My English

Language
School-Based
Assessment
Portfolio
Name: Shevanere
Fray
Candidate # :
1001190510
School: Tarrant
High School
Theme: Child Abuse Centre #: 100119
Topic: The Effects of Neglect on Children
Teacher: Ms. D.
Wright  

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 Table of Contents

Title. Page

Acknowledgement 1

Title Page 2

Plan of Investigation 3

Source 1 4-5

Source 2 6-7

Source 3 8-9

Reflection 1 10-12

Reflection 2 13

Reflection 3 14

Written Report 15-16

Plan of Oral Presentation 17

References 18

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 Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my fellow group mates for helping me with this School-Based Assessment

project and for teaching me how to interact and work with others.

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 Title Page

Theme: Child Abuse

Topic: The Effects of Neglect on Children

Regina Francis: The Effects of Sexual Abuse on Children

Chris-Ann Cole: “The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children and Young Teenagers.”

Anthony Ennis: The Impacts of Child Labour on Children

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 Plan of Investigation

My team members and I chose to look at the theme, ‘Child Abuse’ and I decided to conduct my

research on the topic, ‘The Effects of Neglect on Children’. The reason I am interested in this

topic is because I have experienced parental neglect to some extent and have seen firsthand some

of my peers having a similar experience with their parents and/or guardians. Although I do not

believe that the neglect I experience is deliberate, it does not make it feel any better when my

parents ignore me, my feelings and opinions.

As a student of English, this project will help me to practice and improve my English Language

skills and so I believe when it is all done, I will be better able to identify main ideas in writing,

use words accurately and better analyze complex materials.

In order to select my articles, I will search internet sites, books, magazines and old newspapers

until I find at least one video and two articles which will help me to get more information on my

topic.

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 Source 1

The Long-Term Impact of Neglectful Parents

The lifelong effects of childhood neglect.
Karyl McBride, Ph.D.,
Posted Aug 21, 2017
Source: JPagetRFPhotos/Shutterstock
way, the child grows up wondering about their own self-worth and value.
If you were emotionally or physically
neglected as a child, it can be a difficult
journey to healing. Neglect can be a hard
thing to put your finger on, especially
emotional neglect. Neglected children often
don’t realize they are being neglected at the
time, and can internalize the pain and
loneliness and think it is their fault. They are
often told they are “too sensitive” or
“selfish” if they try to get their needs met.
Parents with little empathy often neglect
their children and don’t even realize it, while
there are also parents who don’t care. Either
   

Traumatic experiences like abuse and neglect have an adverse effect on children’s brain
development. As the child matures, the developing brain changes in response to the child’s
environment. Bruce Perry, an authority on brain development and children in crisis, has done
pioneering research in this arena. His research shows that a child’s brain develops in sequence,
just like other aspects of physical development. Perry says that the sensitive brain of an infant or
young child is malleable. Powerful experiences alter the functioning of an adult brain, but for
children, especially young children, traumatic events may change its very framework. Studies
and clinical experience also show that childhood abuse and neglect can impact a child’s
emotional development. In my practice, I see adult clients who were neglected, and most have
symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and significant trauma to resolve. If there was a lack
of emotional attachment in childhood, this also affects relationships later in life and can make it
difficult to trust others. Fear is often expressed and felt without always understanding why.    

Young children naturally have a playful and curious spirit about them. Sometimes it is fun to just
watch them innocently explore the world around them. But if children are not properly attended
to, validated, treasured, and loved, this spirit can be squashed and damaged. Many times, parents
who are neglectful also use shame and humiliation when the child attempts to get their love and
approval. The child may eventually stop trying, and the loneliness that follows may actually be
easier to deal with than shame, humiliation, or neglect. The late Swiss psychologist Alice Miller
made this important point when she said, “We don’t yet know, above all, what the world might
be like if children were to grow up without being subjected to humiliation, if parents would
respect them and take them seriously as people.”

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We’ve all had the experience of seeing children mistreated in public. It’s hard to watch without
wanting to interfere and protect. But now with social media and internet access, we are certainly
seeing more shaming of children in the public eye. Facebook, YouTube, and other social media
displays of treating children badly are seen far too often. Using authoritarian parenting and
shaming children into submission might be the easiest way to parent, but it's also the most
damaging. Ignoring or neglecting a child’s needs can create many symptoms and ultimately
mental health problems, which then can affect the rest of his or her life. How, for example, can a
child grow up knowing how to provide empathy and nurturing if they were never taught? If
children are loved and treated well, they don’t grow up wanting to hurt others; they grow up
wanting to help and respect others, and with the ability to provide empathy.

