Dr. Jensen wrote, “the biology of stress is simple in some ways and complex in others. On a basic level, every one of the 30 – 50 trillion cells in the human body is experiencing either healthy or unhealthy growth. Cells cannot grow and deteriorate at the same time.
Ideally, the body is in homeostatic balance: a state in which the vital measures of human function – heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, and so on – are in their optimal ranges. A stressor is anything that threatens to disrupt homeostasis – for example, criticism, neglect, social exclusion, lack of enrichment, malnutrition, drug use, exposure to toxins, abuse, or trauma.
When cells are not growing, they are in a “hunker down” mode that conserves resources for a threatened future. When billions or trillions of cells are under siege in this manner, there will be problems” (Jensen, p, 23).
For this comment, discuss at least three chronic or acute stressors, and specifically how the brain is affected by the stressors.
Then discuss at least 3 effects of stress/stressors on behavior and performance at school for children who are burdened by unpleasant stressors too much of the time.
Summarize what you learned from reading the book and remember to critically think, reflect and write about what you think about it.
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According to Dr. Jensen, “Acute stress refers to severe stress resulting from exposure to such traumas as abuse or violence” (Jensen 22). Chronic stress refers to high stress sustained over time” (Jensen 22). Children of poverty deal with both acute and chronic stress, but chronic stress is more common. According to Dr. Jensen, “Chronic stress exerts a devastating insidious influence on children’s physical, psychological, emotional, and cognitive functioning- areas that affect brain development, academic success, and social competence” (Jensen 22). These stressors delay the child’s brain development and affect them later in adulthood. Three examples of acute stressors are physical abuse, divorce, and the loss of a parent.
Children that deal with a lot of stress at home tend to have disruptive behaviors in class. One effect is impulsivity, which is one of the common behaviors that children do in a classroom. Girls tend to have mood swings and boys tend to lack interest in learning. Children dealing with different stress at home tend to hurt their success rate in school and positive relationships. The second effect for children is that stressors impair attention and concentration. Diminishes social skills and social judgment is the third example of an effect on children dealing with stressors. Now understanding the different stressors that children deal with at home or school, as a teacher I need to be more understanding in my classroom. Instead of thinking that children are acting out just because they can, maybe there is more to it like their way of dealing with their stress! As a teacher, I need to be there for them to learn, but also be that support for them when they are dealing with stress.
An example of an acute stressor is not being offered a job that a person believed they should have gotten. Their heart rate may go up, due to the tension their body has. When people become stressed, whether it is acute or chronic, the brain also has the same symptoms. Very serious health risks can occur from stress. An example of chronic stress is a family living in poverty. This is an ongoing stress that rarely ends or gives in. A person is constantly reminded of their lifestyle, which makes them become more stressed. A third example of stress is being in a hurtful or unhappy relationship. This can be an example of acute or chronic stress. When a person is constantly stressed out, it does affect their brain, and the way they make decisions. Becoming stressed can easily damage someone’s brain. All of the side effects experienced by stress cause the brain to work even harder to make sure the body doesn’t over react. When stressors occur, the brain also has a harder time remembering and learning things. According to Jenson, the neurons in the frontal lobe of the brain shrink when the body is stressed, which causes it harder to plan or make judgments.
According to Jenson, a teacher can point out a stressed child without even being told. Unable to concentrate and pay attention is one effect stress has on a child. A child who is stressed may often have other things on his or her mind than school. Their mind may wonder more than usual due to the specific stress they are dealing with. A teacher may have to call on for misbehaving, or repeat things often. Students who come from a stressful home also lack social skills. Many “stressed” students do not have as many friends, and would rather be alone. When they are around people their age, they often snap easily and disagree on most things. Because some may have gone or are going through traumatic events in the lives, they don’t know how to act normal around people their age. They have a different level of thinking, which makes it harder for them to have and keep friends. Lack of motivation is a third effect that can be caused by stress. Students who are stressed or come from a stressful home have little to no motivation for school. Their families may not care, so why should they? Unlike other students who may be excited when making a good grade or to do a project to present in class, stressed students could care less. It is important for teachers to teach students that while they are at school, it is important to focus only on school.
There are many reasons a child may be stressed, but it is important for teachers to distract them from these negative aspects while at school. From the reading, I learned that children often bring their stressors to school with them, causing their lack of motivation and attention to decline. A child who comes from a stressful background needs to be comforted more, and shown that there is someone who cares for them. Teachers should make a classroom as less-stressful as possible, and teach the class as a whole how to deal with stress. This keeps them from point the student out as being different.
Everyone goes through stress at least once in their lifetime, whether they consider it that or not. There are two types of stressors, which include acute and chronic stressors. The difference between the two is that an “acute stressor refers to severe stress resulting from exposure to such trauma as abuse or violence” compared to a chronic stressor, which is “high stress sustained over time” (Jensen, 22). An example of an acute stressor would be abuse. Abuse is not only a stressor for children in poverty, but also for any child. However, parents of children in poverty are more than likely to experience abuse than children who are not. Another example of a stressor would be unsafe neighborhoods. Living arrangements can create high stress, because the child does not feel safe. This can also cause the child to not sleep well and have a greater impact on school and their home life. Losing a family member is also an example of a stressor. Not only is it hard on the family, but it impacts a child even more. Whether or not the child was close to that family member, it is sometimes hard for them to grasp the concept of losing someone. They may or may not understand that the family member will not be on Earth anymore. It creates a stress on the child to try and understand what is going on and the reason why that family member will no longer be around. Stress of any kind has a result on the brain. Stress can alter the brain’s capacity to learn and remember (Jenson, 25). A stress like child abuse is disruptive to forming healthy attachments and emotional regulation. This affects the brain to give the correct signals as to what is a good thing and what is not.
