I was talking with an acquaintance about childhood in today’s world, compared to a typical childhood of a couple of generations ago. We both came to the conclusion that things were a lot easier back then or, at least it seemed that way. Keep in mind that this conclusion came from two guys who entered the world during the Eisenhower administration, for what that’s worth.
Them the subject of “ACE”s came up. I was not really familiar with the acronym, which stands for “adverse childhood experiences.” In a nutshell, it’s the idea that what happens to children in the first decade or so of their lives continues to impact their physical health for the remainder of their days.
As the word “adverse” suggests, these life experiences can be negative, including emotional abuse or neglect, physical or sexual abuse, substance abuse or mental illness in a child’s household, and parental separation through divorce, death, or an incarceration. ACEs also can be a daily environment filled with poverty, or fear and danger arising from things like drive-by shootings and gang violence.
[For more on this story by Albert B. Kelly, go to https://www.nj.com/opinion/2019/04/children-need-stress-busters-even-more-than-adults-opinion.html]
Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/26812228965
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