From personal experience, I know that parents can become very busy in their daily lives and thus not be able to keep an eye on everything that happens in their children's lives. Being mindful of what’s going on in a
child’s life can make a large difference in the way that a parent or other
family member treats that family member. Things that happen at school such as
bad test grades or bullying can carry back home to a family and have negative
effects. The child can become distant, they can lash out in aggression, or in a
worst case scenario a child could self-harm. In a report done in Finland, there
was a study done on the factors that cause adolescents to self-harm. Some of
these factors were whether or not their parents were together, whether they had
a poor relationship with their parents, or if they had a poor relationship with
their siblings. The final conclusion drawn from this study was that two-parent
households where there is a poor relationship with the parents and siblings had
the highest prevalence of self-harm (Hintikka 2009).
Hintikka Jukka, et al. “The
Prevalence Of Self-Cutting And Other Self-Harm Among 13- To 18-Year-Old Finnish Adolescents.” Social Psychiatry &
Psychiatric Epidemiology 44.1
.2009): 23-28. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.
I definitely know this scenario very well. Growing up, my mother was not a part of my life that much as she worked every day. Because of that, I never picked up my native language. My father was working too, but he was never involved in my life in an emotional way. Due to cultural differences, language barrier, and age gap, I feel as though my parents were not able to connect much into my life as I would have liked them to be.
ReplyDeleteI am sure that many individuals across the land have thought of or acted upon self-harm. The lack of parental involvement in one's life can certainly play a part in such course of actions. Even with a strong support system such as family or parental guidance, it is never a guarantee that there would not be problems in a home or struggle in an adolescent's life.
I noticed there is no title for this article but would have loved if you elaborated more on this material. It definitely hits home. You can definitely take this post in many directions.
I'd like to hear more about your personal story with this topic. Since I have spoken with you in person before, I know that you hold a lot of responsibilities as being the oldest and taking care of your younger siblings. What are your thoughts and experience in these subjects you're covering?