As a child, I was born into poverty. Our mother twice divorced was a single parent on the welfare system. At times, she would work in the hop fields but it never seemed to help. Our father was never a part of our life. We grew up eating cereal for dinner and had more than our fair share of top ramen noodles. Having many siblings in our family did not help with the food ratio but it did help to keep our minds off of the problem. Since I was the second to the youngest in a family of ten I never had to worry what we were going to eat. My older sister was the one always trying to fend for us and making our meals. I mentioned there are ten children in my family but there were only four of us raised together. My older brothers and sisters married young and moved out of the home as soon as they were able to. That was there way of coping with the stress. None of them finished high school or went to college. They found jobs and continued to work at them for years. This is how they worked past their childhood experiences. The way the rest of us at home survived was by having an imagination. We use to dream and plan for what our futures would be like. If it were not for my older sister, I am not sure if we would have made it through our childhood. She says her survival was based on seeing us through. The ramifications were devastating. My older sister has severe emotional and mental issues. In the past, she has tried to take her own life twice. She has been seeing a therapist off and on for the past 10 years. My second to the oldest sister has cut all ties with our mother. She wants nothing to do with her. My method of coping is writing and talking about our experiences.
Right here in the United States there are many children facing the same stressors. As I see our mothers and fathers plagued with drug addictions there are children that are growing up in poverty and isolation. There are serious ramifications that can lead to children joining gangs, and even becoming addicted to drugs themselves. Children raised in these situations are emotionally and maybe even physically distraught. At times, without support they may develop mental problems, and cannot maintain positive relationships with others. There are plenty of issues that can develop if children do not learn that this type of lifestyle is not normal and can be changed. For example, children born into this lifestyle may have a low self-esteem and self-worth. Even worse, they may never learn to be empathetic of others. If they grew up in a home without their parents or a caregiver showing them right from wrong or how to care for other people, how can they relate to this? They end up growing up thinking this lifestyle is the norm and may become violent adults.
Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood. (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
