by Gabrielle Garson

As children grow, they are exposed to many factors that play a part in their development; whether negatively or positively. For this research I chose to specifically look at children’s health and well-being and what factors can contribute to their development of resilience or pose a risk.

 There are many different factors that can contribute positively to a child’s development such as having a happy and safe family environment. This can assist the child in becoming more confident, building social skills, and boosting self-esteem. Having an enriching home environment can also help foster healthy growth and brain development by providing the child with love emotional support and the confidence to learn and engage in self-guided exploration. Another way in which the development of health and well-being can be positively influenced is by having persons in the child’s life display and teach them healthy relationships and bonds. By doing this, the child will be taught and encouraged to form meaningful and healthy relationships and friendships which will benefit them greatly later in life.

However just as easily as we can promote resilience, we can also expose the child to situations and factors that could put them at risk. Some ways in which this happens is by having the child exposed to economic and financial hardships. This can lead to various issues not only emotionally but physically as well. When a child cannot be provided for economically this can lead to insecurities and low self-esteem. Also, the stresses that the parents might be dealing with could unintentionally impact the child in a negative way, stemming feelings of insecurity. Poor economic conditions can also impact the child’s physical health and well-being if they are not getting an adequate amount of food or other essential vitamins and supplies. Which can lead to food insecurity and malnutrition.

As I read about the various problems that children faced, I came up with a possible solution.  My idea to assist in lessening the impact that poverty has on child development is to start a school lunch program called “Everyone Eats”. I am aware that there are some countries that have a free school lunch system for children that cannot afford it however, these programs normally require a lot of invasive and sometimes embarrassing information and the process to be approved is tedious. In the Everyone Eats program the aim would be to simplify the process and prevent any shame associated with signing up to participate in the program. It would also aim to provide meals that are not substandard and provide the students with options instead of having one meal choice, to accommodate students who are vegetarian or have other dietary restrictions. The budget for this would come partly from the government, donations, and school fundraisers. I do understand that this program would take some time to refine and establish but I do think that a program like this one should be mandatory in all public schools so that no child is left out or has to face hunger at school.