Project

1. In the past, the concept of childhood was short and limited to a certain age. With every
passing year, children were expected to grow twice their age considering them as almost an
“imperfect adult”. Chaffin (2006) states that “Throughout history children have been
raised, in ways ranging from nurturing to indifferent to savage” (p. 663). With passing time
and growing awareness towards social issues, the term “childhood” has been broadened to
be the age till puberty and in some parts of the world till the age of 18. The main cause for
this change was the unnecessary trauma caused to children making them age quicker
effecting their personality negatively. Prior, children were exposed to numerous serious
adult issues which not only left mental scars on their minds but also normalized toxic
practices. This led to potential abusers being formed. Children were powerless within the
society added the fact that their mental understanding was underdeveloped making them
vulnerable to any sort of attitude towards them. With the practices being normalized,
maltreatment and abuse was inevitable. As time progressed and practices changed, people
were more considerate to preserve the childhood of children and therefore inflicting
positive influences on their personalities. Although the change was slow, it proved to be
beneficial transforming from insensitive and unethical practices to human valuing
practices.

2. The perception of people regarding matters like marriage and grooming were rather violent
and forced up till the 1900s. Unfortunately, child marriage was the fate of many children all
around the world. Main reasons for child marriages were poverty, shifting responsibility
onto others and continuing the lineage. At the time there was little awareness regarding the
issues faced by child marriages which not only affected the young women but also the
children. These were not only limited to health issues but also put a halt to the education of
the children. Disobedience led to intense punishments and strict curfews. The children were
limited to certain things that they were allowed to do therefore restricting their growth.
Their opportunities were limited in every field of life and their perspective on life was not
their own but was passed down by their guardians. Certain punishments that were
practiced are now considered as abuse and is illegal. Children were beat till they were
scared out of their skins. Women were in constant fear of losing the little freedom they had.
It would be insufficient to say that children were subjected to toxic practices that not only
inflicted physical but also mental harm. As of now, people are aware of the consequences
such actions have and therefore avoid such practices. Although child marriages and abuse
are still existent in some parts of the world, masses have learnt that children too have rights
that are supposed to be abided by.

3. As child marriages go against the laws of nature, it brings about certain congenital diseases
that have life changing effects on people. These are caused by the genetic modification at the
time of fertilization. These diseases include Down syndrome, cerebral palsy etc. These have
ever longing affects on the child making them differently abled and challenged at every
single stage of their life. Starting from birth, congenital diseases make the chances of
survival of a new born decrease by a lot causing complications throughout their life. They
cause learning issues and slowed growth. Sometimes, children experience symptoms like
dwarfism, blindness and even deafness. Their speech is slurred and they take time in
 understanding and learning things making them subject to different challenges throughout
their life. Difficulties apart, they experience ridicule by their peers causing them to have self
esteem problems and results in them being underconfident. These things don’t end till a
certain age but haunt the person till death. The children are subject to numerous
treatments and doctor visits throughout their life and such diseases reduce the lifespan of
the individual (Charles, 2010). The greater effect of the diseases is on the intellectual
development of the children. Their social interaction with the world is greatly compromised
as they always feel conscious of their existence. Their thinking skills, communication skills
and memory are greatly impacted making them harder to teach therefore effecting their
education.

4. It is important to reinforce healthy practices on every stage of a child’s life to make them
realize the importance of health. To do so, it is important to get the message across to the
parents. It is important to conduct workshops for new parents in order to educate them
with innovative and effective ways to train and groom their children. It is important to
build both their gross motor skills as well as fine motor skills. However, the first step is to
build the gross motor skills and to make the process interesting, such activities should be
incorporated within the daily life so that children do them involuntarily. Children should be
taught the difference between healthy and unhealthy practices using games, activities and
stories. In the past, there was little to no concept of health promotion rather people would
force healthy practices. This not only caused resentment among the children but also
yielded in short term application in daily life. People now educate children by different
practices that not only make the interaction interesting but also effective. Older children
are enrolled in seminars and workshops in which they are introduced to different specialists
that help them to realize healthy practices by stating facts rather than imposing things onto
them. It can be concluded that prior, people usually used norms to justify actions however
now people choose to put forth facts and then conclude why they choose to do certain
things. The practice carried out in today’s world is more effective as it invokes the critical
thinking ability of the child making them realize the importance of certain actions. This is
not only more effective but also ensure long term effects.

5. Unintentional injuries are usually considered as the injuries inflicted without intent. They
include:

 Falls
 Motor vehicle collisions
 Drowning
 Fires
 Overdoses
Teenagers and children often in spite of peers tend to forget safety rules and go about
doing dangerous actions that lead to disastrous outcomes. Most of the causes mentioned
above are by products of peer competition and adrenaline. It is important to identify
early signs of these things so that they can be prevented through proper counselling.
One example given by WHO is of Juan. He had fallen into a water well while retrieving
a toy. This is an example of a fall. It is important to educate children to ask adults for
help when faced with undesirable circumstances. Children should be taught to stay
 away from water bodies without adult supervision. Another example was of Deana, a
17-year-old. She was speeding on a heavily trafficked road when she was hit by a bus
(Branchae, 2008). The injuries caused by the accident caused her to pass away.
Teenagers often tend to forgo the circumstances they would have to face while
committing certain actions. They should be taught to always follow traffic rules no
matter what circumstance. Teenagers should not be allowed to drive under the age of 18
and without a license. Traffic rules should always be reminded and they should not be
allowed to drive alone at night until necessary.

References

Chaffin M (2006) The changing focus of child maltreatment research and practice within
psychology. J Soc Issues 62(4), 663–684
Charles S. T. (2010). Strength and vulnerability integration (SAVI): A model of emotional well-
being across adulthood. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 1068–1091
Branche, C., Ozanne-Smith, J., Oyebite, K., & Hyder, A. A. (2008). World report on child injury
prevention.