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 Source 2
7 Signs You Grew Up With Childhood Emotional Neglect
By Jonice Webb PhD
Last updated: 15 Jul 2018

Childhood Emotional Neglect is both simple in its definition and powerful in its effects. It
happens when your parents fail to respond enough to your emotional needs while they’re raising
you.
Emotional Neglect is an invisible, unmemorable childhood experience. Yet unbeknownst to you,
it can hang over you like a cloud, coloring your entire adult life.

What makes Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN) invisible and unmemorable? Several
important factors. First, it can happen in otherwise loving, caring families that lack for nothing
materially. Second, your parents’ failure to respond is not something that happens to you as a
child. Instead, it’s something that fails to happen for you as a child. Our eyes don’t see the things
that fail to happen. And so our brains can’t record them. Decades later, an adult, you sense that
something is not right, but you don’t know what it is. You may look at your childhood for
answers, but you cannot see the invisible. So you are left to assume that something is innately
wrong with you. “Whatever is wrong, it’s my own fault,” you secretly believe. “I’m different
from other people. Something is missing. I’m flawed.” Yet it’s not your fault. There are answers.
And once you understand the problem, you can heal.

7 Signs You Grew Up with Childhood Emotional Neglect

1. Feelings of emptiness.
Emptiness feels different for different people. For some, it’s an empty feeling in their belly, chest
or throat that comes and goes. For others, it’s a numbness.
2. Fear of being dependent.
It’s one thing to be an independent kind of person. But feeling deeply uncomfortable about
depending on anyone is another thing altogether. If you find yourself taking great care to not
need help, support or care from others, you may have this fear.
3. Unrealistic self-appraisal.
Do you find it hard to know what you are capable of? What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What do you like? What do you want? What matters to you? Struggling to answer these
questions is a sign that you don’t know yourself as well as you should.
4. No compassion for yourself, plenty for others.
Are you harder on yourself than you would ever be on a friend? Do others talk to you about their
problems, but it’s hard for you to share yours?
5. Guilt, shame, self-directed anger, and blame.
Guilt, shame, anger, and blame; The Fabulous Four, all directed at yourself. Some people have a
tendency to go straight to guilt and shame whenever a negative event happens in their lives. Do
you feel ashamed of things that most people would never be ashamed of? Like having needs,
making mistakes, or having feelings?

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 6. Feeling fatally flawed.
This is that deep sense I talked about above. You know that something is wrong in your life, but
you can’t pinpoint what it is. “It’s me,” you say to yourself, and you feel that it is true. “I’m not
likable,” “I’m different than other people.” “Something is wrong with me.”

7. Difficulty feeling, identifying, managing and/or expressing emotions.

Do you get tongue-tied when you’re upset? Have a limited vocabulary of emotion words? Often
feel confused about why people (including yourself) feel or act the way they do?
Parents who under-notice, undervalue or under-respond to their child’s emotions inadvertently
convey a powerful, subliminal message to the child: Your feelings don’t matter.

To cope as a child, you naturally push your emotions down, to keep them from becoming a
“problem” in your childhood home. Then, as an adult, you are living without enough access to
your emotions: your emotions, which should be directing, guiding, informing, connecting and
enriching you; your emotions, which should be telling you who matters to you and what matters
to you, and why. And now for the excellent news of the day. It’s not too late for you.
Once you understand the reason for your forever “flaw,” and how it came about, you can heal
from your Childhood Emotional Neglect by attacking it. You can establish a new pipeline to
your emotions. You can learn the skills to use them. You can finally accept that your feelings are
real, and they matter. You can finally see that you matter. You can take on your Childhood
Emotional Neglect, and your life will change.

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 Source 3

Neglect

Writer: Centre on the Developing Child; Harvard University

Website: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/deep-dives/neglect/

Ensuring that young children have safe, secure environments in which to grow and learn creates
a strong foundation for both their futures and a thriving, prosperous society. Science shows that
early exposure to maltreatment or neglect can disrupt healthy development and have lifelong
consequences. When adult responses to children are unreliable, inappropriate, or simply absent,
developing brain circuits can be disrupted, affecting how children learn, solve problems, and
relate to others.

