Dr. Jensen wrote, “the biology of stress is simple in some ways and complex in others. On a basic level, every one of the 30 – 50 trillion cells in the human body is experiencing either healthy or unhealthy growth. Cells cannot grow and deteriorate at the same time.
Ideally, the body is in homeostatic balance: a state in which the vital measures of human function – heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, and so on – are in their optimal ranges. A stressor is anything that threatens to disrupt homeostasis – for example, criticism, neglect, social exclusion, lack of enrichment, malnutrition, drug use, exposure to toxins, abuse, or trauma.
When cells are not growing, they are in a “hunker down” mode that conserves resources for a threatened future. When billions or trillions of cells are under siege in this manner, there will be problems” (Jensen, p, 23).
For this comment, discuss at least three chronic or acute stressors, and specifically how the brain is affected by the stressors.
Then discuss at least 3 effects of stress/stressors on behavior and performance at school for children who are burdened by unpleasant stressors too much of the time.
Summarize what you learned from reading the book and remember to critically think, reflect and write about what you think about it.
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1. Three acute or chronic stressor are living in overcrowded, substandard housing or unsafe neighborhoods; separation or divorce; and abuse. Overcrowded, substandard housing and unsafe neighborhoods affect the brain because if you are living in a house that has too many people then the child or children are going to be the last person that are looked at. Therefore, they may not be as likely to be helped with homework or to get their parent to sign something because the parent is too worried about try to deal with the other people in the house. The unsafe neighborhood also plays a role because if the child or children are scared to go to sleep or only get a few hours of sleep because there is constant gun fire or sirens then they will not be able to focus as well when they need to. The second one about separation and divorce is a stressor on a child or children because if they are constantly be carted from house to house because mom and dad cannot get along then they may end up feeling like it is their fault for them fighting. This in turn plays into the child or children mind and them thinking that allows them to not be able to focus on what is really being important. And the third one abuse, this is pretty much self-explanatory if the child or children are constantly be hit on because that is the only way mom or dad can relieve their stress then the kid is not going to be able to concentrate. These stressors knock the brain out of homeostasis which is its normal routine, and that can make it hard for the body to function correctly. Also all of these lead the brain to not being able to respond as needed and can lead the children to “allostatic load” (Jensen pg. 26) which is carryover stress, the body instead of returning to normal homeostasis come accustom to the constant negativity and the child or children become either hypo-responsive or hyper-responsive.
2. Students who are bombarded with stressors constantly have many issues in school, but here are just here of them. Chronic stress is linked to over 50 percent of all absences. This affects the child or children because they are not in school. Then in turn if they are not in school because they are so stressed out it impairs them from learning and succeeding in school. This may lead to them feeling like school is not worth their time and may end up leading to them dropping out in high school or maybe even earlier. A second thing that chronic stress affects is it reduces cognition, creativity, and memory. This affects the child or children this way, they are so stressed that when they are in school that cannot concentrate and when they can concentrate they cannot remember what is being taught because they are constantly thinking about whatever is stressing them out. This leads to them not doing well on tests and that leads to bad grades, which leads to possibly having to repeat the grade over again. There is a whole domino effect set in motion when stress is involved. A third thing is that it reduces neurogenesis, which is the growth of new brain cells. This plays directly into the point before this one about cognition and memory, without the growth of those new brain cells they cannot learn new things or remember what is being taught. This again sets that same domino effect into motion.
3. This has taught me that even though a kid may look okay on the outside it doe not mean they are okay on the inside. It has taught me to look at children in a different way, not to just see the child but to be able to recognize when the child is having a problem or are too stressed out. This has me thinking a new way about how to handle things in the classroom, instead of going from one subject to the next give the children a few minutes to just have a “brain break” and them reflect on what they have learned so far. There is no set rule that says a teacher has to teach from the time school starts to the time the school day ends. If they did not only would the kids have brain overload, but the teacher would also be on overload.
