Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

Poverty -

In 5th grade I meet a girl who was living in poverty.  At first I didn’t how to help her.  In class she always stayed to herself and away from everyone.  Other kids in the class always picked on her.  Her clothes and hair were not always clean so she had a body odor.  Befriending her was the best thing that I could have done to help her.  When she would come over to the house she would bring extra clothes.  We would wash her clothes and hair, so that she had fresh clothes to wear and did not have an odor.  This was a difficult time for her as she wanted to fit in and have friends like everyone else.  I remember that she would study very hard so that she got good grades.  She always had the answers to the teacher’s questions.  At the end of the school year her family moved closer to other family members in hoping they could offer assistance to them financially.  I asked my mom is I could give her a gift of friendship to remember us.  We went to the store and bought her a brush and comb; along with other personal hygiene items and some items for her hair.  She was excited about the gift but embarrassed at the same time.  She told has that she had not gotten a gift for a long time.

The number of children under six living in poverty rose to 5.9 million in 2010 from 5.7 million in 2009 (Berman, 2011). The number of American children living in poverty has grown by 2.6 million since the recession began (Berman, 2011).  The rate for child poverty has increased in 38 states over the past 10 years (Berman, 2011).   The southern states have the highest rate of child poverty with Mississippi having the highest (Berman, 2011).

Berman, J. (2011). One in four young U.S. children living in poverty, study finds. Huff Post Business. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/22/children-in-poverty-us_n_976868.html