Hello, To all those that may be reading my blog I would like to provide some background. My name is Tameka T. Im currently enrolled at the University of Toledo. My major is nursing which is where my blog was reflected from. I'm also taking a english comp.2 course at the University of Toledo which is the reason behind the my research. My paper will discuss some of the factors that a child face everyday when being bought in the world. Lot of the time parents aren't to sure about how envronmental factors can affect a child and how in the long term that certain things can a negative toll on that child.

1. To: Professor Quinn<br />From: Tameka Thornton<br />Date: April 8, 2011<br />Subject: Research <br />Growth of A child<br />“The guys who fear becoming fathers don't understand that fathering is not something perfect men do, but something that perfects the man. The end product of child rising is not the child, but the parent.” ~ Frank Pittman<br />My mind has always been curious when it comes down wondering why a person acts as they may at the beginning of birth through the end life. The point of this research paper is to get the truth out about the how things that people did while as adults can also affect a child’s growth such as mental development and how they may response to society.<br />All areas of child development must be met sufficiently in order for a child to grow up successfully and continue on to the next stage of life, adolescence. The areas of development can be influenced by environmental and heredity factors, the case of nature vs. nurture tends to play a role in how well children develop. Family relation, income, education, and neighborhood resources and other social and economic factors affect health at every stage of life, but the effects on young children are particularly dramatic.<br />Family relationship can play the most valuable role in a child development and school life and so forth. Little do many may know but a child can pick up on the stress that the family has been having at home. The child in a sense may have taken on the stress in a completely different way. Researchers said children from families characterized as disengaged-cold, controlling and disengages relationship had the most problems; they started out in school with higher levels of aggressive and disruptive behavior and had more difficulty focusing and cooperating. CITATION Sha11 1033 (Jayson, 2011)<br />For any human-being family is an essential part of development. Within that family line it can determine who you will be, and the values of a family will sculpt the relationship you will have with others. Dysfunctional or abusive families can emotionally scar an individual. Through time family values have been changed and lost. Instead of family togetherness and talking with each other, families now go on their separate ways. Examples, most families today don’t eat dinner together or partake in group activities. Our society thrives on independence and doing things on our own but has this changed the way people see the family. <br /> The family is the first social group that a child has, during the early stages of a child’s character development. The relationship that is fostered between the family and the child is important, because it is the role of the family that influences the child’s behavior. Although the child may be influenced by the father and siblings, these relationships are looked to second. A child realizes early on that the family belongs to him. This type of understanding leads to jealousy towards other siblings because he may strive to be significant, and establish a position of superiority. Once the child comes to trust the family, it no longer feels threatened. By fostering a good relationship with the family, the child develops trust which leads to the child developing self-confidence and recognizes that it also has a place within the family. Throughout it all the mother connection with her child is the most vital connection known to man.<br />Besides having a family and raising children, economical balance is essential. Economic stress on a family can be hard on any family. When bringing a child into an environment such as that can really make in hard for a child to develop correctly. Poverty is often related to those who been deprived of education, babies born underweight and also other health concerns. Nearly 15 million children in the United States – 21% of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level – $22,050 a year for a family of four. Research shows that, on average, families need an income of about twice that level to cover basic expenses. Using this standard, 42% of children live in low-income families. CITATION Rib09 1033 (Ribert Lee Wagner, 2009). <br />Most of these children have parents who work, but low wages and unstable employment leave their families struggling to make ends meet. Poverty can impede children’s ability to learn and contribute to social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Poverty also can contribute to poor health and mental health. Risks are greatest for children who experience poverty when they are young and/or experience deep and persistent poverty CITATION Rib09 1033 (Ribert Lee Wagner, 2009). Research is clear that poverty is the single greatest threat to children’s well-being. But effective public policies – to make work pay for low-income parents and to provide high-quality early care and learning experiences for their children – can make a difference. Investments in the most vulnerable children are also critical. CITATION Rib09 1033 (Ribert Lee Wagner, 2009)<br />Violence with in a child’s life has been an issue with it being in the suburban or rural neighborhoods, it’s a subject that keep reoccurring but can be resolved by people really monitoring who’s they let around them and their families. Children face trauma when dealing with violence that occurs around them. Issues aren’t just limited to violence out in the community like gang related issues rape or kidnapping but also family issues like relationship between the parents. A child whole personality or whole understanding of life can change when disturbing things occurs.<br /> Violent factors that affect children are also created by the parents fighting in front of the children. Some children see constant fighting and criticism of the other parent. There may be difficult custody battles. These experiences can be very hard for the children. They can make their adjustment to the divorce difficult. It is helpful if parents can discuss problems away from the children. The parent could help by being a caring parent. The person there for the child needs to be there to listen and not force anything before its time to transpire. Try to understand that children may have new problem behaviors as a result of the trauma. These behaviors need your patience and understanding. CITATION Mat11 1033 (Matthew Friedman , 2011) Understanding this declaration would help alleviate the problem that one may face. <br />What a child has experienced in their early life can alter their social life. Social development or socialization is how children interact with others and the world around them. In the beginning, people are very self-centered. Quickly, children learn to imitate the actions of adults and older children. As youngsters grow social development can have a profound effect on academic progress. “When children work on a project,” says University of Illinois education professor Lillian Katz, “they learn to work together, to disagree, to speculate, to take turns and to de-escalate tensions.” (Duffy 82-83) These skills are also of great importance in later life (like in the work force).<br />As a child’s social, mental and physical ability grow their self-esteem is altered by the opinions of the people that surround them and those of their parents’. A child thrives in school and at home when she has a healthy identity; your reactions and words will either give her confidence to believe she can do anything or convince her she is worthless. It is important for parents to build up their child’s self-esteem: providing a safe, loving, accepting environment will reassure your child and teach her that, with support, she can be or do anything.<br /> Childhood development is a vital study its can help to diagnose many characteristics a child harbors like low-esteem and or health issues. Children are exposed to a wide range of environmental threats that can affect their health and development early in life, throughout their youth and into adulthood. Writing in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Environmental Health scientists from the World Health Organization and Boston University suggest that it is time for both industrialized and developing countries to assess the environmental burden of childhood diseases with the aim of improving children's environments. It is crucial to recognize that children are more vulnerable than adults to environmental risks because they are generally constantly growing and more active and so breathe more air, consume more food and drink more water weight for weight than adults. The child's developing central nervous, immune, reproductive, and digestive systems, are also more susceptible to irreversible damage from toxins and pollutants.<br />Health experts often talk about the childhood obesity epidemic and about the importance of kids getting to a healthy weight. Few parents realize just how important it really is. In addition to leading to poor self-esteem, overweight children can experience social discrimination, and are at risk for many diseases that were once thought to only affect overweight adults, such as high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. CITATION Vin08 1033 (Vincent Ianneli, 2008) Being overweight raises a child's risk of cardiovascular disease and so much more in their young through their older life.<br />Overall the idea that should be taken from this is that it’s more than necessary to have things in order when one wants to bring a life into this world. No one on this planet is prefect and no one saying a person has to be, but to try their hardest can be just as admiring. One should ensure that the child in their life can have a meaningful, healthy loving life with the outcome of being productive adult. Many factors can cause a change in a person life the best things to do is try to resolve the situation and be a positive role model toward all. <br />