Domestic violence is something that a close friend of mine
has encountered as a child. This friend’s parents would get into physical
altercations. As a result of this my friend would often suffer from the anger
of their parents. My friend L would often be verbally abused, hearing their
parent say they wouldn’t amount to anything or even cursed at often. The home environment
was very unhealthy, but I didn’t know this until years later. To this day my
friend L seeks help to overcome their past. This is why mental health is
important to me. To heal old wounds and to enjoy life.
I have also had students going through similar situations.
One of the hardest parts of my job is sometimes seeing a child being taken away
from their parents due to maltreatment. Although we want the best for the children,
I also hoped that in these situations a parent would do what is best for their
child. For children living in poverty in Washington D.C they often encounter many
stressors whether its violence, child maltreatment, hunger, or even racism. I
have noticed some of the families I work with do not realize they are facing
child neglect but sometimes I don’t believe its intentional I think it comes from
the parents own stressors of things that they are struggling with or are unaware
of that causes this. Child neglect is a failure to meet a child’s basic
physical, educational, or emotional needs (Berger, 2016). I think Early Head
Start and Head Start programs help these children and their families receive
help that may be needed and provides high quality education for young children.
References
Berger, K. S. (2016). The developing
person through childhood (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