Acute stressors are defined as severe stress resulting from trauma as abuse or violence. In other words this is harmful stress that comes from things like abuse in the home and fighting.
Stressors can affect the brain by creating a disturbing, overwhelming effect. A stressed neuron creates a weaker signal, holds less blow flow, makes less oxygen, and lengthens fewer connective branches to nearby cells. The front of the brain which is affected the most is very important for learning, cognition, and working memory. Too much of those stressors will shrink neurons in the brain’s frontal lobes-which is the area for planning, impulse regulation and making judgments. Stressors inhibit a person from remembering, thinking and learning.
Then discuss at least 3 effects of stress/stressors on behavior and performance at school for children who are burdened by unpleasant stressors too much of the time.
A child can experience acute stressors if they live in a home where there is sexual abuse, domestic violence, or neglect. A child that has to experience one or more of these stressors will definitely have lifelong scars that will take time to heal. These things will cause a child to act out in class, have behavioral problems; alienate themselves from others; cause illnesses or even worse result in death. For example, children who experience neglect at home may act out at school because they want attention from their peers. They want someone to laugh at them or pay attention to their behavior. No one wants to be neglected, and feeling unloved or unwanted can make someone feel really sad, mad or hurt.Domestic violence in the home. A child that is always around fighting and arguing is definitely is high risk of being injured or hurt badly. Physical abuse comes along with verbal abuse, and this gives a child a bad vocabulary because all they hear is hate words. This child may fight a lot at school. They may have low communication skills and have hard times focusing in the classroom.Sexually abused children endure a lot; they are forced against their own will and often threatened to not tell. This type of action can go on for a long time without a responsible adult being informed by that child. It usually occurs in neglected homes where parents are not responsible, away from home a lot or is on drugs. In school, a child may distant themselves from others, grow hatred from a specific sex, shy away from certain conversations in the classroom, have visible marks and bruises, and may develop faster than others.
Summarize what you learned from reading the book and remember to critically think, reflect and write about what you think about it.
I’ve learned vital information about children of poverty and how they act and react to certain situations. They come with “baggage and backgrounds” that all teachers should be aware of as soon as they walk through those school doors. They did not ask to be a child of poverty, but it was certain circumstances and situations that have them there. In chapters 1 and 2 we learned about the emotional keyboard, and facts about children from Low-socioeconomic families. Some are situational, generational etc. Also, I’ve learned that experience poverty at early ages compared to those who experience as they got older, have low graduation rates. This book has somewhat prepared me about the proper protocol when I am faced with these problems. I’ve also learned to not stereotype a child.
One example of a chronic stressor is being a part of a dysfunctional family. The child can lay awake at night listening to parents fighting over money. The child’s brain may be racing about what they could do or have done to make the situation easier for their family. Being a part of a dysfunctional family can make current health problems like asthma and decrease the immune system of a child because they are always worrying about their family, instead of their health.
A second example of a chronic stressor is abuse. Abuse is when the child is either being verbally, physically, or emotionally hurt by close friends or caregivers. This will affect the child because the child will always have to think that they have to be perfect in order to bypass a beating or yelling. The child may become distant with interactions with the family or friends. The child may also become very frustrated because he/she has learned that is the only way to solve problems.
A third example of a chronic stressor is living in unsafe neighborhoods. When the child is surrounded by drugs and violence the child may live in fear because that is all they know. It may lead to poor nutrition and cause the child to lose weight they need to have to support healthy bone and brain development. This may also make the child feel neglected because there is so much violence and drugs around which may cause the focus to be on protection rather than helping the child grow up healthy and do well in school.