Stress by itself is enough to deal with but having school on top of that is even harder. Children who are experiencing stress in their everyday lives often have poor behavior and performance at school. One example of this could be that a child who does not have financial support at home will not be able to go on field trips that are being offered at school. As a result, that child may act out to get in trouble so that he/she will not have a choice of going on the trip. This allows the child to keep their business to themselves without having their classmates learn about their home life. Another example of behavior that could occur as a result of stressors may be that a child may be abusive to other people. A child who does this may be displaying the behavior that he/she is shown on a regular basis. This type of behavior may be the only behavior they see from their primary caregiver and think that it is okay to do. Lack of participation may be another example of stress. Children who are stressed out may not be able to focus well in the classroom and refuse to participate in learning.
The information in this particular section is very interesting. I did not know there were different types of stressors and what they could do to the brain’s development. I think that any type of stress that affects behavior and performance at school is not good. However, I knew that stress can and will affect a child’s behavior, but I did not know that it could affect the brain the way that it does. Children who are in poverty experience stress that children who are not in poverty may not experience. This is not a good thing, because those children will be affected the rest of their lives. They will have to deal with issues that others may not, such as a bad living situations and abuse. Overall, by reading this section of the book, I learned about the types of stressors as well as a lot about the way stress affects the behavior and performance at school.
For this comment, discuss at least three chronic or acute stressors, and specifically how the brain is affected by the stressors.
1)Three stressors that affect the brain are abuse, low income, and loss of a family member. Abuse is considered a major stressor for children who are raised in poverty (Jesen, 24). Some studies show that the longer the child lives in poverty the worse the abuse is from the caregiver. Abuse can also occur when the child’s caregiver is using drugs or alcohol. Low income can also be a stressor because they don’t have the necessary resources to provide for the child. They may lack things such as the right foods or the right medications that will help the child develop correctly. The child may also notice that they don’t have the same personal items as his/her other classmates, which can also help with increasing stress. Loss of a family member can also be considered a stressor because it can place the child in a state of depression. Depression can cause things such as loss of appetite and causing the child not to be as focused on his school work. It is hard to know the exact cost of what harm these stressors play on the children. A stressed neuron gives off a weaker signal than a healthy neuron. It also causes less blood blow and lower oxygen levels. It also causes cortisol levels to be low which is what controls the area in the brain that is critical for learning (Jensen, 25).
Then discuss at least 3 effects of stress/stressors on behavior and performance at school for children who are burdened by unpleasant stressors too much of the time.
2)Three effects of stress/stressors on behavior and performance at school are as follows: Over 50% of all absences, Impairs attention and concentration, and diminishes social skills and social judgment. Most kids will not come into your classroom with a signed note that states “I am kinked to a stressor/stress”. You will begin to notice these things through different behaviors at school. A child that comes from a stressful home will be more likely to act out in the classroom. They will also not be able to keep their focus on their current task and generally have a poor record of attendance. Mostly because an Early Childhood student cannot help the situation they are in the child tends to show it through emotions.
Summarize what you learned from reading the book and remember to critically think, reflect and write about what you think about it.
3)What I have read from the book seemed true to me. From being in the classroom on several occasions I could always tell the kids that have stressors or stress. As the book also stated most of these things came from the children who were from low income families or children of poverty, although not always the case. Things such as abuse or loss of a family member to contribute to things such as lack of attendance or acting out with inappropriate behavior in the classroom.
Acute stressors are short term; they are the reaction the immediate threat. Three acute stressors are isolation, remembering a dangerous event and hunger. Isolation is when an individual is away from others they are left all alone. Remembering a dangerous event could be anything dealing with abuse, violence or something that put them in danger. Hunger is the feeling of discomfort or weakness because of the lack of food. The brain is affected by these stressors first of all because these things have influence on the child’s physical, psychological, emotional and cognitive functioning; which affects the brain development, academic success and social competence. For a child being isolated puts them in that devastating moment when everything runs through and mind and when there is no one there for them then they can’t trust anyone or feel comfortable socializing with people. The brain is being tortured with when a child plays flashbacks of a dangerous situation they have encountered. They are subconscious of this and the brain does not again work properly because of the fear. Also hunger affects a child mental and physical stage. Food gives you all the proper nutrients for a person to stay healthy and alive. When that factor is missing then the brain is basically dead and does not concentrate or keep focus. These stressors all affect the brain and other body systems that can put a strain on the body. These stressors also should be dressed as a health concern/condition because the acute or chronic stressors are critical in life/death situations. Three effects of the stress that can cause behavioral issues or low performance in school are acting out in class, using drugs and lack of manners towards others. These effects and plenty more children do to make them feel better or because this is the only way they know because they haven’t been taught. Also the children are not cognitively thinking right, depression kicks in and social skills disappear. All of these disruptions affect the learning process. They don’t have the appropriate skills to communicate because of the stress that took place in their life. This is the reaction to what they already know. The child is so burdened down with stress/stressors until behavior becomes out of control sometime or academically they are falling. Us as teachers should not judge the child but show empathy. The chapters I read so far have given great tips and pointers to know to help when teaching children of poverty. We should take action steps to empower our students to help fulfill their environment and make sure it is positive. You never know what a child of poverty struggles with at home.
