Category: Children

The complexity of children’s cognitive processes has always intrigued me. Children go from helpless and dependent newborns to physically able toddlers in such a short space of time; the complexities of this process are of keen interest to me. Psychology with child development will allow me to study this in more depth and therefore nourish this curiosity and it excites me to attain more knowledge and understanding of the stages and features of this development through a psychology with child development degree.

Throughout my Level of studies, Psychology has acted as a catalyst for my curiosity about child development. As a result of exploring the topic of Attachment, I was able to analyze stages, types, and research into the attachment. Add a bit more detail here- why is this interesting/ useful? I investigated the different psychological approaches and their explanations of human behavior, which has granted me a deeper understanding of the behavior of children and how this behavior is shaped by classical and operant conditioning – suggested by the behaviorist approach. This has given me a good foundation of knowledge for studying child development at the degree level. My studies in Economics and English have given me the ability to interpret data and interpret psychological impacts on characters from the books we read. This is particularly true for economics, where we use behavioral economics to analyze how people make economic decisions, and this overlaps with psychology such as cognitive biases and choice architecture. I really enjoy partaking in this, as it allows us to draw our own conclusions and thoughts on the matter. My passion for child psychology which I believe has driven me to excel in these cognitive-based subjects.

Outside of the classroom, I take my interest in children’s development further. I enjoy taking the time to watch documentaries such as The Secret Life of 4 and 5-Year-Olds and Child of Our Time. This gives an exciting insight into the way the minds of a child work and how they behave around one another. I listen to a podcast by Forum– the Developing Child, which has taught me about the neuroscience of babies’ brains and how they develop through neural plasticity.

Outside of my studies, I frequently babysit and have grown up with younger children in my family. Babysitting has allowed me to attain a level of understanding of children and their social behavior. Things such as recognition and separation anxiety from the primary caregiver can be seen first-hand. Whether the child understands right from wrong and their ability to interpret their surroundings can be examined and questioned here. I regularly attend a dance class in which I regularly to teach younger peers. This enables me to work alongside children from the age of 4- and observe their actions and their response to authority. It has also enabled me to develop my confidence, patience, determination, coordination, and planning as we have regular dance shows in front of large audiences. I work in a busy café at my local garden center which builds my ability to work under pressure and work collaboratively as part of a strong team, along with my ability to be hardworking and persistent to ensure a uniform standard of work.

Throughout my life, I have encountered many personal challenges which have enabled me to grow as an individual. My experiences in life have given me the ability to communicate in an empathic manner to those who may be in a similar situation, and the resilience to triumph through hardships. With my mother being a single parent, this has motivated me to become a better person and extend the opportunities of other children from other single-parent families.

The thought of furthering my knowledge of psychology and child development excites me. I’m determined to use this knowledge and fulfill my ambition of becoming a child counselor.

In the world of parenting, there are different ways in which parents’ discipline and raise their children. These styles vary due to the mode of punishment, communication, nurturing and expectations. In some cases, how parents raise their kids also carries some similarities across other parents. As a result, these styles of parenting have therefore been classified based on what similarities they share. They include authoritative style of parenting, permissive, authoritarian and uninvolved styles of parenting. This essay will therefore take a keen look at these different parenting styles and how each of these parenting styles and disciplinary strategies can affect children.

Authoritarian Parenting Style

With an authoritarian parenting style, the parent is usually very strict with the child, has high expectations of them and in most occasions punishes them. The parent barely gives room for a two-way form of communication and the most communication comes from the parent, where the kid is required to listen and obey all rules that have been put in place. Due to its strict nature, the parent in this case barely provides the child with any form of nurturing. This style of parenting has direct effects on a child’s behavior. This type of parenting style can directly affect the children in negative ways during their childhood. It has been proven that kids with authoritarian parents score lower in academic self-concept tests. It has been discovered that physical discipline and externalized aggression has resulted to attention issues and destructive behaviors. It has been proven that this type of parenting style affects the child`s self-esteem in a negative way. This style of parenting results in kids who are very obedient and know how to follow the rules without asking any questions. However, such behavior also results in extreme unhappiness and inability to create and sustain social relationships and interactions due to low self-esteem issues. Because these kids are used to being told what to do, they lack skills in problem solving. Moreover, they lack any interest in negotiations even when faced with a problem; all they want to do is follow rules. Due to the strict nature of their parents, these kids grow with anger issues which are usually directed to their parents. They become hostile and aggressive in everything they do when encountered with difficult situations since they are not taught how to do things better in the future. This brings up adults who are very frustrated in life. Moreover, the fact that these kids are raised in fear, forced to obey rules with no complains, they tend to become very good liars who are able to lie their way out of any situation (Blackwell).

Permissive Parenting Style

A parent who uses a permissive parenting style usually is not strict. It entails an open system of communication where the parent is not always giving rules and directives. This style is the opposite of the authoritarian style as it does not set any rules but allows the child to figure out what it is, they have done wrong and then lets them decide their form of punishment. It therefore creates a friendship between both parties where expectations are very low and the parent is more nurturing. Such upbringing has a great influence on the life of a child. Children who were raised in a permissive parenting style had a lower quality of life. Children raised in a permissive parenting style have a major negative impact on their mental health. It has a big impact on the child’s academic achievements. One of the characteristics of a child reared by this type of parenting is the lack of interest and persistency. When parents use this style, they become more of a friend than a parent by encouraging their children to talk more. As a result, they don’t put much effort to discourage their child from bad behavior and bad choices. This brings up a child who is poorly behaved both at home and in school. Such behavior also results in poor academic performance. Due to the non-strict nature of this style, kids barely learn the importance of following rules and regulations. They are unaware that certain actions have consequences since in most cases the parent forgives the child’s misconduct and is lenient to them. This therefore brings up kids who feel very privileged in life and think they deserve everything in life. Moreover, these kids grow up being very happy and can also develop self-esteem issues. The child also becomes disobedient in environments where certain rules are set since they don’t know how to follow rules. In addition to bad behavior, this parenting style which involves a lot pampering can result in child obesity where their parent is always purchasing junk food for them (Baumrind).

Authoritative Parenting Style

An authoritative parenting style involves a lot of nurturing and high expectations. Parents set certain clear rules for the kids, explain to them why the rules have been set and informs of them of the consequences of defying such rules. In this case, the communication between parties is two way and the kids are even allowed to contribute. The communication is designed to enable the child to understand everything that goes on. Children reared by an authoritative parenting style have much more self-esteem. This type of parenting helps children to achieve their goals throughout their life time. Children reared by this parenting style tend to adapt better to social hardships and they often make better judgments. Such children know the value of rules; they become obedient and know that actions have consequences. The kids display good behavior both at home and in school. This behavior is also reflected well in their academic performance which is usually high. An open system of communication teaches the kids to have opinions on issues, to express their opinions at the same following rules. When kids are allowed to have a contribution and express their opinion, the self-esteem goes up, they become confident in themselves and believe in them more. Being self-confident results in very happy and successful kids who in most cases make good decisions, are able to evaluate their situations and solve problems accordingly without getting aggressive or frustrated (Hoshiar).

