The Cost of War

I chose to look into how war affects children.  My son Daniel is my subject for this week.  He is pictured above with his daddy.  His dad deployed to Iraq for the second time when he was four weeks old.  He saw him for R&R for two weeks when Daniel was four months old.  Then the day Daniel turned nine months old, I got a knock at my door letting me know that my husband was killed in action.  I was suddenly a 21 year old widow with a 9 month old baby.  I am still dealing with the effects of this through my son.  He is still too young to understand today, but he has so many discipline issues.  He is very angry, and has become violent with me to the point he has left bruises on me.  We are still being passed around from psychiatrist to psychologist and nobody can really help him.  The doctors only see that he is ADHD and say he is a typical four year old.  It breaks my heart because he will be five next year, and I know his personality is starting to become permanent.  I’m not giving up on him living a somewhat normal life.  My parents have compensated for this loss by spoiling him and spending as much time with him as they can.  He also has a step-dad now whom Daniel calls Father. 

I chose to look into our own country the USA for this week.  We have spent almost the last decade fighting the Iraq War and now Afghanistan.  There are so many military children today that have either one or both parents serving abroad for up to 15 months at a time.  We are just now beginning to see the effects on the children.  I read two articles by Lawrence Hardy.  The first one was entitled, “Children of the Wars.”  Hardy talked about one Elementary School in particular that had more than half its students with deployed parents.  The children constantly asked the adults when daddy was coming home or if he was. (Hardy 2008). Teachers also saw signs of behavior problems, lack of attention, and grades slip.  Hardy says the best thing you can do is talk about it with your children. I also read, “When Kids Lose Parents in Our War in Iraq.”  It took me a few days to read this for obvious reasons.  Hardy talked about a school counselor who had to go speak to the classroom full of little children and somehow share that one of their classmates lost a daddy today.  The children responded, “Will my dad be ok?”  (Hardy 2006).  Hardy also mentioned that today is not like back in the day.  We have parents doing five or more deployments.  There is one school that counselors decided to take action and form a Kit Kat group.  The acronyms stand for Keeping in Touch, Kids and Troops.  This group gets together sends pictures, and writes letters to the deployed parents.  I have decided when we get back to the states and I have my own classroom again, I plan to do this as well.  There is no greater joy than helping someone else.

References:

Hardy, L. (2006). When Kids Lose Parents in Our War in Iraq. Education Digest, 72(4), 10-12. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.

Hardy, L. (2008). Children of the Wars. American School Board Journal, 195(5), 24-27. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.

The Mental State of China

·         http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid42806360001?bctid=85442809001

I chose to study the mental health of adults in China and how it is affecting children.  This topic is close to my heart because I was in a different state of mind when my son was an infant.  He spent four weeks with his dad and then he deployed to Iraq for a second tour.  His dad was killed in Iraq when he was 9 months old.  I of course was a mess, and my mental state was indescribable.  I decided to do some research on this topic.   I chose China because I once taught ESL for a summer there.

A few months ago, China was in the headlines because of a man who attacked some Kindergarteners.  He walked into the school and killed two adults and seven children.  This brought the world’s attention to the mental health state that China is in.  Doctors discovered that the men involved had prior mental health history, but it was ignored.  He was very depressed, and felt suicidal.  This man said he did this because he believed that this would be the greatest impact. He killed these children because the school would not pay more rent.  My heart goes out to these families of the children.

Nearly 20% of the people of China are suffering from mental illness.  China use to be a very introverted society, so people are just now confiding with others including their doctor about their mental state.  It use to be that people would think less of you if you said you are suffering mentally.  There are resources available, but some areas are still poverty stricken.  Change in China is happening one person at a time.

This example of the man who killed the Kindergarteners was an extreme example, but not too far from home.  I remember the Oklahoma City Bomber and the UNT Campus Shooter.  We are fortunate to live in the United States of America because of all the resources available.  It breaks my heart that little children do die everyday at the hands of some heartless and insane adults.    They were to young to defend themselves.  Stories like this make me value my role in the early childhood field.  I really take to heart standing up for those who cannot speak for themselves or are afraid to.

References:

“Mental Disorders Major Health Issue in China.”  Thaindian News.   Retrieved November 11, 2010 from

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/mental-disorders-major-health-issue-in-  china_100356394.html.

Tran, Tini.  (May 2010).  School Attacks Highlight Mental Health Issues.  USA Today.  Retrieved

November 11. 2010 from http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-05-14-china-mental-  schools_N.htm.

Childbirth- My Life and The World Around Me

I gave birth to my son Daniel a little over four years ago.  He was nearly two months early, but he came out 6lbs 6oz.  I had him at a hospital and did receive an epidural and Episiotomy.  I remember how happy I was going into labor, but I soon changed my mind a few hours later when the contractions began unbearable!  I remember how many friends and family were there for me, and I remember how excited my parents were in becoming grandparents.  Ten hours later, I gave birth to my son.  I cried as soon as they put him in my arms.  I didn’t realize it until my husband told me later.  My overall birthing experience was amazing and one I will never forgot. 

     I chose to learn more about the birthing experiences of South Koreans because we are stationed here.   The women are encouraged to push as much as they can to avoid an episiotomy.   Birthing pools are also common in every hospital if the mother chooses to use one.  Surprisingly C-sections are very high here.  Nurses keep the babies for 24 hours.  I assume this is so the parents can re-coop from the delivery.  I wish I had this opportunity.  I was handed my son as soon as they cleaned him up.  I was so exhausted from not sleeping two days.    There is also little communication between the doctor and patient here.  There is no privacy here which I have personally experienced.  Women have no shame walking around without clothes.  They have maternity hotels here for women to go to after they give birth so they can rest.  I love this idea!  The women eat a lot of seaweed soup after delivery.  I think that when a mother gives birth the joy is the same all across the world!