Consequences of Stress on Children

As a child, I was exposed to a great deal of domestic violence.  My father, who is bipolar and a maniac depressant, would come home from work and take his daily frustrations out on my mother and myself.  There were days that I was afraid to go to school, fearing that my mom would not be there when I got home or worse, that something terrible had happened to her.  I was by no means a perfect child, I tried my parents and pushed the boundaries just as any child would do, except the consequences for my actions would be harsher that most would ever know.  My teachers never suspected or at least they never said anything about it; I think this led my father to feel like he had gotten away with it.  I took the blame for things that I did not even do many times to keep my sisters and my mom from having to deal with the abuse that would always follow.  I coped with the stress by making school my social outlet; I stayed in trouble in middle and high school because I was bored with the work and I talked way too much.  I also found that music and poetry were great outlets for the emotions that I had to deal with. 
     I researched how children in Afghanistan are affected by war in their country because war is an ugly form of violence.  The children their are scarred deeply by the daily attacks that they see and the stressful environment in which they live.  Many children there have psychological issues because they have been forced to grow up with no family or they themselves are victims of things like blasts that don't kill them ,but that permanently disfigures them.  Many of the children have no "daily routine" other than trying to stay alive.  My thoughts would be that the children from this country and others where war is a constant issue experience severe set backs in all areas of their development.  If you have parents who are concerned with their safety as well as yours on a day to day basis, that does not leave much time for the bonding and the learning that should take place.  Attempts are being made by the country to develop a program that will focus on keeping women and children safe so that they will have the necessary tools to develop into productive members of their society.

References
Zulfiqar,Bhutta. (2002). Children of war: the real casualties of the Afghan conflict. BMJ. 2002 February 9; 324(7333): 349–352. Retrieved September 26, 2011.