Uninvolved Parenting Style

In an uninvolved parenting style, just like its name, parents do not play an active role in their child’s life maybe due to a lack of interest in parenting or they just chose to parent this way. This style involves very minimal communication between parties, little or no nurturing at all and little or no expectations on the child at all. The parent mostly allows the child to do whatever they want and does not get into their way and children therefore lack any guidance and are usually neglected. The lack of guidance and neglecting kids can create mental and emotional issues in kids who display abandonment issues and feel they are not loved. Lack of adequate love and guidance has a direct impact on the child’ self-esteem and confidence. These kids grow without knowing how to follow rules, they don’t get to know the consequences of their actions and mostly feel privileged in life since they are allowed to do whatever they want. Lack of parental attention affects their academic performance. Moreover, these kids are characterized with by very bad behavior since they lack someone to correct them. They lack self-discipline, they don’t know how to solve problems, are used to doing things their way which makes it difficult for them to cope with others and maintain social relationships (Hoshiar).

Conclusion

In summary, all these types of parenting styles have been shown to have a strong impact on children and how they socialize or start new relationships with society. Every aspect of an authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved parenting style has a major impact on a child. All of these types of parenting are different, and we understand that some influences are positive and some are not. Thus, it provides us with an explanation of how people develop certain behaviors throughout their lives.

Works Cited

1. Baumrind, Diana. “The Influence of Parenting Style on Adolescent Competence and Substance Use. Journal of Early Adolescence”, Journal of Early Adolescence., vol. 11, 1991, pp. 56–95., https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f1cf/b19c25271233726248a662b8766cd8341404.pdf
2. Blackwell, Wiley. “From Authoritative Parenting Practices to an Authoritarian Context: Exploring the Person–Environment Fit”. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, vol. 13, no. 4, 1 Dec. 2003, pp. 427–456., https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.db29.linccweb.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=650358c9-1a33-4d10-9fef-20dec60cad3e@pdc-v-sessmgr04
3. Hoshiar, Sangawi. “The Impact of Parenting Styles on Children Developmental Outcome: The Role of Academic Self‐Concept as a Mediator”. International Journal of Psychology, vol. 53, no. 5, Oct. 2018, pp. 379–387. Business Source Complete, http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.db29.linccweb.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=13f1575d-e09f-4734-a436-729c5d08a253@sdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#AN=131662542&db=bth

It is the responsibility of society to help children to thrive. Children are of paramount importance for society. Around 120 million children in the world suffer violence[footnoteRef:2] and ‘Violence against children takes many forms, including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and may involve neglect or deprivation. Violence occurs in many settings, including the home, school, community and over the Internet’[footnoteRef:3]. The children deserve a positive future that is free from the peril of childhood sexual abuse if children suffer sexual abuse then its impacts are long-lasting and often devastating.[footnoteRef:4] [2: #ENDviolence, unicef| for every child (Nov. 19, 2019), https://www.unicef.org/end-violence.] [3: Violence Against Children, unicef| for every child (Nov. 18, 2019), https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/violence/. ] [4: PREVENT CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE, OAK FOUNDATION (Nov. 18, 2019), http://oakfnd.org/prevent-child-sexual-abuse.html. ]

In India ‘Prevention of Child from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012’ describes various forms of sexual offences which are penetrative or non-penetrative: sexual harassment, child pornography, penetrative sexual offense, aggravated penetrative assault. A recent medical study mentions that Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in America, Europe and Asia are 10.1%, 9.2% and 23.2% respectively.[footnoteRef:5] [5: Wihbey J., Global Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse, Journalist’s Resource (Nov. 19, 2019), https://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/criminal-justice/global-prevalence-child-sexual-abuse/.]

In India around 72.1% of penetrative sexual assault is not reported, study report published by the Ministry of Women & Child.[footnoteRef:6] One of the reasons that the offenses are not reported because most of the perpetrator is “known accused”, the study ‘Crime in India: 2016’ indicates that 94.8% of accused of the penetrative sexual offenses under POCSO Act, 2012 is “known accused”[footnoteRef:7] and sexual offense against the children is perpetrated by the family members or near relatives and due to this the parents of the child feel reluctant to report the complain because of social pressure & they think that it might demean the reputation of their family in the society. [6: Kacker Dr. L.; VARADAN S.; & Kumar Pravesh, Ministry of Women and Child Development – Government India, Study on Child Abuse in India: 2007, http://www.indianet.nl/docs/childabuseIndia.doc. ] [7: National Crime Records Bureau (Ministry of Home Affairs) Government of India, Crime in India: 2016 (pp. 186–226), www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-website/search?utf8=✓&q=http://ncrb.gov.in/StatPublications/CII/CII2016/pdfs/Crime%20Statistics%20-%202016.pdf.]

By introducing reform in the mechanism of police system or better policing, reform in the judiciary to ensure free & fast trial will increase the conviction rate, by introducing fast track courts, awareness programs on CSA, ensuring the safety of witnesses & victim, advanced equipment for evidence collection and modern forensic gathering, by establishing a child-friendly or safe environment and certainty of conviction rate thereafter generating deterrent effect in society and thereby helps in reducing the crime. Implementation & Enforcement of existing laws or statutes properly have a deterrent effect against CSA. The statistics says that it is “The certainty, uniformity of punishment & not severity of it and fast trial of proceeding will help in reducing the crime against child”.[footnoteRef:8] [8: Ghuge, P.; Adenwalla, M., & Rao, N. (2018, April 27), Should those who rape minors get the death penalty? (Nov. 18, 2019), https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/should-those-who-rape-minors-get-the-death-penalty/article23686547.ece.]

“The study on campaign “No Means No” in Nairobi and Kenya shows that the rape in both countries decreased by 50%. “No Means No” is an anti-violence teaching program in which to both girls and boys it teaches ‘how to identify risk early’, ‘how to say No effectively’, ‘how to run away- if words fail’ and ‘how to use physical self-defense’. The program also seeks to transform boy’s view of women and masculinity.”[footnoteRef:9] So “No Means No” campaign helps in creating awareness about the CSA and helps in educating the society that it is wrong. [9: Rosenberg, T. (2018, June 12), A Worldwide Teaching Program to Stop Rape, New York Times (Nov. 18, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/opinion/a-worldwide-teaching-program-to-stop-rape.html?rref=collection/column/fixes&action=click&contentCollection=opinion®ion&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection.]

Also results of program like “REAL Father Initiative” shows that the violence against child decreases significantly in the post conflict Northern Uganda. The initiative aims to establish positive partnership & parenting practiced among young fathers (age 16-25) and to reduce the intimate partner violence and physical punishment of children.[footnoteRef:10] Evidence shows that the involvement of the father in initiatives has a significant positive outcome and risk factors for future perpetration and violence occurring at family unit reduced significantly. [10: REAL Fathers Initiative, Institute for Reproductive Health (Nov. 19, 2019), http://irh.org/projects/real-fathers-initiative/.]