Three effects of stress on behavior and performance at school for children who are burdened by unpleasant stressors too much of the time are absences. Being that the child is a part of a dysfunctional family, abused, or living in unsafe neighborhoods the parents may not keep up with the child’s attendance in school because they are worried about paying bills or keeping the home safe. With being absent the child isn’t in a safe environment because while the child is in school they have food for lunch and the safety of a school that is filled with drugs and other harmful things. Another effect of stress on behavior is that the child’s behavior may become disruptive. The child’s parents may consistently be at work trying to stay on top of bills and not have the time to discipline the child and help the child know right and wrong. The child will just continue to believe that being disruptive is okay because no one at home is telling them otherwise. Lastly, it can make the child’s motivation decrease or even become non-existent. With no encouragement from family, the child may not want to do their homework or study for upcoming test. They may believe that being surrounded by drugs and violence that, that is what they are always going to be surrounded by so they may not try as hard as they need to so that they will become successful in school and change the direction of their lives.
Teaching with Poverty in Mind is Dr. Jensen’s way of trying to help rising teachers become aware of signs that the child may need more encouragement and ways to change the child’s thinking so that they become successful and want to be in the classroom. I learned that just because the child is in poverty it doesn’t mean that we can’t be the “stand in” guardian and help the child recognize that they are better than what they think they maybe. I learned about the ways stress plays affect on the child’s performance in school and ways I can recognize to help my future students if they come across stressful situations. The child needs to know that they aren’t alone in anything and that they can come to a teacher for help, not only with homework but with at home problems as well. Overall, Dr. Jensen is just trying to raise awareness to future teachers and teachers that they can help students of poverty more than they think they can.
A stressor is any and everything that causes someone to experience some form of anxiety. Acute stress is stress caused by a violent situation such abuse. Chronic stress refers to someone experiencing an abundance of stress for a long time.
An example of a chronic or acute stressor is abuse. Abuse can be physical, verbal, or sexual. To some children who are abused, the fear of making a mistake or getting in trouble causes them a large amount of stress at one time. Some children that experience abuse feel that they must be perfect or they will not be loved. Depending on how the child is abused, they fear being hurt by violence, degrading words or even by being raped. Living in fear would ultimately cause anyone to have a constant feeling of anxiety. Also, living in a family that is financially unstable can cause a child to experience long term stress. For a child that lives in a home that is struggling to pay the bills and/or put food on the table, it is understandable that the child feels an emotional strain. Anyone, including children would worry if they did not know when their next meal is going to be or if the electricity bill is going be paid. It is not just and individual stressor, but placed stress on the entire family. Children caught in the middle of divorce is another form of a long-term stressor, which is being even more common. When children are involved in a divorce it can cause them to worry about if it is their fault. Also when dealing with custody battles some children feel the stress of choosing who to live with. They worry about hurting another parent or making one feel like they are not as good of a parent as the other. Experiencing acute or chronic stress can cause very serious problem. Children who are exposed to these stressors have been found to have trouble making judgments, planning and regulating impulses. If these are developed as a child it could follow them into adulthood which would probably cause issues with adult relationships.
Chronic and acute stress will most definitely affect the children in a classroom setting. Three (of the many) effects that chronic and acute stress can cause in school is that it can impair attention and concentration, reduce creativity, and also reduce motivation. A student that cannot concentrate on what is being taught will not be able to retain very much information from a lesson. If the student is not focused during a specific lesson, it may cause them to struggle on future related lessons or concepts. Creativity is also an important aspect of the classroom. If a student cannot use their imagination to create new ideas or have the ability to creatively relate a topic or situation to his or her life that can cause issue with retaining information taught as well. Children learn better when they can form their own idea of a concept by relating it to themselves. Lacking motivation is a major issue to have within a student. A child needs to be motivated and have a desire to do well. When a child is not giving effort in class to learn the material, then it becomes a problem with the child actually learning. Students need to be actively involved in class, mentally and emotionally.
Question of the Week
• Three stressors that children in poverty may be exposed is, living in unsafe neighborhoods, separation or divorce, or losing a family member. These things can hurt a child’s ability to learn to their full potential. They are exposed to these stressors and it is affecting their developing brains. The hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex are the parts of the brain that is being affected the most by the stressors. These parts of the brain are crucial for learning, cognition, and memory. The stressors that are being hardwired into their brains are impairing the brain’s capacity to learn and remember.
