Early Childhood Development in Costa Rica
https://blogs.unicef.org/blog/better-future-women-costa-rica/
https://www.workaway.info/en/host/493658164577
I decided to look at impacts on early emotional development in Costa Rica because this has been a place I have been looking forward to traveling to since I first began studying it in Spanish class during my primary and middle school years of education. I was fascinated with the nature and animal components of the island and yearned to learn more and take place in programs to help preserve the nature and animal life on this island. Although my original interest in this island came from the beauty I saw in the wildlife and plants inhibited here, now that I am diving into the field of diversity in early childhood education and diversity of different cultures I want to deepen my knowledge of the families who live here.
While looking at statistics and fact sheets in a UNICEF 2020 report of situations revolving around children and families, I discovered that just like many places around the world right now, children and families are negatively impacted on economic, physical health, mental health, and emotional well-being bais as results of this global pandemic. Because of a decrease of people being employed the number of families and households living in poverty has increased from 2019 to 2020. This results in families having to cut back in their food consumption and cause children to have smaller meals and this can lead to them being unable to focus in school environments and being more susceptible to behavioral challenges and other health issues.
"Children with insufficient diets are reported to have more problems with health, academic learning, and psychosocial behavior. Malnutrition can result in long-term neural tissues in the brain, which can impact a child’s emotional responses, reactions to stress, learning disabilities, and other medical complications. In a specific study, researchers Margaret Lahey and Shari Rosen discovered that “Malnourished children […] were found to have delays in vision, fine motors skills, language skills, and personal-social skills'"(Chen 2020).
Something that I found upsetting while looking at the fact sheet was the high number of families and caregivers who believe in and use corporal punishment to teach children how to behave.
“Before COVID-19, corporal punishment and humiliating treatment towards children posed a serious social challenge. Nationally, 46% of children from 1 to 14 years of age have experienced a least one form of physical or psychological abuse by their parents or caregivers; this practice is more prevalent among heads of families without education (53%) than among those with an education (47%). A quarter of the people surveyed (24%) consider that physical punishment is necessary and of these, more men (24%) than women (15%) approve this practice (EMNA/MICS, 2017)” (UNICEF 2020).
In all of the early childhood development places where I have been employed, it was prohibited to punish children with physical or emotional pain. Growing up I was not met with physical pain when I made undesirable choices and many of my peers and classmate did not receive this form as punishment as well. Although I am aware of this happening in some households even in some of my own family households I never saw this as a positive way to teach children how to make appropriate choices. I am very glad that there are programs beginning to emerge to promote social change in the methods used to parent and take care of children in this region of the world.
"As in 2020 there was an increase in the levels of violence experienced by children in their homes, UNICEF supported campaigns to promote caring and positive parenting for mothers, fathers, and caregivers, increasing the REDCUDI ́s community reach by 40% and social media interactivity by more than 105%" (UNICEF 2020).
"According to Rollins (2012), CP can cause physical injuries such as abrasions, bruising, and other medical complications. However, CP has long lasting negative impact on a child’s personality by affecting their cognitive, emotional, psychological, social, and language development. American Academy of Pediatrics points out that CP may adversely affect the students’ self-image and school achievements (Rollins, 2012)." (Source quoted in JPMS blog 2016).
Reference
Chen G. 2020. How Diet and Nutrition Impact a Child's Learning Ability. Public School Review. https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/how-diet-and-nutrition-impact-a-childs-learning-ability
JPMS Blogs Admin. 2016. In Focus: Impact of Corporal Punishment of a Child's Personality Development. https://blogs.jpmsonline.com/2016/01/12/in-focus-impact-of-corporal-punishments-on-a-childs-personality-development/
UNICEF. 2020. County Office Annual Report 2020 Costa Rica. https://www.unicef.org/reports/country-regional-divisional-annual-reports-2020/Costa-Rica
Great post Kristen. I was excited to read about Costa Rica and the life there. It is really sad to know that some adults still mete out physical and emotional pains as punishment to children. In Arica, an average African parents believe that when you spare the rod, you spoil the child. So, children needs to be flogged as a corrective measure, else it looks like the child is being spoilt and over-pampered.
ReplyDeleteHow do you think such parents can be educated on the best way to correct children in order not inflict emotional pain on them.
Thank you for your post, Kirsten. I didn’t realize the number of families and caregivers believing that corporal punishment helps “teach children how to behave.” It is very important that we nurture children’s self esteem and understand of communication. These are the foundational skills that children will take and use as they get older and become adults. Unfortunately, it seems that more children will grow and become users of corporal punishment for behavior. I think this is where schools can partner with families. I know my school uses a PBIS approach to discipline and behavior. We have parent universities and academies to assist with our families rearing of their children and practicing non-corporal behavior practices for managing children behavior.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Beatriz
ReplyDeleteHi Kristen, your blog was very interesting. I was raised under corporal punishment. My father was military and he was very strict and believed in spanking me and my siblings for misbehavior. I vowed that I would never raise my children that way.
I think from a parental perspective, many parents use physical punishment because they think it works. Parents observe the child’s reaction in the short term the behavior stops so, they conclude it is an effective teaching tool. Parents also believe that the punishment promotes effective child socialization by teaching the child what not to do. According to studies (Gershoff, 2013), children who are punished in this method are more likely to have a variety of developmental difficulties in the future.
The American Psychological Association relies on strong research and adopted the policy that physical punishment discipline does not improve behavior and can lead to emotional, behavioral and academic problems over time, and that hitting children does not teach them about responsibility, conscience development or self-control. In addition parents who use physical discipline may be teaching their child to resolve conflicts with physical aggression and that spanking can elevate a child’s aggression levels as well as diminish the quality of the parent-child relationship (Glicksman, 2019).Today parents are learning and using new parenting methods that are more effective.
Reference
Gershoff E. T. (2013). Spanking and child development: We know enough now to stop hitting our children. Child Development Perspectives, 7(3), 133–137. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12038
Glicksman, E. (2019 May). Physical discipline is harmful and ineffective. Monitor on Psychology, 50(5), 22. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/physical-discipline