Parent’s or Caregiver’s support to the child helps in creating a safe environment. One of the prominent steps is to provide parenting training to the parents especially to the young parents and to the first-time parents. From the beginning of the childhood, as you teach child the name of body parts, you have to also teach them about their genitals and you have to also teach the child the privacy of the body parts that some body parts are private and nobody can touch them. Talking about this early helps the child to talk about this clearly and the dread that you can’t talk about this will end. Teach your child early and often that there are no secrets between the child and parents and that you can feel comfortable in sharing anything with your parents whether it is good or bad, sad or fun. Tell the child that the ‘body secrets are not okay and that they can never be in trouble if they share ‘body secrets’ with them. A clear distinction between ‘good touch’ or ‘bad touch’ is embedded at early stage of life but it is often confusing as the term bad touch sometimes don’t feel bad or hurt, so instead of using the term bad touch we should use the term ‘secret touch’[footnoteRef:11], as it is an increasingly exact portrayal of what may occur. Create an environment at home in which sexual topic should be discussed comfortably.[footnoteRef:12] [11: Daniels, N., & Hill Child Counseling, 10 Ways to Teach Your Child the Skills to Prevent Sexual Abuse, Child Mind Institute (Nov. 17, 2019), https://childmind.org/article/10-ways-to-teach-your-child-the-skills-to-prevent-sexual-abuse/.] [12: Preventing and Identifying Child Sexual Abuse – Tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics (Nov. 19, 2019), https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/news-features-and-safety-tips/Pages/Parent-Tips-for-Preventing-and-Identifying-Child-Sexual-Abuse.aspx.]

We are not credulous enough to say that these discussions will absolutely help in preventing CSA but by making people aware of the violence against children and arming children with the knowledge we can prevent them from being victimized. Violence can occur against any child at any point of time.

Recognize it. Report it. Help #ENDviolence

First Impression Paper

World Quest Dorothy children’s home was founded by Elias Mbaabu on the 18th of august 2009. Elias lived in the United States of America with his wife. On one of his visits to Nairobi with his wife, he came across street kids, his immediate instinct was to help them however he only had a thousand shillings in his pocket. On his next return to the city after the last one, with twelve children he came up with Dorothy children’s home. The foundation was named after Elias’s wife’s niece Dorothy, who was murdered by her husband.

Celebrating their 10th anniversary in august, WQDCH can boast that they currently shelter twenty-three girls, with a four-year-old being their youngest. Eight are in house, two from Meru, two from Nakuru, two from Machokos and two from Roasters Marurui. Dorothy children’s home has a school within the premises, classes up to class 4, then they follow up their studies in Marurui. The children sheltered by the foundation, are gotten from children’s offices, government or families who are unable to provide the necessary resources for their children.

The mission of Dorothy children’s home is “Our passion is to give a home, love and hope to orphaned and destitute children in Kenya, Africa”.

Feelings

By 7.50 am on the 13th of May 2019, I got to Dorothy Children’s Home pumped and extremely nervous about my first day. I remember vividly taking the back gate, which is located inches away from the cows’ herds, I wasn’t sure if I was more terrified about being accidently touched by one of the cows. After successfully walking past them, I saw ducks and at that point I just ran as far as I could from them and immediately prayed, I wasn’t going to be put on ‘animal duty’. I met my supervisor Doreen who ended up directing me to where the children’s classrooms where, there it was “the playground”, where there are couple trees and plants and three playground equipment. The swings have two seats, the playhouse had one broken slide and the other was barely functional with, however nothing caught my attention like the classroom did. It wasn’t like anything I have ever seen before and at that moment my brain started to cycle so many questions, one of the biggest questions was “how am I going to fit in?”. The children range between the ages of 1 and 7 years old, what blew my mind was that none of them spoke English well enough to understand little things I said to them, and that right there was my biggest challenge.

As days went by, I felt more and more comfortable around children but teaching became more and more challenging by the day because I had to teach the kids alphabets, animals, objects and so many more. I would draw letters, pictures of objects, and animals for all five kids. Finding out that my pronunciations of alphabetic letters are very different from Kenyans and East Africans in general, this made teaching the students much harder. In addition, there are two boys I instantly connected with, Ambrose (3 years old) and Edwin Ochieng (2 years old). Ambrose came in one day with a dislocated wrist, his right hand was so swollen he could not lift the chair he sat on or even hold the pencil, he compensated for the right hand. It took all of me not to yell at the teacher or his parents, because I strongly felt that he needed immediate medical attention and bed rest. What was more disappointing is that he came to class day after day with his hand like that, unattended to and I immediately understood that his family couldn’t afford to the proper care that he needs, for every day that I came to teach them in class and I saw him, I would feel so bad that there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

On my 6th day I asked to be assigned in the kitchen because I did not want to get too comfortable with just teaching and playing with the children. I was given green and really tiny looking beans to clean up which I later found out are called ‘Ndegu’, I still have no idea what they are used for and I spent three good hours picking ndegus.

Day 15 came and it was probably the most challenging day of them all because it involved me facing my fears. As mentioned earlier I have an animal issue, especially with cats, chickens, ducks, and the scariest of them all turkeys. On this day I was assigned to cleaning duty, which involved me cleaning the hen house (female chickens or other fowls are kept safe and secure. There are nest boxes found inside the hen houses for egg-laying, and perches on which the birds can sleep). Cleaning really smelly chicken poo was not my problem however falling on the cows were, so the hen house is built right on top of the cow sherds, as I swept, I could see the cows as they laid with comfort, those were the most nerve racking three hours of work.

SWOT Analysis

“SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is a framework used to evaluate a company’s competitive position and to develop strategic planning. SWOT analysis assesses internal and external factors, as well as current and future potential.” (Grant, 2019)

It presents key insights into both internal and external factors that can have an effect on the overall performance of an organization. It can help the leadership of the organization to optimize performance, look for new opportunities, and minimization of a number enterprise and coverage making risks. (Lynda M. Applegate, 2018)

· Strengths of Dorothy children’s home:

1. Philanthropy; they have the desire to promote the welfare of others, this is expressed through sheltering and feeding of the children.
2. Sponsorships; Dorothy’s children’s home sponsors the education of their girls to high school and sponsors their feeding as well
3. A lot of team members; there are a good number of people working on different aspects such as the gardener, the one in charge of animal feeding, those who cook for the children, volunteers from various universities etc.
4. Dorothy children’s home has fixed assets like office, land, and furniture.
5. he foundation has a potential to attract international volunteers and supporters for its activities, through its connection to organizations like USIU-Africa

· Weaknesses of Dorothy children’s home:

1. Advertisement; the foundation’s Facebook page is outdated and doesn’t have any website. Lack of a social media presence will not allow them to connect with the right people, which affects their networking
2. Competition; Although the foundation is non profitable, they still have other foundations such as Happy life children’s home, who have more competitive advantage such as location, and popularity.
3. Most marketing is by word of mouth; most of the volunteers are from schools, someone has to tell you about the home before one can discover it.
4. Cost of their services; Because most expenses are covered from the foundation’s pocket, however there are services being rendered by people who need to be paid, leading to more cost incurred.
5. Neglect of Staff Development / Skills Development; because of staff shortage, they basically have to ‘make good use of what they have’. They do not have the chance to be selective about their volunteers, most times these volunteers do not possess the appropriate skill.

· The following are opportunities:

1. Giving a home and also giving love to every child they in need
2. Giving adults the opportunity to be parents, raise a child of their own.
3. World Quest Dorothy children’s home is networked and works with other stakeholders in the regions and donors and other stakeholders are willing to support the foundation.
4. WQDCH located in the Hub of East African community, and a Kenyan city hence an opportunity to network with international supporters and volunteers

· The following are the existing threats:

1. Cost of services; some of the workers there are not volunteers, for instance the teachers are paid for their services.
2. Competition; even though Dorothy’s children’s home is a non profit organization, there is still competition from other homes to be considered.
3. Abortion; an increase in abortion, reduces the number of children in homes.
4. Overseas adoption; some families may decide to start adopting children from different countries that will leave more Kenyan children without homes
5. Donor change of priority funding and withdrawal from funding the projects. Donors are not reliable, as they give out of their own free will so therefore are not obliged to continue. Although the foundation’s day to day running depend on those donations, they are not guaranteed.
6. Unfriendly infrastructure (roads, water services, electricity and roads) to some of our focus areas.
7. High expectation of communities for the services rendered in the home, because not a lot of people have a work vision for homes (with no reliable donors).

