September 2020

khazen

ACEs, or adverse childhood experiences are potentially traumatic events that occur early in childhood. This can include violence, addiction, abuse, mental health issues, and more. Stress from these ACEs are called toxic stress and can lead to a change in brain development and how the body responds to situations where stress is a factor.

Adversities such as poverty, racism, and violence impact a child’s development greatly. Poverty can mean the child does not have access to resources he or she could need. This includes basic necessities such as food and water as well as educational necessities vital to the child’s early development. Racism effects a child’s self image. This can carry on into adult life and leads to a lack of confidence and social skills. Violence also has a huge impact on a child. Whether its being influenced by the violence in the home to later view those behaviors as okay, or violence inflicted on the child or in the child’s presence therefore causing trauma.

ACE’s have an affect on literacy as the child grows older. If neglected at a young age, the child does not develop key things to learning later in life. For example, if the child is not exposed to different sounds and speech, once the child is older it will be harder if not impossible to teach. Toxic stress can also change the brain development completely, therefore it would be impossible to understand what life could have been like for the individual if not subjected to specific things.

What the Eyes Don’t See

khazen

Dr. Moana’s actions made a difference in flint because she proved that the children of Flint, Michigan were being poisoned by unsafe levels of lead in drinking water.

One time in Elementary school the sinks were flooding in a public bathroom and the employees did not know. I made them aware of it so they could fix the problem and prevent any possible accidents that could result from water on the floor.

As an individual, I can look at the world from a sociological imagination, which means I see my own personal struggles, but I can acknowledge and identify public struggles as well. Being empathetic to people’s struggles and an advocate for change, even if not personally affected, when needed is a way to make the world a better and safer place.