Childhood Stressors

As I think about the gravity of real childhood stressors, I realize how fortunate I was to have the comfortable, supportive childhood I had.  I was not touched by any of the listed stressors.  My early childhood days were in the 1960's.  The only stressor that comes to mind within my network of friends was divorce.  Divorce was very rare at that time.  My next door neighbors experienced it and they were not only left dealing with the sadness, anger, and adjustments that divorce brings; but, also the stigma that divorce in the 1960's brought with it.  I watched the two youngest show their distress in opposite ways.  One chose to externalize his feelings by acting out and was always in trouble.  The other internalized her problems and was very quiet and withdrawn, eventually needing counseling. Today, the stress of divorce is still very real, but the isolation and stigma that once was associated with divorce is not as relevant as it was in the 1960's.

I chose to look at the affect that war has on children in Africa.  These are Congolese children who are seeking refuge in Tanzania.  Many children and their families of the Congo have sought refuge since 1996 when the first Congo war began (Mann, 2010).  The Tanzanian government requires all refugees to live in designated camps, but many live undocumented in the city of Dar es Salaam (Mann, 2010).  Most Tanzanizans see them as freeloaders and do not respect what the refugees have experience in the Congo. Mann's research found that it wasn't the experiences of war that stressed the children most; but, rather the isolation, discrimination, and harrassment they experienced as "illegals" (2010).  Not knowing if their parents might be deported or if they would have food to eat or if they were going to be demeaned by verbal or physical abuse were the stressors they faced on a daily basis.  Children struggled to maintain some sort of healthy self concept amidst the barrage of negative comments. 

How do children cope?  Children had learned to cope as adults did, they looked to the future so that they would not get overwhelmed with the hopelessness of the present.  They stayed busy, helping where they could, because they feared the depression that thinking brought in idle moments.  They yearned for education as a means of building a future.  Unfortunately, the education the Tanzanian schools provided was of very poor quality.  They developed a "project" which was a plan for the future.  According to Mann, most of their childhood was spent planning for adulthood when they hoped to find a new life away from the dehumanizing life of a refugee (2010). 

In looking at the stress of war I found several other stressors interwoven: poverty, isolation, hunger, and violence.  The interaction of developmental domains present themselves in the biosocial domain with stomach pains, headaches, exhaustion, and slow growth due to malnutrition (Mann, 2010).  The cognitive domain is affected because appropriate affordances are not available, education is very inadequate.  Psychosocial development is the domain may be affected the most.  Fear is the strongest force driving their existance.  There is a constant battle with depression and a fight to keep some sort of healthy self conept in an environment of insecurity and harrassment.

Mann, Gillian.  (2010).  Finding a life among undocumented Congolese refugee children in Tanzania.
Children & Society, 24(4), 261-270.  Retrieved from ERIC Database.