Expected Improvements for the Site.

Although most children in children homes are cared for by family members or communities in some way, many of these families are living in poverty. Some form of assistance is required to provide these children with adequate food, health care, clothing, education and psychosocial support. There are a few expected improvements for the site which include:

1. Dorothy children’s home should meet children’s emotional & behavioral needs as set out in their care plan. The world is changing such that children are observed more because the society understands now the power of childhood in shaping adulthood. I believe this is not exercised to its maximum potential, each child has their personality, and at the home the children are addressed as a unit. Though they are a ‘family’ but the children should be encouraged embrace their individualism, by allowing them to partake in activities that focus on them.
2. All staff should have access to training to develop the skills and competences necessary to understand children’s behavior and intervene constructively; as mentioned earlier in the paper all the children are taught in one class room by one teacher, I believe it is necessary that children in ‘baby class’ should be taught by a different teacher, and have their own classroom. In addition, there should be a standard evaluation for teachers, who posses’ adequate skills to pass knowledge unto the students.
3. Education: This includes school fees where they exist, funds required for uniforms, books and other supplies, and special fees. Especially the uniform aspect, the students have torn and worn out uniforms, sometimes ill-fitting uniforms. This does not give a good impression of the teaching system, and curriculum used to teach the students. Another aspect would include, the books. Students should have their own table and chair, access to required materials for teaching and learning. Many organizations realize now the importance of educating their youth, so they may need school supplies to help children finish their education.
4. A sizeable Dorothy children’s home bus; Asides from the obvious reasons which is for easy and necessary movements. Another reason would be for events, there some event such as school competitions or other competitions being offered to homes.
5. Creating a more detailed social media for exposure; So far Facebook and google maps are the only platforms that have some sort of information about the foundation. The Facebook page is very bland and uninformative, I believe that can be adjusted by updating their page with better pictures, adding a kittle information about their background which will positively impact their exposure.

Conclusion.

I started off with many challenges, the past six weeks have been an interesting experience as it has opened my eyes to a different world that required it to be seen with a different set of eyes. World Quest Dorothy children’s home is small and growing foundation that like any other has its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats. For instance, its major strength is the philanthropist side, they have the desire to promote the welfare of others, this is expressed through sheltering and feeding of the children and that they identify as a big happy family. Its major weakness is its lack of social media exposure which is a major set back as it doesn’t allow networking to its peak. One of its opportunities being it is located in the Hub of East African community, and a Kenyan city hence an opportunity to network with international supporters and volunteers and the threats include, donor change of priority funding and withdrawal from funding the projects. For the next six weeks the goal is to help the foundation improve in the areas of concern such as creating a more detailed social media for exposure, helping children find their independent ground and so on.

References

1. Grant, M. (2019). Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat (SWOT analysis). Investopedia, 1.
2. Lynda M. Applegate, S. S. (2018). Worldwide Orphans Foundation Harvard Business Review Case Study. . Blue Ocean, 1-10.

The primary focus of this assignment will be based around the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which is an approved Human Rights agreement and this treaty came into power in the UK in 1992. The worldwide agreement was proposed by the delegates from Poland to the General Assembly of the United Nations who suggested that there should be a worldwide settlement to ensure children’s rights are protected, in which eighty nations took part in (Thomas, 2011). There were discussions and debates over how to create a document that would reflect different cultures, beliefs and have an impact on the rights of children. This assignment will highlight the rights in schools by presenting key discussions along with tensions that may surround within the UNCRC. Moreover, this essay will reflect some thoughts into Article 12 which is one of the main participation rights in the convention. Article 12 declares that ‘parties shall ensure to the child who is capable of developing his or her own views the right to express their opinions without restrictions in matters concerning the child’, (UN General Assembly, 1989). The assignment will evaluate children’s rights and to what extent these rights are being upheld in schools. The argument will illustrate that even though children’s rights are being valued and taken into consideration at schools, research indicates that improvements needs to be achieved with the aim to respect children’s participation rights.

The UNCRC comprises of 54 articles which 41 of these articles recognizes the rights that children have. The Convention is divided conceptually which covers the ‘3 Ps’; provision, protection and participation (Alderson and John, 2008). These link into the four key principles which are classified as frameworks that schools use as guidelines and implement into practice to set out security for children. Provision are the rights to services and resources which children are entitled to as it is necessary to ensure that their survival and growth are to their maximum ability; for example, health care (Article 24) and education (Article 28). Protection is to ensure children are protected from abuse or exploitation that could jeopardize their dignity, survival or development, such as, protection in the best interests of the child (Article 3), protection from cruelty and mistreatment (Article 19) (Franklin 1986). Furthermore, participation recognises children as individuals who are in control of their own lives which applies throughout their life. For instance, the right to have a voice and to be heard (Article 12) and freedom of expression (Article 13).Therefore, schools must allow students to participate; they should be involved in decision making which could impact them and be able to express their opinions, and feelings in situations that concern them (Welch, 2008). Different rights are provided throughout the UNCRC, for example, Welfare rights which are rights that are given and protected. There are Civil and Freedom rights which are rights to have autonomy, allowing children to have a say in matters that affect as well as influences them (Welch, 2008).

Children are socially constructed by society and they can be seen in different ways. Jones and Welch (2010) identified several perceptions of children. For instance, children can be perceived as dependent, vulnerable, and powerless, implying that they can be easily defined and influenced by society. Subsequently, because children are labelled as weak, they are expected to lack adult competences such as, adult like skills and capabilities. Jones and Welch (2010) found that the adult for a child holding these traits should be capable and resilient enough to make choices for the child since the child is lacking. So, in these circumstances’ children require welfare rights in order to survive.

Additionally, individuals see children as actively being capable of shaping their own lives. Childhood is a product of society and children can change their own lives as well as those around them. Ideas regarding children and childhood shape how we treat children and feed into our perspectives on rights, recognising children as competent social actors and agents (CPAG 2018). Research reveals that some groups of children may be at risk of having their rights undermined at schools which is upholding article 12. For example, children in poverty can face adverse experiences at school including bullying, feeling like they don’t belong, leading to poor results. Cooper et al (2017) found that children from higher class background have an easier upbringing as their parents have access to facilities to help their child with their education by preparing them for school such as, purchasing textbooks and school uniforms. They can afford to pay for trips which gives children opportunities to participate in order to broaden their knowledge further, thus, explaining that children from lower backgrounds are unable to afford certain facilities, such as schools trips. In addition, a survey was carried out by the Child Poverty Action Group (2018) who found that ‘87% of respondents think that living in poverty affects the learning of students’, implying poverty leads to poor performances at school. Moreover, (Cooper et al, 2017) suggests that children actively live their lives amidst because they want to protect their parents as they understand that poverty impacts on the family life, so they may not ask their parents for money to go on a school trip.