• As Dr. Jensen said in his book students don’t walk into the classroom wearing a sign that says, “CAUTION! Chronic stressors live here.” Three effects that stressors have on school behavior and performance are impaired attention and concentration, reduced cognition, creativity, and memory, and diminishes social skills and social judgment. Stressors make it much harder for children to learn and remember and it’s not good for their future. When they come to school and they are being exposed to the chronic stressors they don’t know how to deal with it and it comes off as disruptive or acting out. The only reason they are disruptive is because they don’t have the right someone to help them deal with it. If you look out for the signs of chronic stress you can help them deal with it so that it will not mess up their education.
• Reading Dr. Jensen’s book gives me ideas that I can take with me to my own classroom. It also lets me know what to look out for so that I can be prepared to help any student that may be going through this situation. I can prepare myself a whole lot more and be ready to take on anything so that I can be the best teacher possible. If I am as successful as I plan to be, than my students will take with them what I have taught them and use for themselves if they decide to become a teacher.
Acute stress is one of the most common types of stress. For those who are acute stressors are likely to be irritable, anxious, aroused and tense. These people describe themselves as having a lot of nervous energy. For example, three acute stressors would be if a father loss an important contract with a job he has been working hard to earn for the past five years, a mother who waits to the last minute to meet an deadline for her application at a nearby plant and she’s rushing to complete it and turn it in, and parent’s who continue to deal with occasional problems at their child’s school. The acute stress can have a devastating effect on the brain and how it operates. When stress is caused on the brain it causes major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Also, mechanisms begin to block the growth of new neurons. These neurons are needed in the brain for bodily functions and for antidepressants to treat depression and anxiety.
There are many effects of physical and mental signs of stress on behavior and performance at school for children. Some of them include: making the child sweat more than usual, making them have to go to the bathroom more often, making the child feel sick to his/her stomach, making them feel more tense than before or after a test, and for the child to have a dry mouth. Children who are burdened by unpleasant stressors too much often cope with some of these effects. It makes it hard for that student to focus during school because their performance won’t be as achieving as it should be.
I learned much more than I did before reading this section on acute and chronic stressors. From reading this section and analyzing it, I found out that more nonpoor children has a higher percentage of children expose to stressors than the poor children. I also learned that there are two types of stress, acute (short term) and chronic (long term). I never knew that these types of stress could harm your body and brain as much as it does. Some say, that it’s good to stress every once in a while but stressing too much can cause health problems and brain damage. Your brain has to function, and its cells help it to maintain a steady functioning. If stress continues, then you are only damaging your cells and causing your brain to slowly break down. I try not to stress over little petty things because I want my body to stay healthy.
Stressors have detrimental effects on any child, but the child that lives in poverty is devestated worse than any other. Unfortunetely they suffer from more stressors than any other economic group. Three examples that impovrished children might suffer from are financial strains, loss of family members, or domestic violence. Financial strains is the one aspect that stands out the most, becasue the lack of monetary resources leads to the lack of other resources. Children naturally do not know how to handle certain situations. Impovrished children have to bear stressors such as lacking of emotional needs because their parents are busy working two or more jobs. The loss of family members can cause stress in ones life because it is tough to lose a family member at any age. The trauma is multiplied when the child is poor and that family member might have provided resources to that child that nobody else will ever be able to. Domestic violence plagues every social class, but it is prevelent amoung the impovrished. Much of the time a child of poverty might be lucky to have both parents in their life. Yet if one of those parents are abusive, it is the same as not having any parents.
Effects of such stressors have a devestating effect. Stress actually causes neurons to underperform leading to less blood flow, less oxygen to the brain, and other detrimental neurological effects. Chronic exposure to stress shrinks neurons in the frontal lobes, which is essential for optimal learning. Stress can hinder a childs brain capacity to remember simple concepts, especially if one of those stressors is child abuse. Studies show that victims of child abuse, usually children of poverty, have alterations in brain development. Stessors also negatively effect the parts of the brain that control emotions, making it hard for children of poverty to pick up on learned emotions.
