Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome

 As a survivor of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome I have a special passion for those children who suffer as well. There is emerging evidence that the "toxic stress" , such as poverty, maltreatment, abuse, etc., interacts with genetic vulnerabilities to cause permanent structural and functional changes to the brain (Klein, Gorter & Rosenbaum. 2013. pg. 765). Those children who exhibit developmental problems such as ASD or FASD often receive support services. Children who develop issues due to stress factors, such as SDHD or ODD often do not receive support and carry damaging stigma. No real studies can be done in this area becasue the experiments would have to be conducted allowing abusive parents to continue to do so. Children who suffer these various stress factors often develop PTSD which goes diagnosed due to behavioral issues. The issues which may present themselves are learning disabilities, behavioral concerns, attachment issues, with-drawn, shyness, and so-on.  When a child acts out in the classroom we must look closely at what else may be going on.

Resource:
Klein, B., Gorter, J. & Rosenbaum, P. (2013). Diagnostic shortfalls in early childhood chronic stress: a review of the issues. Child: Care, health & Development. 39(6)765-771.

I would like to begin this personal story with complete respect for my parents who did the best they knew how. I was not a planned baby to two young parents but was welcomed and loved. However, the stress level for me growing up was pretty intense. One parent was depressed and the other was a walking anger time bomb that I was never sure when it would go off or for what reason. There were five children with me as the oldest so I took most of the brunt of the anger becasue I felt I needed to protect my siblings. I was intensely shy and terrified of most adults. I hated school and felt the safest being outside or in some imaginary world. My mother told me I had an IQ test, as was customary for the day, and I was way above average. I never felt "smart" and barely made it through each year with a passing grade, I struggle with this self-concept still today. Children often grow up with the self image they are taught as young children and I am no exception. I feel extremely disrespectful discussing my parents in this way becasue they grew and matured and, as I said before, did the best they knew how. I feel my young childhood was influenced by the stress in my household and it affected many aspects of my life, but I am strong and resilient and I worked hard to instill this into my own children and each of my students.  

The topic that I would like to address is access to healthy drinking water, something we pretty much take for granted here in the United States. If we have concerns about the water in our homes we are able to buy bottled water from various companies according to their method of production. Many third world countries are not as blessed. One country I would like to talk about is the Congo. I chose this country because I have had students who have come from the Congo and I wanted to see one more hardship they have had to endure, In 1998 there was a war known to many people as Africa's First World War (Shore. 2016). The war, among many things. was over minerals, water, and food. There was great destruction and due to this the infrastructure is limited at best making it impossible to pipe clean water to any more than 69% of the people. The places that due receive water get it from rusty and decaying pipes. The other 31% of the people drink from ponds and streams with water contaminated with  chemicals, waste, or bacteria. More people die from malaria, diarrhea, or malnutrition than violence in this country (Shore. 2016). There are not enough funds to improve the water pumping system. The well off are able to buy bottled water at $1 a bottle but the lower income families only receive less than $2 a day so this is not a luxury they can afford.
      So how does this pertain to us here in America? As I stated earlier, our water comes from clean pipes and there are no issues....right? Recently it was discovered in some of the schools in my home town district that the drinking and cooking water contains lead that measures beyond the legal limits. This causes great concern to me as both a parent and a teacher. The short term affects of lead ingestion can be delays in normal physical and mental development in babies and young children, slight deficits in the attention span, hearing concerns, and learning abilities in children. The long term affects can cause stroke and kidney disease and cancer. The governor of New York has made a mandatory law that all drinking and cooking water in schools must be tested to ensure lead levels are far below regulated levels. However, lead was found in some schools' water; how long has it been there, how many children have been affected?  I have to ask myself; is this part of the reason we are seeing so many of our inner city children with an IEP?

Resources
APEC Water. Drink water contaminants-lead. Retrieved from www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-contamination/lead-contaminants-removal-water.htm.
Shore, R. (2016) Water crisis-democratic republic of congo/ The Water Project Retrieved from https://thewaterproject.org/water-crisis/water-in-crisis-congo