Children with disabilities are at risk of having their rights undermined, for example, children with learning and communication disabilities are unable to have their voices heard or understood (Potter and Whitaker, 2011). Therefore, schools could give these children space for communication which is rights to freedom of expression to make choices and have a voice. A potential barrier to participation is lack of staff training which could undermine a child’s right (Stonewall, 2017), meaning schools are institutions where teachers have authority and power over students (Mayall, 2002). Many children find schools oppressive places as they have limited autonomy because research highlights how the physical design of schools can be used to regulate and control children. Pike (2008) shows that schools have a vital role to play in monitoring children’s manners, food intake and opportunities for social interaction. Similarly, a study with 133 primary school children, their teachers and head teachers in Ireland showed how seating plan in classrooms prevented children from socialising with friends (Devine’s, 2002), conveying that children’s choices and wishes are not being considered when making decisions and this goes against Article 12.

Similarity, research by Bacon and O’Riordan (forthcoming) shows children’s experiences in schools. The research reveals that Article 12 is being upheld to a certain extent as it recognizes that schools take children’s views and opinions in consideration by running and setting up school councils. In this way school council allows children’s voices and opinions to be expressed because children who get selected can speak for peer’s on matters regarding them and school, meaning they have a say as to how schools should be ran. However, school council meetings raise concerns as they are nothing to do with teaching nor learning, meaning school councils are limited in their effectiveness. This suggests that teachers are focusing on the aspects that they want to cover, which contradicts the idea of giving children a voice. Consequently, the process of being elected for school council can be biased because not everyone is given the opportunity, for example, shy students. This raises a point that children who are confident have more opportunities such as, being elected for school council. Whereas, children who come across as shy may not be selected for this role, meaning, they have less opportunities for their voice to be heard. Hence, creating a divide between children and their voices.

There are some groups in society who are likely to experience discrimination in schools which could stop them from participating. For example, the LGBT communities, as research shows that the LGBT groups experience discrimination in schools. Although the LGBT communities has grown through the years, they are still not accepted by society. For example, a report from Stonewall (2017) presents that ‘86 per cent of students frequently hear expressions such as ‘that’s gay’ or ‘you’re gay’ in schools.’ Thence, suggesting that children are being overlooked and not being heard as they are unable to express their identity. Furthermore, the convention declares that bullying is inappropriate and intolerable but there are still not effective barriers to prevent it from happening.

Children’s agency is placed in the hands of adults as some of the articles make judgement about children’s abilities, maturity and their best interests (Welch 2008). Article 12 raises some questions because this right applies to children who are considered ‘capable’. For example, how can an individual be sure whether a child is “capable”? This right is making a clear link between age and maturity but what is maturity and how do we know if someone is mature enough to have their own opinion. Individuals view maturity in different ways which suggests that is not possible to access maturity, so, “maturity” and “capable” can be considered as ambiguous words. This acts as a barrier as the idea around maturity and age is preventing children from having a say and voicing their opinions. Lansdown (2005), examines case studies of rights and respecting practice in schools. She states that teachers need to acknowledge children as active learners and should ask if they want change, so their views feel valued. There are potential conflicts which could arise due to adults being in power as it makes us question, why are adults making decisions for children? who decides what’s best for children? Also, when are children mature and capable enough to have their opinions respected? Do adults know best? This raises concerns because adults have created this convention.

One of the major barriers which is preventing children from participating in schools is adult power. Even though schools have different procedures for children’s voices to be heard such as, setting up school councils or head boy and head girl, these systems are not being complied efficiently as teachers still have self-control over children in terms of the rules they set. For example, why are children unable to have a say in the rules being made for them since they are ones having to comply with them? This implies that children are seen as a minority due to the fact that adults have power over children and children act as the dependents who have to obey adult power as they hold fewer rights and lower social status (Mayall, 2002). Hence, to overcome this, schoolteachers should involve children in having a say when making new rules. Childhood Studies and Education Studies research provides insight into children’s experiences of school, (Franklin 1986). This tells us that although there are some good sides to schools, schools can be alienating and oppressive which further perpetuate social inequality as decisions are being made for children without having their opinions and voices taken into consideration (Bacon et al, forthcoming).

Tensions occur within the convention as there could be conflicts among protection and provision. This is because welfare rights push children to be passive, nevertheless, liberty rights encourage children to be active and contribute to society. This raises questions such as: are these rights constructed due to various perceptions of children? Could “best interests” be used to overrule children’s opinions? This signifies that the convention is not as precise as it is made out to be. There are possible conflicts between rights between parents and children and welfare and participation. Agency is a human action that has the ability of changing social life. Children have a part to play in shaping the lives of those around them. However, it is likely for an individual’s agency to be ‘thickened’ or ‘thinned’ over time and space and throughout their relationships (Klocker, 2007). Thus, seeing children as people with agency challenges us to think of them as people who can make their own choices and take initiative rather than just being passively affected by issues. Criticisms that surround the UNCRC is that it does not consider the cultural differences as it reflects Western, rich countries about the views on childhood. Reynaert (2009) argues that children’s human rights research is characterised by a lack of analysis and theoretic challenge.

In conclusion, this assignment has explored that the convention is a weak legalization and it is not concise enough, despite it being ratified by other countries. The language presented within the convention can be seen as vague and uncertain as individuals can interpret various aspects of the convention in different ways. For example, “best interest of the child” what does this mean? Likewise, how is it possible to assess what is “best” for a child (Freeman, 2009). It is evident that schools are the agency as children are not given much choices and rights, due to the restrictions and guidelines which impact their overall performance. Moreover, Children’s rights are not being upheld as effectively in certain situations in schools because the opinions and ideas of children are still being overlooked, consequently, the core factor causing this restriction is adult power, which is a barrier for children’s participation. To overcome this, school’s responsibility is to take laws in consideration and follow the regulations of the convention for children’s right to participation to be upheld.

References

1. Alderson, P. and John, M. (2008) Young Children’s Rights. 2nd ed., London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
2. Alderson, P. (2000) Young children’s rights: exploring beliefs, principles and practice. London: Jessica Kingsley.
3. Bacon, K. and O’Riordan, Z. (forthcoming) ‘What are schools for?’ In Lord, J. (ed.) Studying Education, London: Sage.
4. Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) (2018) Child poverty and education [online] [Accessed on 24th January 2020] https://cpag.org.uk/policy-and-campaigns/report/child-poverty-and-education-survey-experiences-neu-members
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9. Klocker, N. (2007) ‘An example of ‘thin’ agency: Child domestic workers in Tanzania’. In R. Panelli, S. Punch, & E. Robson (Eds.) Global perspectives on rural childhood and youth (pp. 83–94). London: Routledge.
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24. UNICEF United Kingdom (2020) ‘What is the UNCRC?’[Online] [Accessed on 13th January 2020] https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/

To understand the child we need to build good relationship with the child as a parent/carer or as a practitioner. When we talk to a child from early age or older children we give a children time they need of interaction understanding of the world around us and the important thing in language new vocabulary and sounds that is the base of communication and development. Through interaction we can ask questions, explain with our gesticulation body language, bend down to a child level and have an eye contact. Children need to feel that they have our full attention in communication. Children come from different environment so our role as practitioners is to help and show them to express them self, show their can have ideas and build self-confidence that is important for communication.