All of this makes for quite a challenge for teachers. Children learn to channel that stress in the classroom through disruptive behavior and an unhealthy social and academic life. Mood swings will be prevelent in girls before puberty and boys will suffer from misunderstandings in curiosity and memory. According to statistics half of all abstences are due to stress and it has a severe effect on attention and concentration. Teachers are recomended to use stress release exercises such as brething techniques or physical activity.
Abuse in the home is one of the major stressors of children who live in poverty. Divorce and death are acute stressors that occur in children of poverty as well. These stressors are highly disruptive to the developmental process. They influence the child’s physical, psychological, emotional, and cognitive functioning. Areas in the child’s brain where emotions are regulated, empathy, social functioning, and other skills that are imperative to a healthy emotional development are placed at risk. This type of chronic stress on the brains emotional center increases the amount of neurons in the amygdala while, diminishing the complexity of neurons in the frontal lobe and increasing the complexity of neurons in the brains emotional center, causing it to become sensitive to memory modulation. This kind of chronic stress can lead to allostatic load or “carryover” stress. This “carryover” allows the brain to adapt to negative life experiences, instead of returning to a healthy state of homeostasis, and leaving the brain to be either hyper-responsive or hypo-responsive.
Stressors play a key role in the development of a child’s brain as well as development of the child as a whole. There is an impairment placed upon the brains capacity to learn as well as remember. The way one thinks and learns with stress on the brain alters their well-being and changes the development process.
Often times, children who come from a stressful environment channel that stress through disruptive behavior in school. Stress can cause impairment in attention and concentration in students. Impulsivity is a common disruptive behavior in the classroom among children of poverty. Girls who come from an abusive home suffer from mood swings, while boys experience impairments in curiosity, learning, and memory. Children of poverty are also a step behind because there is a reduction in their cognition, creativity, and memory. They come from a household where parents fail to provide for them in their early childhood years and where structure and restrictions hold no true value. There is also this greater incidence of health issues from children of poverty that can lead to the increase in school absences, tardiness, and even rates of undiagnosed and untreated health problems. These types of behaviors have students of low-SES missing vital information and key content and skills being covered in class.
I feel that we as teachers should be able to better assist children of low-SES in the classroom, especially if we know the child’s background and understand why he or she behaves a certain way in the classroom. If we take the time to observe our students and their behavior I think we can improve the student’s way of thinking or learning despite all of the stress that they may happen in the home. Not only do we need to find ways to better educate the student’s, but the parents as well.
After reading this I’ve learned that children of poverty are placed under a great deal of stress and that there are ways that we as teachers can recognize the signs of children who are under stress. We can find ways to implement these steps to help the student deal with these stressors so that they can be in control of a situation and not allow stress to rule their lives. A childhood spent in poverty does not have to be a lifetime spent in poverty as well. Although the brain is very sensitive and despite being subjective to an adverse environment it can just as likely be subjective to a positive and enriching environment.
Abuse in the home is one of the major stressors of children who live in poverty. Divorce and death are acute stressors that occur in children of poverty as well. These stressors are highly disruptive to the developmental process. They influence the child’s physical, psychological, emotional, and cognitive functioning. Areas in the child’s brain where emotions are regulated, empathy, social functioning, and other skills that are imperative to a healthy emotional development are placed at risk. This type of chronic stress on the brains emotional center increases the amount of neurons in the amygdala while, diminishing the complexity of neurons in the frontal lobe and increasing the complexity of neurons in the brains emotional center, causing it to become sensitive to memory modulation. This kind of chronic stress can lead to allostatic load or “carryover” stress. This “carryover” allows the brain to adapt to negative life experiences, instead of returning to a healthy state of homeostasis, and leaving the brain to be either hyper-responsive or hypo-responsive.
Stressors play a key role in the development of a child’s brain as well as development of the child as a whole. There is an impairment placed upon the brains capacity to learn as well as remember. The way one thinks and learns with stress on the brain alters their well-being and changes the development process.
