Childhood Stressors

As a child, my brother and I experienced several stressors. The two that stands out the most are poverty and violence.  I can't really say that we were poor but we were in a situation in which we did not have money to buy everything we wanted and a lot of what we needed.  I remember my mother working hard, long hours every day at the same day care I attended.  Once she died, three years ago I had the chance to look over her pay information. She was making barely over minimum wage. That, in my opinion, means that she was really struggling to take care of two children on her own.  Because of our financial situation, we had to live in an environment that was roach infected and left us terrified to come home after dark.  There was drug activity and many other visible forms of violence throughout the complex. We were some of the fortunate ones though. Around my eighth birthday, we were lucky enough to get a home built through Habitat for Humanity.  That was the beginning of a brighter future for us. We no longer had to worry about coming home alone or after dark and we didn't have to worry about money as much.  Because of our situation, I did begin working at a young age just so I could take some of the stress off of my mother. I started babysitting at 12 and started working a childcare position by 16. Even to this day, I work multiple jobs just to keep myself from getting back to my childhood status.

In countries like Africa, the stressors are much worse. Two-thirds of the worlds, HIV/AIDS cases are in Sub-Saharan Africa. That means that approximately 7 out of 10 children is being affected by the deadly virus. This virus is like a domino effect.  It is leading to poverty, hunger, and even war and violence.  We complain about the situations we have over here in the United States but there is always someone who has it worse.

Reference:

http://www.globalissues.org