Society Responsibility To Curb Early Childhood Trauma

Society Responsibility to Curb Early Childhood Trauma
Name
Institution
Society Responsibility to Curb Early Childhood Trauma
Introduction
It is undeniable that childhood trauma has lasting effects on children and it adversely affects their future social interactions. Children with trauma have trouble fitting in social circles and making friends than children who never had trauma in their first years of life. It is the responsibility of the caregivers and parents to ensure that their children are not subjected to traumatizing experiences that tears down their trust and rob them a happy childhood. Counselors have been tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the public is well informed on the adverse effects of subjecting children to traumatic experiences. They also sensitize the public on the ways to help children who have been traumatized to overcome their fears and lead a normal life. It is important for all children to have equal chances of forming social interactions independently of their caregivers. Children who have encountered traumatic experiences have shown challenges interacting and colonizing new environments without the help of their caregivers thus limiting their chances of exploration and learning. Children encounter different traumas, and each has a different effect on their social behavior. This research paper will focus on the progress made by counselors in ensuring that the public is sensitized on their responsibility of curbing early childhood trauma.
The responsibilities of the counselors
Counselors use all means possible to inform the public about the dangers of childhood trauma especially on the personal development and growth of a child. Counselors ensure that the public refrains from subjecting children to trauma and help them revise their upbringing principles to warrant their children better lifestyle. Counselors use all channels available to engage the public in forums that teach them on how to avoid traumatizing children. The process of informing the public includes teaching them how to deal with various problems associated with childhood trauma as a society and at the individual level.
Counselors also help the public to reach out to traumatized children and help them overcome those experiences CITATION Lau06 \l 1033 (Barbanel & Sternberg, 2006). Children cope differently to trauma, and they develop different behavioral characteristics after traumatic experiences. Counselors help the public to discern and respond to children with trauma in their midst. They public is also taught on how to root out elements that lead to traumatic experiences to the children. Since different children cope differently to same traumatic experiences and also cope differently to different traumatic experience, these need to prepare the public and especially the parents and caregivers to handle children exposed to traumatic experiences better. Since each case is different, counselors prepare the public to be adaptable to any situation.
Counselors also help the public to understand how to develop effective strategies to deal with trauma in every community or society. The mechanisms to deal with traumatic experiences is ingrained in cultural practices and thus the public ought to be guided in developing an effective strategy to deal with traumatized children and how to reduce children exposure to trauma. Counselors, therefore, ought to help the public develop effective mechanisms to deal with children trauma within and without the society and root out any cultural beliefs, values or practices that expose children to trauma.
Challenges to sensitization
Sensitizing the public is a daunting task, and that explains why many societies and communities haven’t stamped out child trauma related cases among them. One of the key challenges to sensitization is culture. Different cultures have diverse beliefs and practices that compromise the public sensitization efforts. Regressive cultural practices and beliefs that require different programs to raise awareness on childhood trauma though some people perceive them as detrimental and likely to erode their cultural values that hold their society together CITATION All15 \l 1033 (Tasman, Kay, First, Lieberman, & Riba, 2015). For example, some communities believe that Female Genital Mutilation are heroic practices and any respectable woman ought to go through them. It is a common phenomenon in communities practicing FGM to protect the perpetrators of that vice and continue in exposing children to danger for what they perceive as heroic and rite of passage. In such a culture, to address issues related to trauma is likely to be ineffective since the societal beliefs have suppressed the voice of children to voice their concerns or traumatic experiences. Religious dogma is also a strong challenge that stymies the effort of sensitizing the public since any program or strategy that contradicts the society’s religion is strongly challenged. Some childhood traumas are culturally related and to overcome them counselors need a smart strategic move to win the public perception.
Language barriers and low illiteracy levels also impede efforts to sensitize the public on the dangers of childhood traumas. Counselors are reaching out to primitive cultures to sensitize them encounter among others challenges language barrier. It is also common in such communities they are economically disadvantaged. To run a successful awareness campaign in such communities, require more resources and time to accomplish a simple milestone in their objectives. Bridging the communication barrier and overcoming the illiteracy hurdle to connect with the community and carry out a successful sensitization mission is not only time-consuming but also requires more resources.
Resources are required to carry out a sensitization project. Each project has a budget and requires resources to fund it through to success. Lack of funds has been a big challenge to sensitization of the adverse effects of childhood trauma. The resources for the projects are limited, and the work is largely undone due to the resource limitation. The resources are required for training new counselors and certifying them to be professionals to deal with the challenges that are incessant in many communities. It also funds the campaigns and payments for the personnel running the campaigns. Resources are required to move the personnel from one place to another and provide for their food and accommodation. Counselors also require various equipment to disseminate the information in the most appropriate way and repackaging the information for various groups of people requires tools and equipment. The purchase and maintenance of the tools and equipment require funds and skilled personnel to handle.
Results
Despite efforts to ensure the counselors reach as many societies as possible, the aforementioned challenges have limited them in achieving their goals. The efficacy of counselors’ work is showing a significant reduction in childhood trauma cases. In most westernized countries, there have been reduced cases reported than in third world countries. Communities with low standards of living have a higher probability of childhood trauma cases than more economically stable communities.
The efforts of counselors are yielding positive results through reducing the number of cases of childhood trauma. The effect is directly proportional to the efforts and resources used to sensitize the public. In far-flung areas from urban places, especially in the countryside, childhood trauma cases are still prevalent. Concentrating efforts in the most affected places due to regressive cultural practices and traditions is the key obstacle to increasing sensitization of childhood trauma.
Most counselors are forced to deal with the existing cases of childhood trauma before undertaking awareness campaigns. In most affected areas, the counselors and the teams assigned to create awareness in these areas find themselves having to counsel children with symptoms of psychological stress emanating from previous experiences. Handling such cases affects the mission of creating awareness as much time, and resources go to managing a precarious situation of many children with visible effects of stress rather than educating the community on how to avoid subjecting the children to traumatic experiences.
Resources also limit the teams tasked with creating awareness, and they do not accurately and thoroughly inform and sensitize communities CITATION Ger07 \l 1033 (Monk, Winslade, & Sinclair, 2007). The conditions are worse for third world countries where the communities are economically disadvantaged and cannot afford a decent livelihood for their children....