One chronic/ acute stressors is abuse. Abuse is a major stressor. Studies have shown that as income decreases, caregivers disciplinary strategies grow harsher. Low-income parents tend to be more authoritarian and use punishments like spanking. Living in overcrowded and substandard housing can cause children stress. More than half of poor children deal with evictions and utility disconnections. All these reasons can cause parents stress and result in insufficient nurturing, disengaged parenting, and difficulty focusing on children’s needs. Stressors can cause a devastating cumulative effect. “Compared with a healthy neuron, a stressed neuron generates a weaker signal, handles less blood flow, processes less oxygen, and extends fewer connective branches to nearby cells.”
Three effects of stress on behavior/performance at school are, it impairs attention and concentration, and reduces cognition, creativity, and memory. Jensen states chronic stress of poverty impairs parenting skills, and in turn impairs children’s school performance. I feel that being in poverty creates an ugly circle of problems that are often beyond the control of the parents and children.
I learned about the homeostasis of the human cells which is very interesting. I have always heard of how stress can cause health problems and even make preexisting problems worse, and now I know why. The fact that children have to deal with stress is very sad. All children should think about is school, playing, and spending time with friends and family. However life is not perfect and people do live in poverty. Finances are not always controllable and the best thing to do is take action and help children and parents learn how to deal with stress, so it does not affect other aspects of their life, especially their academics.
Abuse, living in unsafe neighborhoods, and financial problems are very big stressors to children of poverty. Experiments have been done that show how when a child experiences stress, neurons in the brain shrink which reduces learning capacity and memory skills. I think children really need to be at their highest functioning ability to be able to comprehend new idea and lessons taught in their schools each day. Stressors also affect the brain’s emotional center. I know when my emotions have been disturbed or upset by something I do not function normally at all. If adults are not able to function normally when their emotions are disturbed, how can we expect children to sit still and focus in a classroom while we teach?
Girls who are abused tend to have mood swings during school and boys have impairments with curiosity, learning, and memory. In my opinion this is a very big problem. As a girl I know mood swings can completely change a day for me. It affects my willingness to participate in activities and motivation to complete tasks like homework. For young girls, this same thing can happen. They can be happy then suddenly upset and snap at a teacher or just be uncooperative in the classroom which only hurts their own learning. I have observed boys playing and learning while in the schools and their curiosity is what seems to me to be what helps them want to learn new things. If that is impaired, what will make them want to learn and discover what all is out there for them. Curiosity is something very important to a child’s learning in my opinion. I use my memory for a lot of my school related tasks. When a boy’s memory is impaired he may forget to do his homework, what he learned that day at school, or how to spell his name. A teacher could take this as the boy not trying to school when he actually is getting abused at home and cannot help his memory impairment. The stressor of being abused could be harming his accomplishments at school.
Children may also not have very good social skills and have trouble building relationships. I like how Jensen’s book says that when children come from stressful homes, they tend to channel their stress into disruptive behavior. When I read this, I thought back to certain students I had meet who were from low SES home where stress may have been present and realized their behavior correlates with this statement. These students were always interrupting the teacher and jumping disturbing other students. I just thought they were students with behavior issues instead of realizing they were behaving this way because of their home environment.
The stress of not fitting in at school can really affect a child. Children from low SES homes will not have the money to buy popular clothing and drive nice cars or have fancy things so they may be outcast from certain cliques at school. They may also get bullied on for not fitting in with the other kids. This in turn may lead to the child missing school. My cousin was getting bullied at school by a little boy and she pretended to be sick for almost a week before her mom realized why she felt so bad and “could not go to school.” I have seen primary school age children up through high school age children try to miss school because they were being bullied. I know if I was being bullied I would be emotionally stressed and not want to go to school. But when children do not attend school, they miss out on a lot of learning opportunities. Even one absence can put someone behind enough where they might not be able to catch up.
The chapters I have read so far have really opened my eyes to a lot of situations that children of poverty have to go through. I first thought that teaching them would not be complicated at all, I would just have to use real life example they would understand instead of assuming they could relate to everything I may talk about. I am really going to have to take into consideration everything that these children have to go through in their homes each day when they leave me. Some take care of themselves all night while others do not get fed and come to school hungry. I will learn to keep some kind of nourishing food in my class for the kids who are hungry. I also realized that acting out in class may not be a sign of just a kid with bad behavior and cannot just be labeled as ADD or ADHD behavior. This could stem from stressors the kids experience at home. I will now look at behavior issues differently than before and figure out ways to help my students instead of just sending them to the principle. These kids’ needs are not being met so when they come to my classroom I will have to do my best to make up for what they are not getting outside my classroom.