Often times, children who come from a stressful environment channel that stress through disruptive behavior in school. Stress can cause impairment in attention and concentration in students. Impulsivity is a common disruptive behavior in the classroom among children of poverty. Girls who come from an abusive home suffer from mood swings, while boys experience impairments in curiosity, learning, and memory. Children of poverty are also a step behind because there is a reduction in their cognition, creativity, and memory. They come from a household where parents fail to provide for them in their early childhood years and where structure and restrictions hold no true value. There is also this greater incidence of health issues from children of poverty that can lead to the increase in school absences, tardiness, and even rates of undiagnosed and untreated health problems. These types of behaviors have students of low-SES missing vital information and key content and skills being covered in class.
I feel that we as teachers should be able to better assist children of low-SES in the classroom, especially if we know the child’s background and understand why he or she behaves a certain way in the classroom. If we take the time to observe our students and their behavior I think we can improve the student’s way of thinking or learning despite all of the stress that they may happen in the home. Not only do we need to find ways to better educate the student’s, but the parents as well.
After reading this I’ve learned that children of poverty are placed under a great deal of stress and that there are ways that we as teachers can recognize the signs of children who are under stress. We can find ways to implement these steps to help the student deal with these stressors so that they can be in control of a situation and not allow stress to rule their lives. A childhood spent in poverty does not have to be a lifetime spent in poverty as well. Although the brain is very sensitive and despite being subjective to an adverse environment it can just as likely be subjective to a positive and enriching environment.
1. As I have discovered while reading about stress & stressors, 3 types of stressors may include but not limited to: living in an overcrowded substandard housing or unsafe neighborhoods, separation or divorce, and experiencing financial strain just to name a few. The brain is affected a great deal due to stress. According to what I've read, exposure to chronic or acute stress is hardwired into children's developing brains, creating a devastating cumulative effect. As opposed to a healthy neuron, a stressed neuron will generate a weaker signal, handles less blood flow, processes less oxygen, & extends fewer connective branches to nearby cells. So being stressed cause several negative processes to occur. Also according to what I read from Dr. Jensen 'experiments have demonstrated that exposure to chronic or acute stress actually shrinks neurons in the brains frontal lobes.....Unpredictable stressors impair the brains ability to learn and remember. Stress affects the brain negatively. Stress actually negatively controls the most important functions of the brain, and causes the individual to go through some very unhealthy issues.
2. I have become aware that stress creates several negative aspects dealing with the brain this also affects the way that individuals act, think, feel as well. It really affects the child or children who are stressed & their behavior in the classroom. Three effects that students may experience due to stress that may be relative to their disruptive behavior in class are: impulsivity, mood swings, and impairments. According to what I've read, impulsivity is a common disruptive classroom behavior among low SES students. Mood swings may result from some type of abuse in the home. Impairments in curiosity, learning, and memory usually are a result of stress as well. Stress is like a domino effect it just go from bad to worse. It affects so many aspects that controls and individuals everyday life.
As a teacher candidate reading and learning about how stress affects students, it makes me be more encouraged to be positive for my students. It helps me to understand that I must do my best to make sure my classroom has an positive environment.
Acute stress is caused by trauma, such as, abuse or violence. Chronic stress is having a high level of stress over a long period of time. Chronic and acute stressors challenge the body’s homeostasis. Some stressors are living in overcrowded homes, substandard housing, or unsafe neighborhoods; having to put up with community and/or domestic violence, divorce, the loss of family members, financial strain, being forced to move a lot, and material deprivation. These stressors cause children to have a hard time forming healthy friendships, and often lead to depression. According to Jensen, more than half of impoverished children suffer from these stressors. More specifically, child abuse disrupts the child’s ability to develop healthy attachments, emotional regulation, and temperament formation. Jensen says, “Chronic stress not only diminishes the complexity of neurons in the frontal lobe and hippocampus but also increases the complexity of neurons in the amygdala, the brain’s emotion center.” This causes the child to become depressed, and often, suicidal. Unpredictable stressors harm the brain’s ability to learn. In all of this reading, I have realized that distress is terribly detrimental to children’s ability to learn, form healthy relationships, and it greatly impairs their ability to just be happy. I never knew how unhealthy distress could make someone, especially a child.
