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Text Reflection
The first chapter of Infants, Toddlers, and Families in Poverty focused on poor and low-income families, infant/toddler development, and the prospects for change (Odom, Pungello, & Gardner-Neblett, 2012). Astoundingly, 46% of America’s youngest children live in families with incomes insufficient to ensure their health and development (Odom, et al., 2012). The definition of poverty was broken down into absolute, relative, and subjective ways of describing what it means to be in poverty. The absolute definition of poverty is measured against a standard of the costs of meeting a family’s basic needs (Odom, et al., 2012). In simpler terms, can a family provide food, water, clothes, and shelter to their children without assistance. Poverty can have many side effects and negatively impact children. Working at a Head Start early childhood program has given me a first look into poverty. I was not brought up with expensive things, but my family did not struggle. I always attended schools that were in average areas. When I attended my first home visit I was blown away at the conditions some of my students lived in. An entire 5 person family in one room of a house, parents needing to talk to me on the porch because the family who owns the house doesn’t want strangers there, and homes with more than 6 families in 4 rooms! It really opened my eyes to the struggles these parents are facing and showed me how much these families are struggling.
Unfortunately, one of the most common health problems for poor children in the US is obesity (Odom, et al., 2012). Many times this is related to parental substance abuse, inefficient funds for nutritional foods, and the insecurity of not knowing when your next meal will be. This is evident in our head start classrooms. Many of our parents lack the knowledge of what foods are good for their children and what foods are negatively impacting their children’s development. Many mornings, parents will bring children to school with Hot Cheetos and a chocolate milk in their hands and they wonder why the child refuses to eat an apple when offered. Nutrition is one of the first workshops offered to our parents every year, and we are always surprised how many parents simply do not know what to feed them. I have also witnessed children who ask to take food home for their siblings or who shove as much food as they can onto their plates because of food insecurity. This is a sign that the families need help with resources and we provide information on community food resources and WIC services. Obesity is something that can be fixed with parental education and introducing children to a variety of nutritional foods.
Attachment is such an important relationship that can define how a child builds and maintains relationships throughout their lifetime. According to Odom et al. (2012), the definition of attachment is the young child’s ability to use the caregiver as a stable protector when in distress or to help foster exploration. Unfortunately, this important relationship suffers many times in families of low SES (Odom, et al., 2012). Secure attachment is related to a caregiver’s sensitivity and responsiveness. During my years at a head start preschool, I have witnessed a few insecure attachment relationships. Many times these children suffer in these relationships due to the parents working all hours of the day. The program has had families where the teacher never gets to the meet the parents because children are only dropped off and picked up by babysitters or neighbors. These children rarely talk about their parents and sometimes show behavior problems when babysitters change frequently.