Low –income families face many stresses. A common stressor deals with housing. Children living in low income families often have inadequate housing and/or live in unsafe neighborhoods. These families also often face evictions or the loss of electricity or water due to inability to pay for their utilities. Not have a stable or safe environment can be very detrimental to children emotionally but also physically. Two other dominate stressors in the low income community are domestic violence and children also receive insufficient nurturing because their parents are so overwhelmed by their inability to make ends meet. Violence in these homes occurs often because of the stress families are dealing with and the parents do not have the coping skills to deal with all of the problems. This lack of coping skills goes into their parenting and the children do not receive adequate supervision or the love and care that they need. All of these stressors build up on the brain and can cause problems with the brains ability to learn and remember new information. This is because the continuous exposure of the neurons in the brain’s frontal lobes to cortisol causes these neurons not to function as well which also causes problems in the hippocampus. This makes it so that children that are chronically stressed are less likely to be able to control their emotions and learn as easily as children that do not face chronic stress. The problems that these children face extend into their emotional well being and their behavior in school as well. Teachers have to be conscious of the fact that a student’s disruptive behavior in the classroom may be relate to the stressors going on in their lives. These students’ attention span and ability to concentrate may be shortened and may cause disruptions in the classroom. Also decision making may be impaired so when a student makes an impulsive or disruptive decision during class a teacher needs to take the time to discuss the decisions and educate the children and not just punish. I learned a lot about the stressors that children face and how these affect their lives and this chapter also scared me slightly. My nieces and nephew (that are actually my boyfriend’s nieces and nephew) are definitely dealing with many of these stressors and have been their entire life. My nephew is six and I think he has probably moved at least twelve times, probably closer to fifteen. Despite his circumstances he does very well in school but his younger sister that is four she is extremely behind for her age. She does not know her numbers or letters and I worry that their living situations and monetary circumstances have had a negative effect on her and now that there is a new baby that is seven months old that the older ones will find their circumstances worse. I will say that it is my hope that they are improving in some ways they have lived in the place that they are in now for about eight months because they moved in right before the baby was born. I hope and pray that they will continue to move in the right direction and that the youngest will not face as many difficulties as her older siblings. This chapter of this book has really opened my eyes also to how to interact with my nieces and nephews and how to help them and help them in their emotional development. I also learned in this chapter that as a teacher I will need a lot of patience and I will need to make sure that I never make snap judgments calls about any students because I know that my nephew goes to school every year with new clothes and all the supplies on his list but he has those because his uncle and grandparents buy them every year so even though he looks like a child that is not struggling inside he does deal with a lot of stress and I may have students just like him. I also learned that I need to try to lower my own stress so that I can adequately learn and I need to utilize my coping skills because I often feel overwhelmed.
1.Divorce affects a child brain because the separation of the parents will disrupt the child’s home life and possibly living situation. Both of those changes have been shown to have a negative on a child’s school performance.
2. If a child suffers from malnutrition, the child’s brain won’t have the building blocks it needs for the child to develop properly as well as function properly.
3. Abusive situations greatly impact a students performance and development. Abused children’s brains are more often in “flight or fight” mode, which can lead to emotional regulation problems.
All of these stressors can lead to the chemicals in the students brain (neurons) producing weaker signals within the brain. If the signals are weak, the student will have problems focusing, communicating and many other skills that are necessary to be successful in school. Prolonged stress can damage the neurons in the brain, and cause them to send out weaker signals. Weak signals from the neurons can lead to a host of problems. Also stress effects the centers of the brain that are responsible for memories. A stressed brain is more likely to remember stressful moments and less likely to remember facts and things associated with school learning.
Stressed students are more likely to be absent, have poor concentration skills, have less creativity and memory, poor social skills and little motivation.
I feel that some of the biggest stresses children are facing right now are dealing with the poor economy. Almost daily you read or hear something on the news dealing with families losing their homes. The stress that children face in this situation comes usually not from just losing their home, but from a parent most likely losing their job also.
In a lot of cases from my experience there are increases in domestic violence when there is a loss of income. This violence can be directed toward the child or a spouse. Either way the child is aware of the abuse even if they are not subject to the abuse.
When the family is evicted the child may be uprooted from their community when they have to move in with other family members or in worse cases become homeless.
When the children have to move in with others, you may have cases with multiple families living in one home with not enough rooms, beds, etc. In these situations you have children who are feeling the stress of their parents plus another family of parents. There may even be stress from children in the other family.
I've dealt with many children in these types of conditions. There are increases in the children missing school, and then falling behind because they have been out. There are also increases in violence from the children sometimes due to their feelings of frustration. Other children can bully them because they know they do not have homes, or that they live with other families. The children can become bullies themselves because they are frustrated from abuse at home. There are sometimes increases in a child not paying attention due to being sleep deprived. This may be due to the family not having a home, and there is no place for the child to actually sleep. It could come in the form of having too many people in a small home and having to share beds, or even sleeping on floors. I've seen homes where there were mattresses on the floors and there were children lying on both ends of the mattress in each direction so that they had a soft place to rest. There were no dressers for clothes, so the clothes were on the floors or sometimes the children used them for beds. I went in one home where there were roaches crawling up and down the walls like we see ants on the ground.
Children can display behaviors other than acting out. There are children who react by over eating at school. They know there will not be any food at home so they try to eat all they can while at school to help them during the hours at home where there is nothing.
Some children just break down and cry or withdraw. They do not know how to express what they are feeling so they just stop showing emotions or they show them all the time. They may not answer when you try to talk with them or get them to respond in class or they may feel like you are picking on them and start crying. The complexities of children can mean they display any variety of emotions or talk about things that have no bearing on what you are teaching. As a teacher you just have to be prepared for whatever they display. Allow a child to put their head down if you know they don't have a comfortable place to sleep. Have the lunch room make an extra sandwich either at lunch or for later for a student who may not be getting any food at home. Find ways to help others express their anger, or anxiety through talking, play, or art.
“Stress can be defined as the physiological response to the perception of loss of control resulting from adverse situation or person (Jensen 23). Jensen discusses that having frequent changes in emotions occasionally can be good for our health. It is the acute and chronic stress placed on children of poverty that can affect their lives permanently. These children are more prone to these types of stress than their peers whose families are better off. “This kind of stress exerts a devastating insidious influence on children’s physical, psychological, emotional, and cognitive functioning—areas that affect brain development, academic success, and social competence” (Jensen 23).
One of the biggest stressors on children of poverty is abuse. Research shows that as parent’s incomes decrease, the ways that they discipline increase. Exposure to this type of abuse can have a huge affect on a child’s behavior and brain development. Another stressor that is mentioned by Jensen is when children live in unsafe neighborhoods. In these neighborhoods the children are much more likely to be pressured into doing things they should not, as well as having a bad relationship with their family. The third stressor that a child may endure in poverty is lack of nurturing. These children’s parents are stressed most of the time and do not feel that their child needs most of their attention. Therefore the children do not get the love and care that they need from them and sometimes cause family violence. All three of these stressors can cause permanent damage on children’s brain development.
