Stressors

My husband grew up in poverty where they moved around a lot and had very little to eat. His mom was a single parent just trying to get by. His dad was an alcoholic, who lived on unemployment and paid the lowest of lows of child support. He said that his coping measure was to be a child who could help out as much as possible. He learned how to fix cars and how to make that car last way longer than anyone would think of doing. Another coping measure he used quietness. He went from being the boy who wanted to make everyone laugh to a boy who became very quiet and didn’t make any new friends. He knew that he probably wouldn’t see the people again after school was over, and his thoughts were that it wasn’t worth it to get attached to something just to have it taken away. The support system that he had was his family. His grandparents would watch him and his sister during the summer and they would go to their other grandparent’s house to be watched in the early mornings so that their mom could go to work.

The county that I wanted to know more about in this area was Ireland. I am part Irish and have always been curious about my heritage. Some of the stressors that children face are; political violence, illness, isolation, and poverty. The political violence that is going on in Northern Ireland is due to the fighting of the Protestants and the Roman Catholics.

Ireland came up with the Convention on the Rights of the Child which is the most popular human rights treaty. It involves civil rights, family environment, health and welfare, education, and much more. Ireland also has Children Protective Services to help and provide support for the children in need.