ages in environments that are hazardous to their health and well-being.  They are missing school and even being subjected to exploitation in these jobs.  The emotional wellbeing and development of these children are being hindered by pushing them into roles that adults don’t even want to be in, being forced to be in dangerous situations with no regards to their well-being.   The exploitation that the children in the region are being subjected to is obviously endangering their physical well-being and emotionally destroying their innocence, morality, and confidence. 

                 

                UNICEF is trying to help these children have a healthier childhood with opportunities to actually be “children”.  As an early childhood professional and a mother of four I cannot imagine putting my child through anything like this.  But I also understand that in some areas that children are working to help their families eat and survive.  My hope is that UNICEF and other organizations such as theirs can aid these families in various regions in ways so that the children do not have to be placed in harms’ way.  Children should be cherished for who they are-miracles of life.  These children are also our future and how we raise them and how they experience the world will determine how they will treat the world and the future generations.

                Reading about the children from another region has made me realize that things can be much worse than I  have been exposed to as a child.  I also realized that with all these awful experiences that these children are being exposed to can be changed for the better through organizations such as UNICEF.  They aren’t the “cure all” but they are making remarkable positive steps through all their proactive approaches in helping these children.  Lessons such as these teach me that the students in my classroom, all the students in my classroom, can be successful through positive strategies and perseverance. 

Resources:

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html