This is Rena Fields, our latest author, and her little sister, Sheena. Reena and Sheena. Gotta love the sound of that. And I think you'll love reading Rena's thoughts on chapter 9, too.
She wrote:
This chapter is all about how children react to stress and the different factors that could possibly cause them to react that way. What I found interesting is that it seems that more and more children are experiencing stress that is usually seen in adults which goes to re-iterate the concept and title of this book.
In the first part of this chapter the author talks about children experiencing chronic stress. This type of stress varies and is not specifically attached to a certain fear or anxiety. I was a bit shocked to see that the majority of this type of stress was mostly seen in separated or divorced households. I was a child of a divorce and only lived with one parent for the majority of my life. What also shocked me were the examples of trends that would differentiate a single parent household from a two-parent household. I can see why some of the examples would be common in some single parent households, such as having a record of being tardy or absent. This can be understandable if one parent has multiple kids to get out of the house and drop off at various locations; it is hard and can even be more difficult when one of them doesn’t want to listen. I just feel that my mom had to work even harder to not stick out even though we already did because we were the only family with one parent in most of my classes. Some of the other examples of single parent trends included going to the health clinic more and more behavior problems. I don’t understand the part about the health clinic. On the other hand, behavior problems are something that my little sister went through, but it was more because of her disabilities -- or that’s what they thought --than the divorce.
The next part of the chapter was on Type A behavior which is a personality pattern that categorizes how people handle stress and stressors. I assumed that it was for adults and their type of behavior, but according to this part of the chapter, children can have a Type A or Type B personality that is similar to adults. According to a study done on 378 children by Dr. Gerald Berenson and Louisiana State University, children who have a Type A personality can have some of the same health problems as adults with Type A personalities. The study showed that children had higher amounts of cholesterol in their blood stream than the children with Type B personalities. As an adult this can lead to other health problems such as migraine headaches, heart disease, and hypertension. Personally, I think that this is scary for children, and they shouldn’t already be experiencing health problems due to stress at such an early age.
I feel that the next section of this chapter on school burnout is something that we can all relate to, especially because the majority of us are graduating this semester. We all know what it’s like to go to school for thirteen years and then continue our education for another four to six. According to Elkind, children are feeling the same way as we are feeling as college students, which seems crazy to me, but understandable. As we all know, children are subject to a lot more testing and are pressured to perform well in school, while their parents have them signed up for five different extra curricular activities. Some parents do this to try and keep their children out of trouble and involved, but what it is doing is stressing them out. As a result, they are doing poorly in school or will even go to the measure of cheating because they are pressured to have the best of the best grades. It can be too much for us as adults. I can imagine it is even worse for children because if they don’t do well, they can get held back, whereas we can just take the class over again.
Lastly, we have all experienced some type of helplessness when we have been put in situations that are beyond our control and there is nothing we can do to fix it. Children are put in that same situation everyday that they go to school. They are told and forced to complete a task that they either never learned or don’t feel comfortable doing. Then, they find a way to get out of an activity or discussion because they don’t know what they are doing. The one thing that I can think of in relation to us as college students is where we sit in the classroom. There are a lot of students who prefer to sit in the back of the classroom because they do not like being called on or asked to participate. As a result their learned helplessness is to always look for a seat in the back so that they can avoid participating.
Overall and as stated above, these items seem to be a discussion that adults would be having with other adults, except this book is about children so we know it is something that children are experiencing. Stress comes in different forms and hopefully we can get this somewhat under control before our children have some serious health concerns.
Rena,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how you compared college stress to childhood stress. As you have shown in your entry they are very much alike. College is full of deadlines, schedule conflicts, work dilemmas, and family needs. A child is also faced with all of these stressors at a certain level. The effects of childhood stress can be as severe as health issues. That is a scary fact for me as a parent and student.
When the book talked about the stress a child more likely encounters in a one parent household, like you, I thought of myself. I would have to agree that children in one parent homes live with more stress. I believe that is a direct result of a parent that is more likely to be stressed themselves. Parents, teachers, and others with the ability to positively influence the children around them, should try to recognize and minimize stress on all children they encounter.
Bobie Walker
Rena, I really enjoyed your post!! I thought it reflected the chapter very well and it was clear and to the point. The section that really hit home with me was the one about children who are stressed and burnt out from school. Not only does it shock me but it also makes me sad to think that some children may be feeling as stressed as we are as college students. I can not think of how many times throughout my time here at state where I thought, "Man wouldn't it be great to be in elementary school again!" Like you, I am also a child of divorce but for me its different. My parents barely divorced two years ago so that change has added an extra stressor to my life as a college student. However, while reading your entry I have to admit that it made me wonder whether or not my parents' divorce would have been more or less stressful for me when I was a child as opposed to being 18 like I was. Brittaney Bonilla
ReplyDeleteRena- I also find it is awful that our children are dealing with the same stressors as adults. Unfortunately, this is a reality to many children who live in single-parent households and in many other situations as well.
ReplyDeleteI can also relate to your experience of stress from living in a single-parent home. I was 12 when my parents divorced, and my sister was 8, and my brother was only 4. I became the fill-in dad, in a way, for mom. My dad made the decision to not be involved in our lives after the divorce so we made it on our own. I stepped up to the plate and helped my mom with dinner, cleaning, taking care of my siblings, and everything else that needed to be done. When I look back and remember how things were, I definitely feel as though I had these stressors.
Oh, and by the way, I can completely understand the "burnout"...I have it, without a doubt....
Back to relating this to children... I completely understand how children get burnout from school. For example, in the classroom where I observe, the children have been prepping for the California Standard for months and months. The students have become almost numb from all the review. Now they are actually doing the testing and are feeling really overwhelmed without the desire to stay focused on their work.
I think that we all feel the stress of life whether we are small children or grown adults. It is just a shame that our children go through this at such a young age and when they are mentally not ready to handle this stress.
~Erica Lucero