- JFCS in the Media
Parenting on the Peninsula
by Karen Vanuska
A child’s white-knuckled clutch of a teddy bear. Uncontrollable crying at the sound of a rage-filled voice. Bed-wetting at the sound of a siren. A fierce kick to a playmate’s shin on the playground. These are all symptoms that an infant, toddler, or young child may be suffering from emotional or physical stress. Untreated, these children are likely to grow up with behavioral problems, become dropouts from school, or suffer from depression or problems with substance abuse. Why? Because, according to Lesley Sternin, Director of the Child Trauma Training Institute in San Francisco, if infants and very young children do not feel safe, either in the hands of their primary caregiver or in their home environment, their emotional and brain development may be negatively affected. Such damage has long-lasting effects.