Childhood innocence

 

I believe we can all agree that childhood is an important time of our lives since early interactions and experiences with parents and caregivers can help form a young child's brain, laying a strong foundation and instilling optimism in the child early in life. A child's personality, interests, and skills grow during this time, which is significant since it helps pave the road for the child's future. Positive reinforcements, support, and healthy relationships can all contribute to a happy childhood, and thus a better and happier life for the child.

Despite that there are many children who experience their childhood with trauma, but what do we mean by trauma? Trauma, according to the American Psychological Association (APA), is "an emotional response to a horrible occurrence such as an accident, rape, or natural disaster," but it can also be a reaction to any incident that a person finds physically or emotionally threatening or hurtful. Children who grow up with trauma will find it more difficult to develop, self-control issues, difficulties relating to others or building bonds, regression or loss of previously learned skills, concentration and academic challenges, nightmares, sleeping and eating difficulties, and bodily symptoms such as aches and pains are all common signs. Older children may abuse drugs or alcohol, participate in dangerous behavior, or engage in sexual conduct that is unhealthy. Children should feel safe with people who are supposed to protect them, not feel harmed or threatened.

“Childhood dreams are all too easily shattered. Even if you just leave them be, they will fall to pieces all by themselves. So, someone has to protect them, right? If you make a promise, you keep it, if you make a mistake, you apologize...And if you give someone a dream, you defend it to the end...” – Tartaglia from Genshin Impact.

Children are easily impacted, and they will remember everything we do and say. As a result, we must be cautious in what we do and say. If you are a violent person, your child may grow up to be violent, however if you are loving and supportive, your child will grow up to be a happy individual. Gentle parenting, in my opinion, is the only appropriate approach to parent a child. It doesn't mean you don't reprimand the child or let them do everything they want; rather, it means disciplining them in the gentlest way possible, explaining "why?" " as well as "how?" "You can be strict with a child, but not to the point of suffocating the child.

 

It leads to the next topic of the child's dreams, interests, and preferences; do not shame the child for their dreams, interests, or preferences; as their parent or guardian, you must be supportive of what they do and encourage them, unless it is something that is extremely harmful to the child or others. If you ever punish a child for what they do, it may have an affect on them during their adolescent years; they will doubt themselves and, as a result, they will be less willing to take risks in their lives.

 

As everyone knows, COVID-19 has been plaguing the world ever since it started in December 2019, as the new normal sets in, people must adjust to this new way of living. When Quarantine was implemented, many people lost their jobs and are unable to feed their family, some are also unable to provide shelter for their family thus some children are not able to eat proper meals, and have no roof over their head which are one of the basic rights of children, to counter this problem we can donate food or money to the families in need, or the government can step up and help these families to get through this pandemic. And there is another dark side to this, people are stuck with their abusers, tormented and unable to go out and find help, unfortunately this is the case for many people and are often silenced, so you must be asking, how am I able to help these people who are abused if they are oftenly silenced? Here are some signs to look out for to know whether or not children are being abused.

Physical signs of abuse contains:

·         Poor hygiene

·         Bruising without explanation

·         Burns (in 6%-20% of abused children)

·         Injuries without proper explanation

Behavioral Signs of abuse contains:

·         Excessive crying or development delay

·         Phobias

·         Being physically or verbally aggressive

·         Decreased school performance

·         Withdrawal to touch or avoids undressing

These are some of the signs that could point to the child being abused, if you still aren’t sure, you can try to talk to the child about their life, make sure not to pressure them or force answers out of them, they may feel uneasy or uncomfortable.

If you notice these signs in a child, you must immediately report it to the proper authorities; do not just stand there and watch it happen; you can also call your country or state's Child Protection Services. Reporting child abuse may only take a minute, but it takes courage; it's a scary thing to see someone you care about being abused, but if you do the right thing, that child will be able to recover and live a happier life.

Now, we must discuss the new way of learning, also known as online learning, in which most students are now learning instead of the traditional face-to-face method. At this time of year, we have a lot on our plates, including daily modular activities, house chores, and personal time, which can be overwhelming and stressful at times. It is difficult to enjoy ourselves during this time because we have too many responsibilities to shoulder and not enough time to breathe; being pressured and stressed will have a negative impact on the child's health, whether physically or mentally; and this period of learning does not allow children to be children. Unfortunately, this is how things should be for the time being until all students are fully vaccinated.

 

From my experiences, I feel pressured and overwhelmed, too much tasks to be done in such short time, along with that there are also still projects to be done, I sacrifice sleep to finish tasks, and I don’t have enough time to do my hobbies and talk to people, I just shut myself in my room until all my tasks are done. It’s draining and I wish I am able to back to normal schooling.

As the parents and guardians, you must be able to guide them to the right path, teach them their responsibilities, and discern right or wrong, after all they are all children, we must raise them properly in order for them to be successful and happy in life

 

 

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