Impacts on Early Emotional Development

The area of the world I chose to focus on for this assignment was South Asia because it is an area I know very little about and would like to know more.  

I was shocked to discover that in South Asia there are more child marriages than in any other region with many children married before age eighteen.  “Children in India, Nepal and Pakistan may be betrothed or even married well before they are ten years old”.  (unicef.org).  Much of this is stemming from customs and religious practices.  This region also has the greatest number of unregistered births (unicef.org).  Children who are born and not registered are more vulnerable to sexual exploitation and human trafficking, which is also a problem in the area.  

Children marrying before the age of eighteen and as young as ten could have a negative impact on their emotional well being and development. The children are not allowed to grow into adolescence and figure out who they are before arriving at adulthood.  They are thrust into marriage and the responsibilities that come with it before they are ready.  Sexual exploitation and human trafficking are detrimental to children and robs them of their identity and innocence.  

Learning more about children in South Asia made me sad, sick to my stomach, and angry all at once.  Children should never have to deal with those conditions and should have access to environments that will value them and keep them safe.  It also made me grateful to be born into an area and a family that allows children to be protected and stay innocent children as long as possible.  I am thankful to have this new information in case I ever have a child in my classroom from that region.  I am also thankful that I know how to navigate through the Unicef website.  That site will be helpful in the future if I receive new students from another part of the world.

References:

http://www.unicef.org/rosa/protection_5668.htm