The absence of responsive relationships poses a serious threat to a child’s development and
well-being. Sensing threat activates biological stress response systems, and excessive activation
of those systems can have a toxic effect on developing brain circuitry. When the lack of
responsiveness persists, the adverse effects of toxic stress can compound the lost opportunities
for development associated with limited or ineffective interaction. This complex impact of
neglect on the developing brain underscores why it is so harmful in the earliest years of life. It
also demonstrates why effective early interventions are likely to pay significant dividends in
better long-term outcomes in educational achievement, lifelong health, and successful parenting
of the next generation.

Chronic neglect is
associated with a wider
range of damage than
active abuse, but it receives
less attention in policy and
practice. In the U.S., neglect
accounts for 78% of all child
maltreatment cases, far more
than physical abuse (17%),
sexual abuse (9%), and
psychological abuse (8%)
combined.

Science tells us that young

children who experience
significantly limited
caregiver responsiveness may
sustain a range of adverse physical and mental health consequences that actually produce more
widespread developmental impairments than overt physical abuse. These can include cognitive
delays, stunting of physical growth, impairments in executive function and self-regulation skills,
and disruptions of the body’s stress response. With more than a half million documented cases in
the U.S. in 2010 alone, neglect accounts for 78% of all child maltreatment cases nationwide, far

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more than physical abuse (17%), sexual abuse (9%), and psychological abuse (8%) combined.
Despite these compelling findings, child neglect receives far less public attention than either
physical abuse or sexual exploitation and a lower proportion of mental health services.
Each state defines the types of child abuse and neglect in its own statute and policy, guided by
federal standards, and
establishes the level of
evidence needed to
substantiate a report of
maltreatment. The data above,
from the National Child
Abuse and Neglect Data
System (NCANDS), reflects
the total number of victims
(defined as a child for whom
the state determined at least
one report of maltreatment
was found to be substantiated
or indicated) as reported by all
50 states, the District of
Columbia, and Puerto Rico, between Oct. 1, 2009, and Sept. 30, 2010. “Other” includes
abandonment, threats of harm, and drug addiction. Click image for full-size, shareable version.

Studies on children in a variety of settings show that severe deprivation or neglect:

 Disrupts the ways in which children’s brains develop and process information, increasing
the risk for attentional, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral disorders.
 Alters the development of biological stress-response systems, leading to greater risk for
anxiety, depression, cardiovascular problems, and other chronic health impairments later
in life.
 Correlates with significant risk for emotional and interpersonal difficulties, including
high levels of negativity, poor impulse control, and personality disorders, as well as low
levels of enthusiasm, confidence, and assertiveness.
 Is associated with significant risk for learning difficulties and poor school achievement,
including deficits in executive function and attention regulation, low IQ scores, poor
reading skills, and low rates of high school graduation.

The negative consequences of deprivation and neglect can be reversed or reduced through
appropriate and timely interventions, but merely removing a young child from an insufficiently
responsive environment does not guarantee positive outcomes. Children who experience severe
deprivation typically need therapeutic intervention and highly supportive care to mitigate the
adverse effects and facilitate recovery.

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 Reflection 1

I am conducting my research into the topic, ‘The Effects of Neglect on Children’ and after

having searched many sources, I managed to locate three online articles which shed light into the

issue. The general information I have gathered from all three pieces is that neglect is the most

common form of child abuse; however, it is not easily picked up on and society does not pay

much attention to it. As a result, not many social policies are in place to prevent it from

happening. In addition to this, all three authors outlined that the effects of childhood neglect are

lasting and will most likely impact the individual during their adult years. However, they all

agreed that with early and proper intervention these issues can be resolved.

All three articles present the same general information which is that when children are neglected

it adversely affects the development of their brains, altering the way they process information

and therefore, negatively affect their emotional, mental and psychological growth and

development. The first of my resource information is an article written by Karyl McBride, Ph. D

(2017) entitled, ‘The Long-Term Impact of Neglectful Parents: The Lifelong Effects of

Childhood Neglect’ and she argues that children may not necessarily understand that they are

being neglected by their parents or caregiver and may instead blame themselves for the

experience and that this may affect their emotional development. Consequently, they start to

have low-self-esteem and value, fear to express their true feelings as they fear the humiliation it

may cause and so they are left lonely and isolated. She said kids who suffered neglect usually

experience post-traumatic stress disorder during adulthood and are generally, usually unable to

have good adult relationships because they find it hard to trust others and live their lives in fear.

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Similarly, the online journal entitled, ‘Neglect’ that was retrieved from the website of Harvard

University argues that when adults fail to respond to children appropriately and reliably or when

they fail to be physical available for them, this disrupts the way a child’s brain circuits develop.

