"Early child development can make Memphis sustainable and economically powerful," said Dr. Hank Herrod, a fellow with The Urban Child Institute and former dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center to members of the Leadership Academy.
Each year, April is observed as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. As an advocate for children, I feel compelled to join Memphis' many caring child advocates in urging you to reach out to an at-risk young child in your community. Consider devoting a few hours each week to the welfare of those children who are the most vulnerable to adversity.
About 9,000 newborn infants are receiving intensive care in the U.S. today, and many will be exposed to medical procedures that cause pain, such as needle sticks and circumcisions. Babies often receive less pain-relieving medicine before invasive procedures or after surgery than adults do. An inflammatory response lasting from hours to days will follow, leading to increased pain sensitivity around the damaged tissue. In the past, this also went untreated, primarily due to the mistaken belief that 'babies don't perceive or remember painful experiences.'
Poverty. Infant mortality. Homelessness. High dropout rates in our schools. I often hear, 'I want to help, but I don't know if what I can do will really make a difference in Memphis. ' My heart, as well as my years of experience in social services, tells me that people are indeed making a difference. Moreover, the various efforts already in place can be taken to scale to better serve at-risk children, families and communities in our city, if we do the right things.
Persistent emotional difficulties can make effective parenting hard, and cause long-lasting problems for a child's brain development. We all face stress at some point in our lives. Job pressures, health problems and relationship difficulties are only a few of the stress-producing circumstances that affect most of us at one time or another.