QUOTES ABOUT CHILDREN

A new baby is like the beginning of all things-wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities.
--Eda LaShan, American psychologist and author

No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness, and generosity hidden in the soul of a child.

The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.
--Emma Goldman, Russian-Canadian writer

What should be measured in a child?

I believe there should be an instrument that measures the whole child as an entity. This is probably because no single test can measure the complexities of the human brain (Berger,2012).Leading developmentalists are…those who believe that humans have multiple intelligences, not just one(Berger,2012).As such measuring one single aspect of the child, I believe, does not constitute measurement itself. As Berger says, children may inherit a set of abilities, some high, some low, rather than a general intellectual ability (Zhu et al,2010).

If there would be an instrument that could measure Gardner’s seven intelligences(Linguistic,Logical-Mathematical,Musical,Spatial,Bodily-kinesthetic(movement),Interpersonal(social understanding),and intrapersonal(self understanding),each associated with a particular brain region(Gardner,1983);it can go a long way at measuring the child’s abilities, particularly if the eighth intelligence(Naturalistic; understanding nature…and a ninth(Existential; thinking about life and death)(Gardner,1991,2006:Gardner and Moran,2006)

Assessment of school aged children in Nigeria

School aged children in Nigeria are mostly subjected to measurement in academic performance, regardless of their abilities/disabilities. In Uyo, Akwa Ibom State (South-Southern Nigeria),a study of children with behavioral disorders was conducted in 2006 (April to July);using  Rutters  scale for teachers.

Iloeje also posits that there is considerable evidence that children with chronic illnesses have increased levels of emotional and psychological disturbances, which may lead to a psychiatric disorder.

I would personally advocate for an all encompassing instrument that could measure the child in his/her entirety as against measuring a single sphere of the child.

REFERENCES

Berger,K.S(20120.The Developing child Through Childhood. New York, NY: Worth Publishers

Gardner, Howard.(1983).Frames of Minds: The theory of multiple intelligences, New York, NY: Basic Books.

Gardner, Howard. (1999). Are there additional intelligences? The case for naturalist, spiritual, and existential intelligences. In Jeffrey Kane (Ed.) Education, information, and transformation: Essays on learning and thinking (pp.111-131).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merril.

Gardner, Howard, & Moran, Seana (2006).The science of multiple intelligences theory: A response to Lynn Waterhouse. Educational Psychologist, 41, 625-635.

Iloeje S. Rutter's behaviour Scale (B_{2_}) for children (Teacher's Scale): Validation and Standardization for use on Nigeria Children. J Trop Pediatr. 1992;38:235–239.

Rutter M. Why are London children so disturbed? Proc Roy Soc Med. 1973;66:1221–1229.

VIOLENCE

I live in the northern part of Nigeria which in the past decade has been a flash point for so many religious conflicts between the two major religions: Islam and Christianity. I lived in kaduna at the time which has been having inter-religious conflicts as far back as 1987. The particular incident I want to talk about happened during one of the worst part of the conflict which occurred in February, 2000.

On the first day of the conflict, my little nephew was in school when the maiming started. The school is a walking distance from our home. On his way back, he met a lot of dead bodies piled up on the way. He witnessed people being hacked to death on the streets. This had a huge impact on him as he developed so many phobias, lost appetite and had frequent nightmares. It was a traumatic event for him.

Unfortunately at that time, little professional help was offered to him. This is due to the fact that in Nigeria we don’t usually consider such stressors as significant enough to seek professional help. Families believed that the effects from such events were temporary and the children will eventually forget them. At that time all we could do was try to explain to him that those people doing such things were bad people and that they would be arrested by the police. We assured him that the people were not dead and are in the hospital responding to treatment. Though prompted by regular gunshots, we tried to act as if everything is normal. So in essence, we offered a kind of psychosocial approach to help ease his seeming confusion. As he grew older, he let us know that all our attempts to change his mind at that moment were all in vain as he saw through all of our maneuvers.

Many children do undergo many stressors during early childhood that have an impact on them later in life. These children, especially in sub-Saharan Africa get little or no help. I will try to raise awareness on this issue with the knowledge I now have about the psychosocial development of children.

THE CHILDREN OF SOMALIA

Somalia, a regular appearance in many news stations because of the ongoing conflict that has been ravaging the country for so many decades.Also adding to the problem is the increase in the frequency of drought in eastern Africa. Growing up, it was probably one of the most infamous conflicts in Africa. The picture of malnourished children has always had a huge impact on me. It was as if I was in a different part of Africa. As usual in all conflicts, women and children bear the brunt of the conflict more than any other group in the population.

Somalia is what I describe as having a “salad” of stressors. This stressors work in a viscous cycle, each intricately connected and mutually magnifying the other. Poverty, violence, hunger, disease, pollution are just a few among some of the hardships that are faced by Somali children. An unstable polity coupled with lack of health facilities has made Somali children to have one of the highest incidences of under-five mortality and morbidity in the world.

So many interventions have been made in Somalia to put the country back on track. Most of the interventions that have been put in place are to restore security, peace and order which is crucial and upon which all other interventions will try. So many non-governmental organizations, usually with external funding, have been involved in provision of food and health services. This has greatly helped in providing a means of help for the people. Also, Somalis themselves have been developing programs to help themselves.

REFERENCES

1.      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Civil_War

2.      http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/children-somalia-facing-war-crimes-2011-07-20

3.      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia

4.      http://www.unicef.org/somalia/children.html