Stressed neurons are not able to create a strong signal, less blood flow in generated, there is less oxygen, and there are fewer connections made to cells that are near. There have been studies that show that stress can shrink the neurons that are placed in the frontal lobes—which can affect one’s decision making and planning. This can even affect a child’s capabilities to learn. “Child abuse, for example, is highly disruptive to such developmental processes as the formation of healthy attachments, emotional regulation, and temperament formation, and leads to a wide array of social-emotional and psychological disturbances in adulthood” (Jensen 25). Chronic stress also increases the complexity of neurons in the amygdala. This type of stress on a child’s neurons has the most affect on their emotions, as well as their emotional memory.
A child from poverty tends to show more affects of stress than other students. More than anything it will show in a child’s school behavior and performance. One effect is how much they are motivated and how much effort they put forth in their school work. They will struggle while trying to pay attention in classes as well. Lastly, it will reduce their neurogensis. Their neurogensis is the growth of new brain cells.
I really did not know how much stress could affect a child’s brain activity. More surprising to me is that I did not know that children at this age felt stress whatsoever. My childhood was fantastic and I was blessed to not ever have to go through these types of adversities. Having read Jensen’s book has made me have a completely different outlook on these children. I now know how important it is for me to recognize these types of signs in children early on. It will be my job as a teacher to make the classroom as happy and fun as I possibly can so that my students can see that there is so much more in life than stress. A child’s brain is constantly going through changes and it is vital that I do whatever I can to help their brain grow as healthy as possible no matter what they are facing at home.
Stress is the physiological response to the perception of loss of control resulting from an adverse situation or person. There are two types of stress and they are called chronic and acute stress. Acute stress is severe stress resulting from exposure to such trauma as abuse or violence. Chronic stress is high stress retained over time. A stressor is anything that threatens to disrupt homeostasis. Three stressors that can affect low-income families are unsafe neighborhoods, domestic violence, and divorce. These stressors can affect a child’s brain. Stress can be hardwired into a child’s developing brain. Stress neurons process less oxygen and blood flow, a weaker signal, and extends fewer connections to other cells. The stress hormone Cortisol will actually affect how the child learns. Stress can also mess with a child’s emotional memories. Stress can affect all children but children of poverty seem to be the most affected. Whether it is acute or chronic stress, stress is stress/ Children this young should not be affected by stress but yet they are so as a teacher I want to be able to eliminate my children’s stress as much as possible.
Stress can affect students’ behavior and performance at school when they have been burdened by it most of the time. One effect of students who undergo a continued stressor of abuse is mood swings. It can cause female students to have mood swings while causing male students to experience impairments in learning and memory. Abuse is a stressor that really can affect students at home whether they are seeing someone being abused or being abused themselves. Students will not be able to focus in class because of this chronic stressor. In my classroom there will be no abuse and it will be a safe zone so hopefully that will give some peace of mind to my students while they are in my classroom. Another effect of stress on performance in school is the stressor of the home environment. Students who come from a stressful home tend to channel that stress into disruptive behavior. This also causes them to not fully a develop a healthy social and academic life. I think that maybe the disruptive behavior portrayed by these students could be a cry out for attention. After coming from a stressful home environment I think maybe this child just needs someone to show that they care but he is asking for the attention incorrectly. I would like to mold the student’s disruptive outbursts into something positive where they would no longer be there. One more effect is the stressor of frequent moves. This can obviously causes issues with a child’s academic performance because once they get used to one school it is time to go to another. The child can fall behind when switching from school to school on a regular basis. Also by the time a child gets to make friends it is time to leave them again which can cause social problems.
So far this book has continued to keep my attention. I wouldn’t think that there were so many possibilities of stress for young children. I didn’t know there were so many stressors because I wasn’t a child of poverty. So once again this book was able to open my eyes to something I was unfamiliar with. I feel like every time I open this book I learn something new. I never knew there was so much that could affect a young child until now. It really makes me think as a future teacher what I can do to make sure my students’ lives are as simple and easy while they are in my classroom. I want to have a fun inviting classroom for my students where they know it will be a stress free learning environment.
312 Brigman part 1
*Discuss at least three chronic or acute stressors, and specifically how the brain is affected by the stressors.
Acute Stressor: refers to sever stress resulting from exposure to such trauma as abuse or violence. Chronic Stress: refers to high stress sustained over time. It’s been proven that children living in poverty experience significantly higher levels of chronic stress, than non-poverty children. Although the body is made to handle stress, chronic and acute stressors affect the body differently. Families who live in poverty can experience stressors such as: living in overcrowded substandard housing, unsafe neighborhoods, enduring community or domestic violence, finical strain, loss of family members, etc. Abuse is a major stressor to children raised in poverty. It’s been said that the level of abuse in a family increases as the families’ income decreases. This would come from parents being stressed out. Some parents of these children are working long, hard hours every day and think that they are getting nowhere because the bills continue to pile up. On top of that the parents may also abuse alcohol or drugs, which adds to the problems and only makes them so much worse. When the stress of no money, and/or the stress of drug and alcohol get to be too much, some of these parents result to abusing their children. Punishment such a spanking can get out of control, and they begin to take their frustrations out on the child. Other than physical abuse, some of these parents may punish these children with verbal or sexual abuse.
