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Poverty as a Childhood Disease
May 21, 2013
I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.
-Mother Teresa

Beginnings Workshop in the May/June 2013 issue of Exchange includes four articles addressing the impact of poverty on children.  The seriousness of this issue was highlighted by a recent New York Times article "(Poverty as a Childhood Disease)" in which Perri Klass observed...

"Poverty damages children’s dispositions and blunts their brains....  Poverty in this country is now likely to define many children’s life trajectories in the harshest terms: poor academic achievement, high dropout rates, and health problems from obesity and diabetes to heart disease, substance abuse, and mental illness.

"Recently, there has been a lot of focus on the idea of toxic stress, in which a young child’s body and brain may be damaged by too much exposure to so-called stress hormones, like cortisol and norepinephrine.  When this level of stress is experienced at an early age, and without sufficient protection, it may actually reset the neurological and hormonal systems, permanently affecting children’s brains and even, we are learning, their genes.

"Toxic stress is the heavy hand of early poverty, scripting a child’s life not in the Horatio Alger scenario of determination and drive, but in the patterns of disappointment and deprivation that shape a life of limitations."

Contributed by Kirsten Haugen







Celebrating over 30 years, Exchange magazine is a bimonthly publication focused on the administration of programs for young children. Our goal is to support center administrators with workable strategies, practical advice, and down-to-earth ideas for dealing with the serious responsibilities and demands they face each day.

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Comments (4)

Displaying All 4 Comments
Nancy · May 27, 2013
United States


Poverty alone may not do the most damage for a child's health, education and life choices. The toxic environment of growing up in a home and/or communiy with substance abuse, neglect, limited opportunities, and other negatives may have a greater impact.

Dawn Lees · May 21, 2013
MODS
Minneapolis, MN, United States


Poverty is a complex problem and this latest research into the damage to the early childhood years, not only into the brain but also the genes furthers the scare. The kind of response we may generate can only be as good as the whole. Job creation through meaningful work broadens opportunities that build confidence, initiative, and hope and offers families a future. Affordable quality early childhood programs must be available in every community with access by families through choice.

Francis Wardle · May 21, 2013
CSBC
Denver, United States


I agree with this article, which then begs the question; why is Head Start and most early childhood programs increasing the stress these children face by focusing on academic outcomes, instead of nurturing healthy physical, emotional and mental development? It seems to me that we in the early childhood field are going in the wrong direction!

Flora Eziuche · May 21, 2013
torchlily
Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria


Music instruction and education is important for qualitative education



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