These experts explained that once this happens, the child begins to experience a bunch of

problems which includes increased risks for attentional, emotional, cognitive and behavioural

disorders; a change in the development of biological stress-response systems putting the child at

greater risk for anxiety, depression, cardiovascular problems and other health issues during

adulthood; greater risks for emotional and interpersonal challenges to include negativity, poor

impulse control, personality disorders and a genera lacking of enthusiasm, self-confidence and

assertiveness and finally learning challenges such as attention deficit disorder, low IQ levels,

poor reading skill and an overall low academic performance.

My final resource, the article entitled, ‘7 Signs You Grew Up With Childhood Emotional

Neglect’ and written by Jonice Webb Ph. D (2018) proposes similar arguments to those

presented by the experts at Harvard and McBride. Webb said that neglected children usually

become troubled adults. Children who experience maltreatment or neglect become someone who

feels empty from time to time and have fears of being dependent, so they will more than likely

push themselves to work harder than before so they wont would not feel the need to ask someone

anyone for anything. They also become unrealistic (self appraisal) ??? and also very much aware

of what they are capable of doing. McBride Webb also stated that they will also feel compassion

for themselves while others may feel guilty and blame themselves for everything that has

happened. Others may become fatally flawed that make them listen or imagine fake reality.

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They will also face problems of expressing themselves; so, whenever they go anywhere they just

go with the flow and live a very private life without sharing how he/she may feel.

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 Reflection 2

I selected the above three pieces of resource information because I believe that these writers

successfully examine my topic and the pieces provided me with the answers to the questions I

have in my mind about my topic. All three pieces were written in prose, are expository writing

and use formal language and so; hence, Standard English is seen throughout all three pieces.

However, I found the article by Webb to be the easiest to read and understand and I believe this

was because of the way she itemized her information using bullets and the fact that the

vocabulary she used was at my level.

The other two pieces were a bit more challenging as the vocabulary and sentence structures were

more complex. Because of this, I had to research several words which I was not familiar with

and this often timesoften interrupted the flow of the information and I had to start reading over.

Due to this, I do not believe that I fall into the targeted audience for these two pieces which

appear more like scholarly articles which was intended for people with an advance vocabulary

and educational level. Unlike Webb, McBride and Harvard University used statistics, diagrams,

researched evidence, survey data and quotations to present their information and this suggests to

me that they did some major research while writing their pieces. Due to this, I found them to be

more trustworthy sources. Finally, the tone in all three pieces was formal and stern and I believe

this was because of the serious nature of the subject being discussed.

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 Reflection 3

From this School-Based Assessment, in aspects of education, I have learnt to pay attention to my

English Language skills when I am writing. Some of these skills have developed such as:

identifying main ideas, accurate use of words and also my ability to identify and criticize writer’s

technique. I have also learnt on the importance of using accurate information when conducting a

research and (how if not,) ??can affect the entire research drastically. Learning about neglect has

taught me that I must not judge anymore because they (they who?) could be going through a lot

but doesn’t show or share it with others.

Working with others was another task. I had to learn how to be patient and alsoand to develop

ways of settling disagreements which may arise in the group. Settling these disagreements

enables more cooperation among the members of the group and leads to more work being done.

Doing this School Based Assessment and working with others in a group had taught me how to

interact with them others and how to handle situations around people. Being around others has

taught me how to interact well with my group members. As it relates to time management, I have

developed time management skills which were greatly needed to complete this School Based

Assessment while balancing my other duties. I had to schedule appropriate time to work on this

School Based Assessment and also for group interaction. (This was obviously done in a rush and

it shows; you write well so what happened with this reflection?

This School Based Assessment allowed me to improve my vocabulary, taught me the proper way

of selecting sources and also developing developed my writing skills.

Written Report

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The cliché says that ‘Children are the Future’, a truth that is known throughout the world and in

all generations. It is for this reason that we decided as a group to look at the theme, ‘Child

Abuse’ as this allows us the opportunity to examine some of the issues that are affecting

children, especially since we are still kids ourselves and are among those being affected by these

issues. Under our theme, the topics explored are: “The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children

and Young Teenagers”, ‘The Effects of Sexual Abuse on Children’ The Impacts of Child Labour

on Children and ‘The Effects of Neglect on Children’. It took a collaborative effort for us to

successfully complete this SBA and so the process involved several group deliberations, research

and methodical use of the writing process, which saw each member taking our turns in writing,

vetting and proofing reports and reflections .

