Getting to Know Your International Contacts - Part 2

I have still not received a response from any of the international contacts I emailed, so for this week’s blog assignment, I chose to research Harvard University’s “Global Children’s Initiative” website.  The general initiative of this research is built on a three part basis, which is mental health and children in crisis, early childhood development and conflict situations. Global Children’s initiative has begun their outreach by launching three projects around the world.  To start, mental health is an area that I gained a better insight about. I have known about the mental stages that people may face in their teen years or adult life, but I did not know that mental illnesses can begin at such an early age. Addressing the mental health system in China, developing family based strategies to prevent mental health concerns within families dealing with HIV/AIDS in Rwanda and addressing mental health concerns and child maltreatment in the Caribbean (Center on the Developing Child, 2012). Another is  addressing early childhood development’s main goal; which is to educate, conduct research and be able to communicate effectively to policy makers the importance of investing into early childhood educational programs within the United States and around the world (Center on the Developing Child, 2012). As a final point, the Global Children’s Initiative is addressing children within crisis and conflict situations. The goal of this is to work collaboratively with other organizations which bring together a science based and developmental approach to assessing and managing children in man made or natural conflicts (Center on the Developing Child, 2012).  

There was another interesting article, “Targeting Toxic Stress in Children,” which discussed the impact of toxic stress and the affects it can have on children. It basically gave answers to several questions regarding the importance of a child living in a stable environment. This type of environment helps a child feel secured and teaches them to cope with stress a better way (Weintraub, 2012). 

Global Children’s Initiative also gave information relating to equity and excellence as it relates to the early childhood field. They are known for educating, researching and communicating the importance of investing in early childhood programs and the benefits that can come out of doing so. It mainly wants everyone, policy makers included, to know that without the proper funding and policies, children development will be on hold and the focus will once again be on a monetary gain, which everyone should realize by now is not the way to go. So many schools are closing because of this and once the legislative boards realize this, hopefully things will take a turn for the better.

References

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2012). Global children's initiative. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/

Weintraub, K. (2012). Targeting toxic stress in children. Boston Globe. Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2012/02/27/targeting_toxic_stress_in_children/