Fragile Families Give Children Early Setbacks

Children don't choose the families they are born into, the neighborhoods in which they are raised or the policies that govern them. However, each of these influences plays a critical role in determining their future successes and failures. The Urban Child Institute's "2012 Data Book: The State of Children in Memphis and Shelby County" takes a closer look at the relationship between home environments and early childhood development, and the implications for later life outcomes.

The first three years of life are a sensitive period of brain development. It is during this time that the brain grows most dramatically and develops most rapidly. As a result, early experiences have a huge impact on how the brain organizes itself. Family difficulties, whether they are financial, interpersonal or emotional, can affect even the youngest children. In fact, research has identified differing patterns of brain development among young children who are raised in families with inadequate incomes, low parental education and maternal depression, compared with children in lower-risk families.

From birth, children born into fragile families face an uphill battle. Stress and chaos in the home can affect the kind of parenting they receive. Financial hardships, relationship conflict and other types of instability are a drain on parents' emotional resources and can translate into ineffective or harsh parenting styles. Research suggests children raised by parents with high levels of stress receive less affection, sensitivity and responsiveness than their peers. In other words, many parents have less time to touch, talk, read and play with their young children.

Upon school entry, children in such families are more likely to have socio-emotional and behavioral problems and language and cognitive delays. Too often, these deficits persist and ultimately lead to grade retention, suspensions and expulsions, and in some cases, school dropout, juvenile detention and early parenthood.

These patterns are significant for Memphis and Shelby County, where 15 percent of our children are living in poverty, another 15 percent are in dire poverty and 23 percent more live near poverty, in low-income families where just one more financial burden, such as an emergency room visit, can catapult them below the poverty threshold.

Additionally, in Shelby County 14 percent of all babies born are to mothers between the ages of 15 and 19, many of whom have not yet completed high school. Further, data from the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Early Learning (CANDLE) study suggest that a year after giving birth more than 10 percent of new mothers are at risk for depression.

These bleak but familiar statistics show that all of us — parents, professionals and providers of health, child care and social services — have work to do. The good news is that simple things can make a big difference.

The Urban Child Institute is encouraging parents to touch, talk, read and play with their children more often — an initiative based on research that links each of these activities with socio-emotional, behavioral and cognitive advantages at school entry and beyond. The message to parents, grandparents and caregivers is: Turn off the TV — it's not educational — and spend more time each day engaging with your child through cuddling and hugging, positive and affirming talk, reading and storytelling and playing.

It's easy to pass the buck, point the finger and deflect responsibility for the future of our community's children. But the truth is that we Shelby Countians have a linked fate. We can condemn our neighbors, blame other parents or criticize the school system, but at the end of the day it is our children who suffer. If we continue to do nothing but talk about our problems, they will only get worse. It's time now to start talking about solutions.

The Urban Child Institute suggests that we start by getting serious about investing more in children's first three years, when experiences matter the most and society realizes the biggest returns.

Catherine Joyce is director of data at The Urban Child Institute.

This article was originally published by The Commercial Appeal online: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/sep/09/guest-column-time-to-get-serious-about-our/