There are two factors that can affect difficulties in language and communication needs. Biological factor: children can be born with some hearing defect or impairment or it can develop later in child’s life. Any hearing impairment may have affect on child ability of speech as the hearing may be lost. This can affect child social skills to interact with other children communicate with them and talk to them. They need support from parents/carers and practitioners that work together and other professionals as a team.

Speech dysfluency is common when children get very excited or upset. Dysfluency is speech disruption, repeating whole words several times, some sounds or whole sentences. It is common in children around 3-4 years, when this continue it may be because other medical conditions such as Down’s syndrome or could be a sign of Parkinson’s disease later. Children with dysfluency may have difficulties to interact with others, fear to talk or explain themselves. Support of the speech and language therapist will asses and give different support method that can help a child who is stammering or repeating words. Child will be able to develop their language and communication skills more without any hesitation.

Some children are able to hear but their refuse to talk it called mutism. This children may be affect from their environment, they are shy, they are scared or they refuse to talk front of others or selective people. We as practitioners must give a child time to interact with their peers without pressure, avoid to point “he/she is mutism” and bring attention to it, “say hello “. Most of the time children speak non-verbal using his/her gesture, so we can encourage the child with his alternative communication. Set activity where children can talk freely, set the small groups of children where they can whisper or use mouthing or gesture to communicate. Talk with the parents/carer about strategies and techniques work as a team with other professional to help a child development.

Autism is other biological disorder that may affect language and communication of the child. Autism have spectrum of causes and we can help a child to improve his/her life with appropriated learning. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulty to focus on learning their language, because they are not interest in communication with other people. As practitioner we can focus on teaching children with every day activities, and make them harder when the child progressing such as a child can ask for a toy when he/she can’t reach maybe with eye and gesture communication, or in play activity to ask for piece of the blocks or when they have snack time children are encourage to choose the fruit or vegetable from the plate. We are the role model for children the comments on what we are doing can help a child understand simple movements “open, close, thank you or please”. We need to praise a child and show him that every progress is good even when is small with reward of sweet or stickers. Work with other professional is very important for a child development. Gender is other biological factor where we can see difference between girls and boys language development. Girls at age of two are able to develop their language rather then boy at this stage.

Environmental factor: this can affect child child ability of good language and communication skills. Some children are raised in family with additional language and English is not they first language, those children may find difficult to understand English, they are slower with learning and this may affect their communication skills there are shy to talk, find a friend and play. The Key practitioners must support a child with better understanding, showing him/her cards with pictures talking to them so they get familiar with the words, interact with other children through play so child will not feel left out. If parents have difficulty to understand English practitioners may support them with person who can translate give them advice on some English course classes around in their area.

Other environmental factor is the background of the family how they talk and communicate with the child. Some parents have less interest to communicate with the children and it can affect his/her capacity of vocabulary, understanding of the world and communication. The research showed that children who parent talk to then in complex sentences rather then “baby talk” have better ability to develop understanding to use complex sentence structures. Number of sibling can affect child language and communication. Some children who don’t have siblings, can feel that parent give a child full attention and there are no competition. On the other side children with siblings have more opportunity on communication and provide stronger language development.

Media violence is mainly defined as the visual portrayal of physical aggressive acts by one human or human like character. It can also be defined as the act of violence such as killing or injuring someone, independent of the method used. Aggression is behavior that is intended to harm other individual who does not wish to be harmed (Baron & Richardson ,1994). It can be physical or non-physical. Physical includes hitting, kicking, stabbing or killing. Non-physical includes verbal, social aggression and non-verbal. Examples are gossiping, swearing, bullying, threatening etc.

Theoretical explanations for media violence effects

These theories explain why observation of violence by family, peers and community stimulates aggressive behavior in observers. There seem to be two types of causes- short term and long term effects.

Short Term Effects

Priming. A technique where exposure to an external stimulus influences the response to a subsequent stimulus without any intention or conscious guidance. Watching violent video primes aggressive related ideas which causes people to offer more hostile explanations for others behavior. Increases violence against woman and children.

Arousal. Presentation of aggressive behavior in mass media arouses the observer, due to two possible reasons- excitation transfer and general arousal. If arousal is increased, inhibition reaches a peak where inappropriate response is diminished and dominant learned response are displayed.

Mimicry. Imitation of specific behaviors are a special case of observational learning. In recent years, it has been observed that young individuals have an innate tendency to mimic whomever they observe. Especially when children grow up watching violence behavior, they are prone to mimic it.

Long Term Effects

Observational Learning. Social scripts guide behavior through observation of peers, family, community and mass media. Social scripts are encoded during the early, middle and late childhood. During this period, cognitive schemas in children are elaborate. For example, extensive observation of violence produces schemas which attributes hostility to others action.

This can be seen when children observe aggression in mass media such as domestic violence, bullying etc. and try to imitate those behaviors in their daily life.

Disinhibition. It is the removal of inhibition. It results in acting out behavior that normally would be restrained. For example, giving messages that violent behavior is acceptable by TV programs which will lead to success and popularity. For some people, this message can lower inhibitions against acting out hostile feelings (Anderson et al.,2003). Another example can be proving manliness or to show that their head of the house by harming woman and children.

Desensitization. Repeated exposures to emotionally activating media or video games can lead to habituation of certain natural emotional reactions. This process is called desensitization (reduced emotional sensitivity). Media violence tends to lower sensitivity to violent acts even if the real thing is gross, ugly and gut wrenching. Even when media violence is graphic, it is often experienced in the relaxed and familiar setting of home. It often leads to demeaning attitudes towards woman and therefore make violent or coercive sexual behavior more acceptable. An example of this comes from a study where they compared the effects of viewing the films Swept Away and The Getaway which show woman as victims of both erotic and non-erotic aggression. More aggressive films increased the acceptance of violence against woman. It reduced perceptions that material was violent, reducing support for sexual equality and lessening sympathy for rape victims (Zillman & Bryant, 197; Check & Malamuth, 1981; Donnerstein & Penrod, 1984).

Media Violence Against Woman

One of the causes of violence against woman is how media portrays woman. Woman being seen as mere objects used for gratifying men’s desires. This has increased both sexual and non-sexual violence towards woman. Statistics suggest that violence against woman is committed by large numbers of men rather than few deviant individuals. The effects of cultural and social variables on male aggression have received greater attention in recent analysis, role of mass media is one such object of inquiry.

Sexual Violent Erotica

Many argue that pornography degrades woman and encourages sexual coercion and violence at least in some vulnerable individuals (Malamuth,1993). In a survey assessing public reaction to various forms sexually violent media, a substantial majority of respondents supported censoring sexually violent media whereas only half supported censoring non-sexual violent media and only a third supported censoring nonviolent sexually explicit movies (Fisher, Cook, & Shirkey, 1994; Fisher and Grenier, 1994).

Theorists explain media effects either direct or indirect paths of influence on behavior. Those who believe in direct paths postulate specific depictions are responsible for specific actions. Indirect models don’t rule of a direct cause-effect relationship, but a more complex connection between behavior and media depictions. It is suggested that thought patters, sexual arousal patterns and other responses modifies to exposure to sexually violent depictions. Over a span of years, these responses and also factors which include social, individual and circumstantial factors may contribute to a diverse of antisocial behaviors.

