Consequences of Stress on Children's Development

In Baltimore, Maryland, I had a friend who survived poverty with her mother. Her mother used drugs until the day she died.  My friend, Marie*,  learned quickly to not to follow the same path.  When Marie was a senior in high school, she became pregnant and walked the path of poverty.  The child's father did not want to get involve with child-rearing. He only wanted one thing from my friend, which we all hear so often in this world.  Eventually, Marie became pregnant again with different man. Marie and her beautiful daughters continued to live from one home to another. She couldn't afford rent or anything else even though Marie has social security income, food stamp, and WIC.

One day, Marie asked me if she could stay at our apartment until she gets on her feet. My husband and I allowed Marie and her daughters to live with us for a while. I remembered seeing two little girls running to the kitchen with smiles on faces. This was the first time they saw refrigerator filled with food. Oddly, the food was gone within 3 days.  I approached Marie and asked about it. She said, she threw them out after using them once or twice.  I was upset. We went out and bought some more food. We asked Marie and kids clearly not to throw anything that is still good.

Marie found a job. Then her oldest daughter's father showed up wanting one thing from her (it is not the money).  We had to kick him out to protect the young children from watching it happening.  Marie slacked off her responsibility as a mother. My husband had to take the oldest daughter to school. I took care of the baby.

It became worse to a point where we had to ask them to leave.  The family left and continued their journey on poverty path.  Every time I visited them, I always brought clothes and food for them.

Now the family lives in Florida with a hope to climb out of the poverty.  Their eating habit worsened.  They could not afford healthy food, so they purchased cheap branded food. This led to weight issue.

The daughters experienced stress constantly from being poverty.  Their security is meager. They learned that men are persons to rely on for survival. The oldest hates her mother (Marie) for moving so often, for having different men, for not having things she wanted, and she is now going out into cities doing things she is not supposed to be doing at this age.  The youngest clings onto Marie, but is very overweight and tries to please her mother all the time.

A life on Yap Island, Micronesia: The Island of Stone Money

It is being said the life on Yap, 
"It is becoming a big challenge for Yapese to be self-sufficient economically
while at the same time respecting their own traditions." (KUWAHARA, S., 2001).

Although over the years Yap Island always had the accessibilities to fruits, fish, and other wonderfully delicious food without the needing to earn money to purchase food, Yap Island accepted western lifestyle (ie: trading, education, money exchange) and this creates difficulties for Yapese to earn sufficient money to feed the family and to obtain items they need.

These changes have impact on children whose parents might continue practice old traditions.  Children, who grew up in modern civilized lifestyle battle with old traditions, face health, social, and cognition challenges.  First, their health greatly improved through obtaining medications and supplements from western organizations. Second, education improved because western assisted building schools. Third, technologies improved their accessibilities to trading business.

The downside is that the parents want the younger generation to carry old traditions such as farming, dancing, and so forth, which apparent to be difficult with money being tied to everything (entertainment, tourism, and trading).


Bisocial: New generations (children) are receiving adequate nutrition naturally. However, those who heavily depend on money might experience more difficulties in obtaining adequate nutrition. Nutrition promotes healthy growth.

Cognitive: Since the island is facing tourists and business leaders, children are exposed to newer information, attitude, and style. Their thinking skills may differ from their parents and grandparents who were raised in old tradition. On upside, yap children have the opportunity to go to colleges.

Psychosocial:  Because the island is a tourism place, children might feel stressed to help their parents finding jobs to pay the bills. At the same time, they may feel conflicted upon how to please the parents and themselves in regards to old tradition and western lifestyle.

There is no particular way to prevent further damages in parent-child relationship except for adapting and accepting both "worlds." This is rather challenging for parents and children, in my opinion, to experience rapid changes in their village.

Kuwahara, S.,Kagoshima University Research Center for the Pacific Islands, Occasional Papers No.34, 15-24, 2001
Part 1, Section 1, Report 2. The Progress Report of the 1999 Survey of the Research Project
“Social Homeostasis of Small Islands in an Island-zone”