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FREW Consultants Group        
Monday, November 19 2018

 

A recent publication from the New York Academy of Science (2017) has examined the literature that reviews the connection between socioeconomic disadvantage and the development of attention, learning, and resilience.  They considered the evidence of over a century particularly with tests that measured cognitive functions, language development, and attention and this has shown a difference between children of low and high socioeconomic status (SES).   The children from families with high SES consistently scored better than those from underprivileged families.

Studies in neuroscience also identify the link between the stress related to poverty and the neurological development of these children's cognitive landscape particularly in the limbic system, that area that modulates reactions to threats, the formation of memories and access to the executive functions of the brain, the prefrontal, and frontal cortex.

The following characteristics of a low SES community that create these adverse conditions are:

1.Chaotic Environment

Growing up in poverty has commonly been associated with conditions that trigger elevated even chronic levels of stress.  Low SES families are more likely to live in chaotic households where living arrangements are haphazard; the home discipline is unpredictable, there is a lack of routine and access to healthy diets.

Research has shown increased levels of stress-related chemicals associated with the physiological adaption of the body in response to threat including surges in the erosive chemicals catecholamine and cortisol.  Continued exposure of these conditions increases the size of the amygdala, which makes the child vulnerable to stress and reductions in other significant parts of the brain including the hippocampus, the frontal lobes, the corpus colossus and the cerebellum.

2. Social Isolation and Deprivation

Children from low SES have fewer or even lack social interactions.  They are less likely to attend preschool and miss that important opportunity to develop the skills to relate to their peers.  This social isolation has been strongly associated with long-term health issues such as cardiovascular problems and sleep deprivation.

3. Maltreatment

Experiencing abuse in childhood can occur in all SES but research shows that abuse is much more likely to occur in the low SES areas.  This variance indicates that the SES of the neighborhood can explain 10% of the child’s health and adolescent outcomes.

The Gonski Review revealed that schools in low SES areas reflect the conditions of neglect in these homes.  These schools, despite herculean efforts of the teachers are often chaotic because of the characteristics of the children who attend.  The accompanying lack of resources because of government neglect and the absence of wealthy P&C’s exacerbates efforts to improve conditions. There is a further concentration of these undesirable conditions through the exodus of children from higher SES households who send their children from the local school to either private schools or the ‘so-called' selective school, many of which are no more than a weak excuse from the government sector to combat the drift to the private sector.

However, this exposure to adversity does not condemn a child.  Some do acquire a natural resilience that helps their development, but for others it is only through the experience of social cohesion and supportive relationships found at school that children can ameliorate the potential damage carried out in their home.

It is in the schools where the healing can take place, and it is up to society to provide the resources for schools that 'service' these areas.  The real cost of continually ignoring the needs of these communities comes later when society is forced to deal with the unemployment, the mental health issues, the addictions and the continuation of the poverty spiral.

The rewards for effort in this area is not only for the children but also the long-term health and wealth of our society.

Posted by: AT 04:55 pm   |  Permalink   |  0 Comments  |  Email
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PRINCIPALS

John R Frew
Marcia J Vallance


ABN 64 372 518 772

ABOUT

The principals of the company have had long careers in education with a combined total of eighty-one years service.  After starting as mainstream teachers they both moved into careers in providing support for students with severe behaviours.

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