Nurturing Children
Stimulation
Structured and Unstructured play are critical for the healthy development of children. They promote the development of creativity, emotional skills, gross and fine motor skills, and can even encourage a child to practice private speech!
When a parent reads, or talks to their child from a young age, it can also positively impact their healthy development! (This includes reading skills, language skills, and ability to learn) This also related back to neuroplasticity!
As a child's brain develops most rapidly during the first years of life, neuroplasticity can be positively impacted, and potentially increased when a child is exposed to these two types of play!
Toxic Stress
When a person is stressed, their body produces higher levels of cortisol, which can negatively impact healthy development in any given individual.
Toxic stress can stunt a child's brain development. This impacts their overall development, and can cause major disadvantages for their future.
Stress can impact a child's ability to learn (cortisol decreases neuroplasticity, which ultimately decreases cognitive activity).
The increased release of cortisol can also impact a child's behavior. In some cases children experience mood swings, while others do not comprehend how to deal with the increase of stress in their body.
Stress can also have extremely negative physical impacts on the body. It can prevent the body from properly absorbing nutrients, which can lead to malnutrition. It can also impact a child's sleep schedule, and can even induce stress related headaches or stomach aches.
Environment
The environment in which a child is raised is crucial for their healthy development.
Education
Children who are exposed to education, and granted the ability to pursue it as they grow are more likely to be successful in their future. This does not entirely mean successful inn the field of job hunting, but rather, they will have skills that are crucial for healthy development (this can include the ability to read, or do simple math).
A child raised in a supportive, and enriched environment is more likely to have healthier development of their brains. This is often seen in households that do not struggle economically, or emotionally
According to the UNICEF article, 1 in 5 children live in poverty. This is fairly low compared to the 1 in 3 black children who live in poverty, and sometimes over 1 in 2 First Nations children who live in poverty. Environments that cannot emotionally, economically, and mentally support a child will negatively impact their development for the future.
If a child is raised in an environment that is missing quality childcare, might lack stimulation which could in turn reduce learning capacity and ability to form social and emotional attachments
As a whole, stimulation sparks the mind, and a lack of this could result in slower cognitive development, a skewed ability to learn and retain new information, or even the ability to think creatively.
According to the UNICEF article, 1 in 3 children in Canada do not have basic reading or math skills by age 15. This could be due to the fact that they had lower neuroplasticity or stimulation as a child. This can have an extremely negative impact on their future as they will be at a disadvantage compared to their peers as they lack basic skills.
According to the UNICEF website, education is a powerful tool that can aid in breaking the trend of child poverty, support their survival, growth, well-being, and development! It also includes that children who have been educated are more likely to have an increase of 10% in their earnings
For example, if a child is raised in a war torn country, they are more likely to have toxic stress be present in their lives (negative effects were explained under the Toxic Stress category)
Overall, education is crucial for stimulation, healthy brain development, and the well being of children, yet there are still 57 million children who do not have access to it.
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