These stressors can affect the brain in many ways, exposure to chronic or acute stressors get hardwired into the children’s brain. Research has shown that acute and chronic stress actually shrinks the brains neurons which can affect: making judgments, planning, regulating impulsivity, and can reduce their actual learning captivity. So I think all this essential means that these children NEVER forget what happened to them, or what types of abuse they suffered. These children grow up and have problems trusting adults, can suffer from sleep deprivation because of nightmares, can have problems with personal relationships later on. Their brain will never be the same again. These children can recover and make progress and learn from their life experiences but depending on the abuse they suffered it can change major parts of their life.
Talking about this reminds me of an example I watched on Dr. Phil- he interviewed a girl who suffered from abuse for 6 years. This child when she was born was taken away from her birth parents, at the age of 2 she was given back to her birth parents. At the age of 2 the abuse began, these parents locked her in a closet and kept her there. They rarely fed her, may her lay in her own feces and urine, sexually, verbally, emotionally, and physically abused her. This story absolutely broke my heart. But at the age of 8 she was rescued by a local police officer. At the age of 8 when she was rescued she was the size of a 3 year old! Now at 18 she appeared on the Dr. Phil show. She is back with her adoptive parents who had her at birth and recovery greatly. However she is still on 4 foot something and continues to have nightmares, her mother finds her in the closet, and although she does have a shocking good vocabulary due to her circumstances she is behind academically.
So, although these children can move on and recover from their abuse or stressors they never forget, and it affects them drastically.
312- brigman part 2
*Discuss at least 3 effects of stress/stressors on behavior and performance at school for children who are burdened by unpleasant stressors too much of the time.
Acting out- Children who are burdened by stress can use that stress and take it out by acting out in class. These students may not follow the rules, and may act out on purpose for attention. When children are acting out they are likely to have a decrease in their attention and concentration, which will eventually affect their grades.
Diminish social skills and social judgment- We as educators have to remember that these children are most likely seeing and experiencing bad or negative behaviors at home. So with that being said, these children may result to bullying or the complete opposite be shy and stand offish due to the lack of social skills. They don’t know how to make friends, keep friends, or have positive attitudes with friends. These children may be so stressed out that they clam up and feel as if they can’t handle it and break down (crying) or may act out by bulling, or being a child with an “attitude.” Social judgment- these children may have problems knowing the right emotions to retrieve when. They may get mad when there is no need for anger, or may not understand a social situation as easily as other children would.
*Summarize what you learned from reading the book and remember to critically think, reflect and write about what you think about it.
This book has taught me a lot so far. I have learned that poverty affects children in many different ways. Before this book I knew that poverty was measured by the amount of money that the family made annually. I also knew that if a family doesn’t make a lot of money they may not be able to afford some of what we consider the essentials in life.
I guess I never related abuse with poverty. I knew there were children that get abused everyday but I just thought that there was something wrong with their parents and they were just sick. Although I still find someone to be “sick” if they can abuse their child in any way, I guess after you learn about the stressors that these families go through it makes me look at it differently.
I think this book so far has reaffirmed my goal as teacher: to make sure each and every child knows I love them, and care deeply for them. I want them at school every day and I want to make sure I can teach them all they can learn. I also want my students to know that they can be/achieve anything they want to, as long as they work hard and stay focused. So this book has given me ideas on how to talk to/ relate to these children, or another way of putting I guess it has improved the empathy that I will be able to have with these children, because I am beginning to have a better understanding of just what they go through every day.
1.A chronic stressor is one in which high stress is sustained over time. One example of a chronic stressor is one in which the child loses his or her primary caregiver. This can happen when the child is taken from his or her parents and placed with another caregiver, or when the parents separate. This can cause the child to have attachment problems and possibly trust issues. Another example of a chronic stressor is sexual abuse. This can happen by a caregiver, a neighbor or family friend, or a stranger. Sexual abuse can cause the child to have anxiety disorders, be depressed, or be antisocial. Another chronic stressor is when someone close to the child dies. A child may lose a parent, grandparent, or another close relative or friend due to death. This may cause the child to……. Sometimes, the child will not even acknowledge the fact that the loved one is no longer living and act as though the loved one is still alive and well.
2.A child may experience stress at school. This stress can include the work load on the child. A child can be stressed out when he or she does not understand the lesson or when he or she cannot complete the work in the course of a day. As a teacher, I can reduce this stress by offering the child extra help and by making sure the child fully understands the lesson before moving on to another lesson. Also, the child can be stressed by having to complete homework at home because he or she may not have the resources to complete the work, and the parents may not help the child with his or her homework. If I reduce the load of homework, or give the child time to do his or her homework in class to reduce the stress too much homework can bring onto a child. A child who experiences bullying or being alone at school may also cause the child to be stressed. As a teacher, I can help prevent bullying and promote positive words and actions in the classroom to reduce this type of stress. As a teacher, I will try to reduce the stress in my classroom as much as I can.
3.In chapter two of Teaching with Poverty in Mind, Jensen discusses the different emotions children will know and learn. He also tells about the different ways and reasons why a child will express these emotions. Jensen discusses the different stressors a child may face. He also discusses ways to help the child cope with this stress and how the stress affects the child as a student. I learned how to help my students manage their stress in a healthy way. I also learned how to help reduce the stress my students may encounter when in my classroom and other places within the school. From this chapter, I also learned how to teach my students about the different emotions and how to express these emotions.
