Impacts On Early Emotional Development
Latin America and the Caribbean: This region is of interest to me because I consider myself part of the struggles as a Caribbean immigrant and want to bring awareness to others who have little or no idea of the region and the challenges our children are facing daily. Most often we hear about the bigger world and their challenges on the news but hardly about Latin America and the Caribbean, except in times of natural disasters. My research was done through the UNICEF website about the state of world’s children 2012, children in an urban world (UNICEF, 2012).
Challenges children in the region are confronting:
The kinds of challenges children of Latin America and the Caribbean are confronting include; Disparities, Social exclusion, HIV/AIDS, Chronic malnutrition, Violence, and Emergencies. This blog will however focus on Disparities, Social Exclusion, HIV/AIDS, and Emergencies.
Disparities: About 60% of children under 12 years of age and 50% of adolescents between the ages of 13-19 live in poverty. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 44% of the population lives in conditions of poverty. This represents 220 million people. Fifty-two million people do not have access to sufficient food, 7.3% of boys and girls under-five years of age are underweight for their age, and about 20% show signs of stunted physical and developmental growth.
Social Exclusion affects young people living with HIV/AIDS, and those with disabilities, and dramatically affects indigenous and Afro-descendent communities. As one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world, there are 40-50 million indigenous and 150million Afro-descendants living here, close to half of which are under 18 years of age. Children in these communities have lower levels of nutrition and limited or non-existent access to basic services.
HIV/AIDS: Some 2.1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, 48 000 are children under 15 years old, and 740 000 are adolescence and between 16 and 24 years of age. young adults. The Caribbean has the 2nd highest prevalence of AIDS in the world, after sub-Saharan Africa, and has an increasingly adolescent female face. 
Emergencies are common and harsh, with natural disasters such as flooding and hurricanes occurring yearly. Invariably these days of havoc create years of distress. The many natural disasters are some of the reasons for the cause of poverty in the region. Effect on Children's Emotional Development and well-being
Because they are still developing, children are especially vulnerable to poor living conditions such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, Emergencies and Disparities. The affects of poverty threaten the future of children and therefore the future of the societies in which they live. In terms of HIV children are marginalized through stigma and discrimination and thus may isolate themselves, due to their feeling neglected, alone, and hopeless. Natural disasters can severely impact the mental and emotional development of young children. When children develop fear and trauma due to natural disasters their intelligence, personality and social behavior can be affected.
Insights: Young children who experience extreme stress are at greater risk for developing cognitive, behavioral or emotional difficulties. These impediments can have lasting effects on children's readiness for school and later on their performance in school. For disadvantaged children like some of those from the Latin America and the Caribbean region, the initial deficit of interventions for development has a multiplying effect: children raised in poverty complete far less education than middle class children, due in part to their lowered ability to learn in school. The opportunity to help disadvantaged children attain a more equal start in schooling is in the earliest years of life, when children’s brains are developing most rapidly, and the basis for their cognitive, social and emotional development is being formed. A commitment to reducing poverty and increasing the chances of success for all children requires investment in the earliest years (UNICEF, 2012).
Personally, I think it is very unfortunate for our children to have to go through those trying times. Some children do not even have a chance to survive.The statistics showed that millions of children around the world are still being denied the right to reach their full potential. Every child must be ensured the best start in life – their future, and indeed the future of their communities, nations and the whole world depends on it. Professionally, as an early childhood educator it is my hope that one day the children of Latin America and the Caribbean would find the best start in life and there would be equitable investment on behalf of all children. I have a part to play in laying this foundation for it begins right here in our classrooms.
References
UNICEF, (2012). Information by country/region: Latin America and the Caribbean. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/latinamerica.html