1. Acute stress is severe stress that results from exposure to such trauma as abuse or violence and chronic stress is high stress sustained over a period of time. Among low-income families, stressors may include living in overcrowded, substandard housing or unsafe neighborhoods; enduring community or domestic violence, separation or divorce, or the loss of family members; and experiencing financial strain, forced mobility, or material deprivation (Evans & English, 2002). The first stressor would be a child's family not being able to meet their daily needs. This can result in despression that leads into a child feeling unnutured. A stressor like this can affect a child not only emotionally but cognitivly as well. I think that when a child is living in a household where their parents are doing what they can to get by, it takes a lot out on the child and they begin to worry about if they will be able to eat the next day or if they can get to school. No child should ever have chronic stressors. Chronic stress not only diminishes the complexity of neurons in the frontal lobe and the hippocampus but also increases the complexity of neurons in the amygdala, the brain's emotion center (Conrad, 2006). Having a situation where the parents are stressed from working and not being in the home can affect a childs amygdala. This is where the child has memories of trama, divorice ect.)
Another stressor is affects the brains development is Child abuse. Child abuse is a chronic stressor because it is hightly disruptive to the development of the child and this is a pro-longed stressor that the child cant control. Studies have shown that there are considerable alterations in the brains deveolpment of neglected and abused children. This can cause children to have undeveolped healthy emotional areas such as social fuctioning and empathy. I believe that child abuse can affect a child in ways that no one can understand. I think that no child should have to eperience any sort of abuse in their childhood because it will be a memory or faint memory for a pro-longed period. I believe that child abuse can affect the functioning of the brain, as Dr. Jensen explained. The brain controls our emotions, thinking, moving, ect. Our bodies are like machines.Having such a chronic stressor in a childs life can deplete all processes that need to be developed.
The last acute or chronic stressor is Allostatic Load and it means that it is carryover stress. It states "Instead of returning to a healthy baseline of homeostasis, the growing brain adapts to negative life experiences so that it becomes either hypo-responsive or hyper-responsive." This means that the brain continues to adapt to negative experiences and it doesnt know anything but those experiences. A child does not need to carry over any sort of stress that is bad. I think that at such a young age, having so much bad stress is so unhealthy and not only as a teacher, I can help but I will do everything I can to make sure my students are getting UStress and not bad stress.Ustress is the good stress that we all need to be healthy. Good stress is important as well. I feel like education is so important and starting from a young age, a child needs to be driven and feel like they are important. Having the stress factors in their life that are bad can result in depression or other health risks.
2. List three effects of stess/stressors on behavior and perfromance at school for children who are burdended by unpleasent stressors too much of the time.
Students raised in poverty are especially subject to stressors that undermine school behavior and performance in the school setting. One example would be a child who is abused in the home. A girl would experience mood swings in the school setting while boys would experience impairments of curiosity, learning and memory. Students who have to worry about their safety concerns tend to underperform in school. Community violence can contruibue to low academic performance and also can lead to bullying and impairs test scores. Many children in high school skip class and stay home because they are scared of the violence that might take place in the school setting.
Children that are "dealing" with the stress of the examples above are having to live their lives with all these bad things around them and it shouldnt have to be like that. Children shouls be happy and have good stress in their lives. No child should ever have to worry about coming to school and getting hit or bullied. It is my job as a future teacher to make sure my students are safe and no child is ever to feel like they cant come talk to me or an adult. Stress is something I think people don't think about and how it really affects children and adults. We all grow up trying to be the best and competing with other to be the most popular or the skinnest or who has the cutest boyfriend and those can lead to a child being depressed or can lead to other serious things.
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