Common stressors children of poverty deal with include overcrowded housing, material deprivation, and abuse. In an overcrowded home a child may not always get the attention that they need. It would be difficult for a child to find a place to sit down in a noisy, overcrowded home to even do their school work, let alone find a comfortable place to sleep at night. Some children of poverty are faced with material deprivation and may not even have a stove or refrigerator. This would make it very difficult for a growing child to receive a healthy, nutritious meal each day. Lastly, abuse is a stressor children of poverty are often faced with. According to Jensen, studies have concluded that lower income parents are more likely to inflict physical punishment on their children. Exposure to stressors such as these has an effect on the brain. Jensen states that “a stressed neuron generates a weaker signals, handles less blood flow, processes less oxygen, and extends fewer connective branches to nearby cells” (Jensen p. 25). In the end, this can affect how a person makes decisions, plans, and how impulsive he or she is. These stressors can harm the brain’s ability to learn. This will affect the child’s future and behavior in the classroom. The disruptiveness of the stressors on the brain will make it difficult for the child as a student if they are affecting the child’s ability to learn.
Jensen states that, chronic stressors damage attention span and concentration. This would make it very difficult for a child to do well in school because they are unable to think about what they are being taught. Many children have a hard time paying attention to begin with so the addition of chronic stressors on the child’s brain would truly harm their ability in the classroom. Another effect of chronic stressors Jensen mentions is that they reduce “cognition, creativity, and memory” (Jensen 26). In an early childhood setting, children are often asked to draw pictures. A child of poverty who has experienced chronic stressors on his or her brain may have trouble with this because the stressors can affect creativity. Finally, Jensen tells us that chronic stressors can reduce “motivation, determination, and effort” (Jensen 26). This would really damage any human being, especially a child. A child needs to be motivated to do their work and complete tasks so that they can form good habits and succeed later in life. If a child is not motivated or determined then they may see no reason to finish homework or, in the long run, high school.
Children who live in poverty are at a higher chance of experiencing chronic or acute stressors. Acute stressors refer to severe stress resulting from exposure to such trauma as abuse or violence, whereas chronic stress refers to high stress sustained over a period of time (Jensen 22). As a child I grew up in a low SES family. My father worked as a welder and my mother was mostly unemployed. My father was an alcoholic and was very abusive towards my mother and my two brothers. While growing up, my mother was extremely stressed from trying to keep everything as calm and good as she could so that my father would not fly into a rage. This took a toll on her. She lived in fear of her life and of what might happen to her children. Because of this she was not the mother she wanted to be and she still beats herself up over it. Money was very tight growing up. My mother would get our clothing from the Salvation Army. If we were able to get a toy it was given to us by a family member on my mother’s side or if my mother had a little extra she would buy us a toy from the thrift store.
Living in a situation like ours is typical for a low SES family. Many children struggle in school because of the stress from home. My brothers and I were lucky that our mother pushed us to learn and do well at school and we saw school as our break from a harsh reality. Looking back now, I don’t know if my mother pushed us because she saw the importance of an education or if she was scared of what our father would do if we came home with bad grades. I liked school but I was extremely shy. I was scared to ask the teacher for help if I did not understand something because I feared she would be upset with me for asking. I had trouble making friends because I was so shy and because I thought they would not like me because I did not have the same nice things they had. When they would talk about movies or games they had most of the time I had never heard of them because we did not have a TV. Many children in this situation show aggression and withdrawal at school. I never had aggression towards anyone but I do remember withdrawing to myself when I became nervous or did not know what to do.
Living in this type of stress over time takes a toll on young children or anyone for that fact. It affects their whole being; the physical, mental, psychological and social well-being. My life greatly improved once my mother was finally able to leave my father. After a while, she remarried a great man who was financially sound and treated my brothers and myself as his own children. I believe that my brothers and I would have had many more problems than we do now if he had not come into our lives. We do struggle with standing up for ourselves in relationships and getting taken advantage of. We tend to find people who prey on our weaknesses and insecurities to get us to do as they want us to. I believe a lot of that stems from our childhood and how our father treated our mother.
Reading Dr. Jensen’s book has opened my eyes to the fact that are a vast amount of students and young children who have lived and are still living similar lives as me. The book gives the facts about the students and gives research that backs what he says. Reading his book has actually been somewhat a healing process for me. It helps me understand some of my childhood and why I experienced some of what I did. It has shown me great tools to use to reach my future students and ways that can help me deal with stresses that I face today as a young woman who is a college student, in the middle of a divorce, and a mother of a four year old. I know that if I can do it and improve my life that they can to and I will be a better teacher because of that.
For this comment, discuss at least three chronic or acute stressors, and specifically how the brain is affected by the stressors.
When dealing with younger children of poverty, acute stressors can be bullying and parental divorce, while chronic stressors can be considered as constant physical abuse and living in violent neighborhoods, and material deprivation. Constant physical abuse may be experienced in many homes that are considered to be of poverty. Physical abuse tends to be an outlet for an adults whom experience constant depression and negativity. With having the proper outlets or resources to deal with their problems, remnants often affect the children in the home. With a child experiencing this, their homeostasis is constantly thrown off balance resulting in the adaption of the brain. Living in a violent neighborhood is something that a child should not be stressed about but often times poverty and violence are found to be related. For children living in a neighborhood where they are constantly afraid to walk outside is definitely a chronic stressor which continuously reoccurs. For students who may walk to school, the journey may be more dangerous for them causing them to chose not to attend and deal with their harmful environment. One last chronic stressor is that of material deprivation. I believe this is a chronic stressor for children who have experienced poverty since birth. These children are constantly dealing with the material advancement of their peers, which in turn causes them to constantly doubt and hate their situation. To constantly have the things you do not have thrown in your face rather intentional or unintentional it can be devastating as a child. Having to constantly deal with such issues eventually takes a toll on one's self image. When thinking about chronic stressors, the brain is affected greatly by the la k of healthy cells. The brain begins to adjust to the reoccurring stress levels causing deterioration in many areas of the brain including emotional memory and declarative memory. The stress hormone of cortisol is released throughout the brain and causes shrinkages of neurons in the brains frontal lobes which is an area that is responsible for making good judgements, planning, and regulating impulsivity (Jensen 25). By developing brain cells that are constantly under chronic stress it has been found to diminish the complexity of neurons which further causes memory modulation.