Studies of media violence have suggested three conclusions (1) Females are the ones targeted in the vast majority of depictions by males. (2) Over the past 15 years, media sexual aggression appears to have increased markedly, though it remains lower than media nonsexual violence. Content analysis of sexually explicit books, magazines, movies and videotapes have found considerable variability in the extent of sexual aggression they present (Dietz & Evans, 1982; Malamuth & Spinner, 1980; Stone, 1985; Winick, 1985). Magazines portray the least and adult books the most. (3) Sexual violence is often depicted quite differently from nonsexual violence. Victims of nonsexual aggression shows intent on avoiding victimization, while sexual violence is portrayed as the victim secretly desires and derives pleasure from the assault. In addition, it is also presented as without having negative consequences for either the victim or perpetrator. The simultaneous presence of aggression and sexual arousal results in conditioning sexual associations to violence and incline people to justify the violence or act aggressively.

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in aggressive-pornographic images in the mass media. Aggressive pornography refers to depictions in which violence, threats, or obvious power differences are used to force someone to engage in sex. Donnerstein and Daniel Linz (1986) that media violence is most damaging as the put violent images rather than sexual ones. Mainstream movies, magazines, music videos and television programs equally to blame (Donnerstein, 1991).

In 1983, Donnerstein presented some participants with a violent-erotic stag film. The film depicts a woman who wishes to study with two men is forced to drink with them and ends up being tied up, stripped, slapped and raped. Other participants were presented with a violent but non-erotic film without any nudity or sexual activity. Male participants who were angered by a female confederate before watching the violent-erotic film gave more intense shocks to the confederate. In another study, participants were either angered or not by a female confederate against whom they could retaliate. Then they were shown the film, however the ending was varied; in one the victim was smiling and not resisting, in the other she seems to find the experience humiliating and disgusting. The male viewers delivered more intense shocks to the confederate when agreed. When they were not angry they administered more intense shocks when the film depicted as enjoying the experience (Donnerstein and Berkowitz, 1981).

For most men, fantasies about consensual sex or voyeuristic fantasies are more common. Playboy which has the largest circulation of erotic men’s magazines rarely displays violence. Similarly, many popular R-rated movies display at least some female nudity and non-explicit sexual acts. Nevertheless, it is possible that even nonviolent erotica induces sexual coercion and aggression. Such erotica may promote the dehumanization of woman by treating them as sexual objects, as subordinate to woman as existing solely for male satisfaction. Extremely explicit hard-core pornography predominantly affects the viewers experience as negative.

This includes verbal, physiological or psychological violence against woman. Portrayal of domestic violence in movies, books etc. increases tendency to seen as subordinate to men. Television and movies are filled with scenes of woman being threatened, beaten, tortured or murdered.

It is one of the ironies where it can shatter the victim and most people do not even see it as a crime. Domestic violence is not only physical injustice towards the victim in a relationship but it is the mental pressure as well. Basically, it is when one partner tries to gain control and power over the other in a relationship (Smith and Segal, 2019). The issues resulting from domestic violence which will be discussed in this report are mental strain on children during this trying time and the effects on the victim. I chose this topic as it is a global issue and has been prevalent in our society for a very long time. This problem comes under the topic of family.

Issues

Mental strain on children

Around 15.5 million have witnessed domestic violence at least once a year in the United States, but in the houses of 7 million children, domestic violence is part of their usual routine which is even terrifying to think about. The UN secretary general conducted a survey from which it was concluded that 275 million children throughout the world have witnessed domestic violence (futures without violence, 2008). This source has many strengths as many statistics are given to prove the claim made by the page, but the name of the author is not given.

The children are all adversely affected when they experience domestic violence. The nightmares of the incidents mostly stay with them for their entire life. The children suffer academically, psychologically and attitude wise (Margolin, 1998). The name of the author has been given which is a plus point but the article is very old.

In 2014, UNICEF published a report which stated that the development of children is affected when they witness domestic violence and they also suffer academically (Zakar, 2016). When children see their parents going through this testing time, children of different age group and genders react very differently. Younger children start acting immaturely and they become attached to the parent who is the victim of domestic violence. They start wetting themselves while they sleep. While older boys express their frustration very openly and they become violent and stop listening to anyone. They may also start substance abuse so that they can leave their reality behind. While on the other hand the girls start keeping to themselves and they may start indulging in self harm and in drugs and alcohol (Davis, Balaguru, Kennedy). The reactions of different age groups are given so there is an array of information to prove the claim but not many figures are given.

Moreover, studies conducted by Lehmann (1997) concluded that many children who had experienced domestic violence could qualify as having PTSD. Adamson and Thomson also carried out a case study in 1998 and the results were that during violent situations, children who had witnessed domestic violence reacted with more force and vigor than the children who had not gone through domestic violence (Overlien, 2010). The reference of popular case studies is made which really proves the point.

School going children react very differently, they think that they caused the violence in their house and start to take responsibility for it. They become less confident and start getting in trouble a lot (Fink, 2019)

In addition to that, children tend to get depressed and anxious when they see their parent go through domestic violence. Their social skills are not fully developed, they are ashamed of their family and are very self-conscious. They feel very lonely and like to remain in solitude. Children tend to indulge in very dangerous activities. Excessive exposure to domestic violence can also lead to children committing suicide so that they do not have to face their family and the daily hardships anymore (Domestic Violence Prevention Center, 2020)

Furthermore, in my country, Pakistan, around 1800 people reported that domestic violence took place in their house from the years 2004 to 2016 and a survey was carried out which concluded that more than 51,241 women had faced unfair treatment and violence between the years 2007 and 2017. White Ribbon Pakistan, a very influential NGO conducted these surveys (Khan, 2019). The source mentions a reliable NGO so the claims and opinions have been backed by facts. In almost every case, children must have been involved and they would have observed the violence which would have greatly affected them.

Hence, we can conclude that this issue by saying that children are greatly affected by domestic violence and this is also proven by Graham-Bermann in 1994, who stated that children living in households with domestic violence will mostly suffer from anxiety (Khatoon, et al, 2011). The authors of this source are very experienced in the matter and have work experience from reliable organizations such as WHO, but the study was carried out 9 years ago.

Effects on victims of domestic violence

Victims of domestic violence face prejudice and bigotry and they cannot easily obtain different kinds of insurance e.g. health insurance, etc. Victims cannot easily raise their children and their family has been disrupted. They start getting depressed and anxious and there is a high probability that they indulge in substance abuse (Edwards, 2019). The date of publication has not been given which really questions the credibility of the source.

Pregnant women have to go through a lot and they have to face a lot of problems if they are victims of domestic violence. The Women’s Safety Australia carried out a survey and concluded that 42% of the women going through domestic violence were pregnant. They can become susceptible to many diseases, the chances of postpartum depression also increases (Astbury, et al, 2000). The source is a little outdated but it mentions an important organization and statistics are given.

Violence can cause many problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, there is difficulty in eating and there is a high probability of victims committing suicide. The World Health Organization conducted a survey in 2013 that people who experienced domestic violence had twice as much chances of going into depression than people who had not gone through domestic violence (WHO, 2017). The source is of a reliable website so it has high chances of being authentic.

Women having faced domestic violence have higher chances of acquiring syndromes such as OCD, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The British Crime Survey reported that in the UK, 27% of women and 17% of men experience domestic violence (Paddock, 2012).