Once we all settled on the reference materials we each would use in our individual research, we

had a group meeting and during this, members were allowed to present their findings on the

theme with respect to their topics of interest. Once through, we deliberated to determine what

other aspects of the theme we could explore to improve our knowledge on the issues affecting

children. We eventually found that the most prominent concern among us was whether or not

abused children can recover from the trauma of the abuse they suffer and go on to lead

productive adult lives. Following this, we carried out a group review of all the resource articles

and decided on three which we agree gave the most insight into our group research. Hence, the

online articles, “Trauma: Childhood Sexual Abuse.” (Babbel, 2013), “Effects of Domestic.”

(U.S Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.), and “Neglect.” (Centre on the

Developing Child; Harvard University, n.d.) were selected.

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Once we settled on the reference material, each member took turns to read through each article

while making notes of pertinent information and the authors’ unique styles, register and tones.

Each member then made suggestions as to what information to include in this report. The first

draft was prepared, and each member again took turns to vet and proofread for grammatical

errors. In addressing our concerns, the information in these articles reveals that abused children

can in fact recover from the trauma they suffer from childhood abuse. All three articles posit that

with timely intervention can mitigate the adverse effects of any form of child abuse. All three

articles indicate that critical counselling, therapeutic intervention and a strong support system

can help child abuse victims recover fully from any form of traumatic childhood experience.

As we interacted with the three reference materials, we observed that the three articles are very

similar in style, register and tone. The language and tone in each was formal and serious making

them appropriate for the subject matter being discussed. Certain jargons related to the field of

human psychology were common in all three and so we frequently came across terms like

‘anxiety’ and ‘depression’, which are typical effects of child abuse. Overall, we found that the

authors’ language selection was very effective in communicating their messages in each

expository piece.

Finally, although we all approached the theme from a different perspective, based on the form of

child abuse explored, what was clear during our meeting is our shared concerns about the

wellbeing of children, an age group of which we are a part. From the selected articles we realize

that there is still some hope left for abused children to recover and live as normal adults. This

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process also taught us to appreciate the benefits of teamwork and the uniqueness of our language

styles.

Plan of Oral Presentation

GENRE: Speech

JUSTIFICATION: It is my belief that an informational speech is the most appropriate mode for
sharing my findings on my topic with others.

PERSONAL INSPIRATION: My interest in the theme of ‘Child Abuse’ and ‘Child Neglect”
has to do with the fact that many parents, to include mine, sometimes forget that as children we
need their personal attention – time to converse and play games. Many persons forget that
neglect is also a form of abuse.

LITERARY INSPIRATION: In doing my research, I selected the following articles for

reference material because I believe the writers provided critical information that was useful for
my research and which helped to shaped my opinion on the research topic.

1. McBride, K. (August 21, 2017). The Long-Term Impact of Neglectful Parents. Psychology
Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-legacy-distorted-love/201708/the-
long-term-impact-neglectful-parents

2. Webb, J. (July 15, 2018). 7 Signs You Grew up with Childhood Emotional Neglect.
PsychCentral. https://blogs.psychcentral.com/childhood-neglect/2017/07/7-signs-you-grew-
up-with-childhood-emotional-neglect/

3. Centre on the Developing Child, Harvard University. “Neglect”. (n.d.).

https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/deep-dives/neglect/

LANGUAGE USED: The language that will be used throughout my presentation will be formal
and so my speech will be done mostly in Standard Jamaican English. The final portion of my

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speech will be an emotional appeal for persons to be more aware of children who are suffering
from neglect and be mindful of the; hence, there will be emotive language.

SUMMARY: My speech is written with the intention to bring some awareness to the trauma of
being neglected by your loved ones and how it can impact a child’s life.

References

1. McBride, K. (August 21, 2017). The Long-Term Impact of Neglectful Parents. Psychology
Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-legacy-distorted-love/201708/the-
long-term-impact-neglectful-parents

2. Webb, J. (July 15, 2018). 7 Signs You Grew up with Childhood Emotional Neglect.
PsychCentral. https://blogs.psychcentral.com/childhood-neglect/2017/07/7-signs-you-grew-
up-with-childhood-emotional-neglect/

3. Centre on the Developing Child, Harvard University. “Neglect”. (n.d.).

https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/deep-dives/neglect/

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Shevanere
Anthony
Regina Ennis
Fray
Francis

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