Then discuss at least 3 effects of stress/stressors on behavior and performance at school for children who are burdened by unpleasant stressors too much of the time.
For children who burdened with stress they often experience lack of healthy social relationships, reduced memory and cognition, as well as disruptive behaviors. Children mimic what they see often times, therefore living in a home with negativity and constant stress could cause children to deal with their issues in inappropriate manners such as disruptive behaviors in the classroom. Referring to the emotional keyboard we know that children of poverty often aren't taught patience in the home which results in impatience in the classroom causing disruptive actions and behaviors such as tantrums. When dealing with a brain that is constantly at a weakened state, memory and cognition often suffers. This is very disheartening when dealing with younger children. They are at such an influential state and are like little sponges ready to absorb information. Having to constantly deal with more social and emotional influences, could cause a problem when retaining classroom information therefore influencing critical thinking when trying to build on concepts. As for healthy social relationships, for students coming from homes of chronic stressors, building and maintaining healthy relationships with others could become a constant battle. By not having positive social relationships or receiving positive relationship influence from home, could cause children of poverty to lack the proper emotions and feelings to maintain a healthy relationship with others.
Summarize what you learned from reading the book and remember to critically think, reflect and write about what you think about it.
From reading the book, I have been able to take a closer look at what really influences children of poverty. Sometimes as an adult I forget that children see more than I believe and often don't have the right outlets to deal with everything they are exposed to. So far Jensen has presented great thinking points and information when dealing with children of poverty. He provides research as well as theories that are current and relevant in today's society. Growing up I was fortunate to have a experienced upper middle class living arrangements, never experiencing exposure to adult problems until the appropriate time. Dr. Jensen constantly discusses in his book about children of poverty having to deal with issues bigger than themselves and being exposed to areas and situations that could eventually have a negative impact on their future. Growing up there were things that I was sheltered from as well as aspects of life that I was intentionally kept away from, so being able to sympathize with a child of poverty who must help provide food for his or her family is something that would be a stretch for me to relate to. But thanks to Dr. Jensen, I realized that showing empathy would and is the best way to handle the situations. I grew up around poverty but never experienced it first hand , which could eventually cause barriers but by having methods to understand the children's situAtion and look at their issues from a relational stand point rather condescendingly is the greatest thought I will take away from this book. Overall, I will say for now I have enjoyed reading Dr. Jensen's work, although I may not agree or believe every statement, I do enjoy reading his views on poverty and his strategies to improve classroom situations when faced with challenges.
Summarize what you learned from reading the book and remember to critically think, reflect and write about what you think about it.
Abuse is a major stressor among students living in poverty. They are more likely to experience harsher punishment than their wealthier peers, and experience negative results because of it. Experiencing stress at a young age hardwires a child’s brain to deal with harsh realities they are not ready for. The cumulative effect of this causes neurons in the brain to give off a weaker signal. This lack of signal cause blood to flow slowly, oxygen to be processed less and fewer connection to nearby cells to develop. Research has shown that stress actually shrinks that part of the brain that is linked to planning, decision making, and regulating impulsivity. It has also been known to reduce the learning capacity in some students.
Unpredicted stressors during childhood can severely impact a child’s ability to learn and develop properly. When a child is abused or neglected it can affect key developmental areas, such as emotional regulation, empathy and social functioning. These things are very important to becoming a healthy productive member of society. Children, who experience these types of stressors, walk in already being a mile behind their peers in terms of development.
Chronic stress diminishes the neurons in the frontal lobe part of the brain, but also increases neurons in the emotional center. These means that students will lack judgment skills, while simultaneously become emotionally charged. This is a horrible combination for children, especially young ones who already lack the ability to regulate their emotions and feelings. A child’s brain will begin to focus and store more emotion based memories as opposed to knowledge ones. This type of stress can also cause the brain to maintain a constant level of stress. Instead of reverting back to normal homeostasis levels, the brain continues to carry over emotions and feelings from each stressful event making it hypersensitive to every stressful event it encounters.
Overall students who experience any of these types of stressors would have issues succeeding. If you are both developmentally behind and mentally stressed about the fact that you’re developmentally behind you are not going to get anywhere. There is a chance that students who live with these types of stressors can succeed but it is not as likely as their wealthier peers. The poorer students are coming in with an obvious disadvantage and are then asked to try and complete the same task as the other students and in some cases that is simply impossible. 50 percent of all absences are directly linked to chronic stress. Stress impairs attention, concentration, reduces cognition, creativity, memory, motivation, determination, and the growth of new brain cells. It has also been known to increase the depression and anxiety. By breaking down each of these 3 facts you can see why students are not succeeding and why their stress only increases further. In order to maintain good grades you must attend class and if you are too stressed to attend you are only putting more stress on yourself when you realize you have more work to complete that you don’t know how to do. Coupled with the fact that your behind developmentally on several levels it is borderline impossible for you catch up. The more you think about it and try the more stressed, depressed, and anxious you becoming. Stress in terms of poverty is a vicious cycle. It is very hard to overcome the situation once you’ve been stuck in it for a while.
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