Child Separation came into the spotlight during former president Trump’s no tolerance policy to control the border migration crisis. Families crossing the southern border of the United States, were separated from their children. The children who are held back in the United States are subject to harmful psychological effects, which will stunt their physical & mental development. Parents are huge part of a child’s life; they provide care and love kids needs for their healthy development. Removing parents from the lives of children makes them vulnerable to psychological diseases such as PTSD, anxiety, depression, etc. Author Miller and her team state that, “separation form a family member was significantly related to children’s depression/anxiety symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms” (Miller et al.).
Not only the mental health effects, but children will be exposed to extreme emotional stress, where they will blame themselves as the reason that their parents left them as it was stated in The Leavers, where Deming was thinking that he was a good child, and that was the reason why his mother abandoned him. On the other hand, children may blame their parents for leaving them behind as reaffirmed by Sue Coyle who lectures that, “the child has been uncertain about what was happening—uncertain even of the mom—and has said things such as, ‘Why did you leave me?’ That is concerning because they are not sure why this happened and may be blaming the mom or the dad” (Coyle, 8). Such effects can cause children to become more insecure of their relationships with others, which will make it harder to function in society. As insecure children are more prone to bullying and other types of harassment.
Children who are very young that their brain is still not fully developed are also being separated at the border. Such young children need their parent’s constant care and support to ensure a healthy well-being. Separating parents from them will lead to dramatic effects as “children’s stress levels remain high during separation, which may lead to inflammation, genetic changes, and abnormal physiological functioning. Alterations in the brain caused by trauma may be irreparable, placing children at an increased risk for anxiety, depression, and substance abuse during adulthood ” (Riley). The psychological effects established by the mentioned studies coincides with Deming’s life as he also showed a lot of symptoms that define effects of trauma on his psychological development and the cause of his gambling addiction.
Works Cited
Coyle, Sue. “Children and Families Forum: The Impact of Immigrant Family Separation.” Social Work Today, 2019, www.socialworktoday.com/archive/SO18p8.shtml.
Ko, Lisa. The Leavers. Little, Brown, 2018.
Miller, Alexander, et al. “Understanding the Mental Health Consequences of Family Separation for Refugees: Implications for Policy and Practice.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, vol. 88, no. 1, 2018, pp. 26–37., doi:10.1037/ort0000272.
Riley, Hurley. “The Impact of Parent-Child Separation at the Border: The Pursuit: University of Michigan School of Public Health.” The Pursuit | University of Michigan School of Public Health, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 7 Sept. 2018, sph.umich.edu/pursuit/2018posts/family-separation-US-border.html.
Your presentation this week was actually very emotional to read about as child separations actually take place probably more than we know, mental health of these children and you can even see this throughout the novel can take a toll when deportations come into play and also being separated from their families. I can’t even begin to imagine what these children and families go through.
This post was very sad and hard to read. It is so scary to hear that so many children who are separated from their parents are most likely going to be negatively effected by so many of these pyscholgical issues. I think these immigration rules and restrictions are something that are not discussed enough, and when hearing about it now I can’t even imagine how it feels to be separated from parents and family at such a young age.
It is very cruel that parents and children are separated at the border or other instances. We as humans, know that loss can take a psychological affect on anybody. But children, when their brains are still developing are life changing. This is not just the loss you feel after a death of a family member either. In your post, you discussed that when parents leave or are forcefully taken, it can raise questions as to why they left. The children could start blaming themselves or the parents and start to have resentment towards the parent/guardian if they were to ever see them again.
I also thought that this was very emotional to read. Children are so innocent and vulnerable when they are younger and the note you mentioned about insecurities with relationships of others due to their abandonment when they were younger was very heart-wrenching. Speaking from experience, this could not be more accurate and I even saw this throughout the novel. It seemed to me like the insecurities with relationships began with himself and that battle of being Deming or Daniel. It affects relationships with his family and causes him to hurt the people he loves and I think the reasoning is displayed nicely in your presentation!
Hi, I am sad when I learned that so many children are forced to leave their parents. I really like what you mentioned in the first paragraph that “Parents are a huge part of a child’s life”. Parents are those who are most closely connected to their children and are those who strongly affect them. As you mentioned, it is important that children can receive enough care from their parents, teaching them what is correct and supporting them when they face difficulties. Even some adult cannot well adapt to new environments and for children, they suffer more than adult when they have to leave everything they are familiar with.
Sue Coyle’s idea resonates with me. As a reader, I initially blamed Deming’s mother and felt anger towards her without having the full story. I felt this way and I am not even her son. I can imagine that the feeling would be even more intense if I were Deming.
It’s saddening to see how so many children at a young age experience such trauma when they should be enjoying life and having fun. These children’s trauma is so apartment most kids don’t show physical affection because they never experienced that growing up.
It’s a great presentation. I feel sympathy to these childs. At this age, they should be happy and enjoy life without sorrow and anxiety. However, because of culture shock and separation from patents , they have to learn much thing than peers.