There are many physical issues faced by the victims of domestic violence. They have recurring heart and chronic conditions and the probability of them having asthma is also great. Bruises, cuts and scratches are part of their daily routine. The risk of broken bones greatly increases and the chance of women having problems during their pregnancy also increases. The transmission of sexually transmitted diseases also increases due to unprotected and forced sexual contact.

The psychological trauma caused by domestic violence is that victims are discouraged and they think that they have no future and they do not know what they will do if and when they escape from this nightmare called domestic violence. People stop believing in others and lose all faith and after going through such hardships they are afraid to become attached to anyone or to form a special bond with anyone after the incidents. The victims lose all focus, they are lost in their own thoughts and are confused. Victims always think about their experiences and in many cases they cannot let go and it becomes a part of their life (Meyer, 2017).

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that around 3000 women faced many kinds of violence in 2016 (Qayyum, 2017). In Pakistan, domestic violence is a much stigmatized topic and is not discussed openly. Victims are expected to ignore the abuse and continue to live on normally so the honor of their family is not tarnished. Asma Aziz reported a case of domestic violence, her husband stripped off her clothes in front of his employee, and he shaved her head and put her hair on fire. When she went to the police, instead of helping her they asked for money (Dawn, 2019). In our society, women generally do not leave their husband and do not opt for divorce or separation due to the economic constraints, in most cases women believe that it is their fault and that they brought the beating on themselves as over the years this is what they were taught (Kaur and Garg, 2008)

Therefore, we can conclude that the victim of domestic violence has to face psychological, physical and emotional trauma which does not easily vanish and stays with the victim throughout their lives. Wherever they are, there will be days when they will think about their lives during those troublesome days.

Comparison of issues

In the explanation of both issues, many sources have been given which prove the point of view. A few sources are from very reliable organizations especially in the explanation of the second issue. The sites with the high credibility are World Health Organization and the United Nations. While providing facts for the first issue the number of sources are greater but, the number of authentic and reliable websites and organization is comparatively fewer.

Courses of action

The law regarding domestic violence should be implemented. Numerous times people get away with this heinous crime due to negligence of the law enforcement officials. Implementation of the law is very important to get everyone on the right track and to make sure that the cases of domestic violence reduce.

Keeping the evidence and the research in mind I have developed a few courses of action. Increased awareness of the already existing domestic violence hotlines, such as 911 in the United States, the Madadgar helpline in Pakistan which take domestic violence cases very seriously and has a proper procedure and plan of action to handle them. The low income groups should have prior knowledge of these hotlines so they can easily gain access to the help. This is a preventative measure so that domestic violence can be controlled and prevented.

Awareness regarding domestic violence should be spread. Education about these topics should be made part of the curriculum on all levels of education and of every group, low or high income. This would be beneficial as children from a young age would realize the seriousness of the issue. They would know that it is not acceptable and if they are facing these problems, victims and witnesses should know that they should talk to someone about it.

Conclusion and reflection

Even though, the victim is greatly effected throughout this ordeal but the family especially the children face many challenges as they are immature and their personality can easily get molded according to what they observe every day. So, I think that the children are face more negative consequences during all this. Even though I think that children are more effected, the evidence regarding the effects on the victims is also very important and has a very big role to play. Due to my research, my knowledge on this topic greatly increased and I have learnt a lot about this taboo subject.

Before my research, I had never really thought about this topic in depth and had never really pondered over the effects on children but after writing this report I have understood the dire results of domestic violence. Hence, it shows that my opinions have greatly changed and developed while conducting this research and with this, I conclude my repor

SUPEREGO is part of the personality that is later developed under the influence of the social environment that the individual lives with. It contains values and ideals. Basically, up to 6 years of age, we can say that our behaviors are affected by our family members. The first years of our life are a reflection of our parent’s behavior. But what happens next?! Our personality changes over time because we change the social environment. From a small environment like home surrounded by our loved ones, we go to a bigger one like school where we do not know anybody. In order for a child’s personality to develop to its full potential, they need great support.

Contact with people and activities enables us to create our personality. For example, when we enter the first class, we are dealing with more people with different personalities. Different personalities, because every family has their own kind of learning and educating their child. School teaches us to think and see things from a different perspective, in our own perspective. This is why children in school are influenced by the social environment. They are not used to dealing with strangers.

Parents should teach their children to get along with those children who behave in the same way as them, not with the ones who are a bad influence. Because any conflict or disagreement affects their personality. At that early age, if most of the time a child sees people fighting, they tend to be violent. They tend to copy everyone and want to be like adults. But why is that? Well, children at the age of 6 to 14 are not yet very self-conscious and mature. They can not differentiate good behavior from bad one and usually, they think that in this case, fighting is a normal thing to do in everyday life. As children, they understand the world through the sense. Everything they see, and everything they hear affects them the most.

It is the social environment that teaches them to have social attitudes and interests. If we ask children, what their personality is like, they would not know how to answer, because their personality is not fully developed and of course, maybe they do not know what personality means. Anyways, they still got time to understand their behaviors and change them, because as I mentioned before, personality can change over the years due to the environment.

For more than seven years there has been a war in Mali which started on the 16th of January 2012 and now children are being brought into it. Islamist and Taureg groups are using child soldiers to fight their battles for them, in the first six months of 2019, 150 children were killed and 75 injured. Additionally, recruitment of child soldiers has doubled in the same period of time compared to last year. Some children join willingly to fight for independence while others have nowhere else to go. More than 900 schools are closed in Mali due to safety issues. These children are being killed, injured, sexually assaulted, separated from their families and exposed to psychological trauma.

Why is it happening?

Taureg groups are fighting against the Islamists for independence of Northern Mali. Children are being used as soldiers because they have nowhere else to go and are malleable. They are still being subject to this violence which has carried on for several years because the Western world is not hearing about it. None of the atrocities happening in Mali or anywhere else in Northern Africa are being broadcasted on the news. Not only are these children being forced to engage in warfare but it is also impacting on every aspect of their lives. UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore says that “children should be going to school and playing with their friends, not worrying about attacks or being forced to fight.” While this statement is true, nothing is being done about it because no country that has the power to stop it is doing anything. UNICEF created a child protection in emergencies programme for the children in Mali but only 26% of it was funded.

Why is this a human rights violation?

In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it states the fundamental rights that everyone should have and was formed by people from different backgrounds, cultural and legal, to ensure that it is universal. Article 3 states that “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” The violence taking place in Mali against children is violating this since they do not have liberty as they are being forced to fight and they have no security since they have nowhere safe to go to. Another article that is being violated is Article 5, “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”, all of these children are being treated inhumanely by being forced into this war. Corinne Dufka, the Director at Human Rights Watch in West Africa told the Telegraph

“I’ve spoken with witnesses describing how children were ripped from the arms of their mothers and murdered in front of them, blown up by powerful explosive devices and dumped in a well after being hacked to death.”

How can this issue be resolved?

Violence against children in Mali or any warring country is not an easy issue to solve. According to Corinne Dufka, the Director at Human Rights Watch in West Africa “the Malian government has to do more to protect vulnerable families and bring the perpetrators, from all armed groups, to justice…” Watchlist’s Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update from June 2019 says that The Coordination des Mouvements de l’Azawad (CMA), a coalition made up of Taureg and Arab nationalist parties must implement their action plan which they formed with the UN in March 2017. Moreover, other countries must publicly commit to fight for children’s rights and demand a ceasefire from all groups involved.