Impact of Hispanic Cultural Beliefs on a Child’s development

Impact of Hispanic Cultural Beliefs on a Child’s development

Abstract

This paper is aimed at discussing the cultural beliefs and practices that are rooted among the Hispanic-American group of people and the role they play in various development stages of a child’s life, for example; cognitive and language development (Ansari &Lopez,2015). The research was costumed around the question of how certain practices among a group of people impact subsequent development of children, how they fare on in school, their grades, and development in general. The paper also discusses solutions and suggestions that various people especially parents need to employ in order to eliminate the negative impacts of these challenges (Guerrero 2013).

Introduction

            According to Egalite (2016), Hispanics are a group of people who are citizens of the United States of America, whose original homeland is Latin America, or their families hail from Latin America or are of Spanish descent. The Hispanic people are divided into about ten sub-groups. The groups are; Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Guatemalans, Ecuadorians, Peruvians, Columbians, Hondurans, and Salvadorans (Ansari& Lopez, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to establish how Hispanic cultural beliefs and practices impact children’s physical, social, emotional and language development.

One of the characteristic features that distinguish one Hispanic group from the other is their level of education(Kenney, 2012). For instance, Columbians are the sub-group that is most likely to hold a college degree while the least Number to hold a college degree are the Hondurans. This could be as a result of their cultural norms and beliefs, low employment or large family sizes among others. There has however been a slight increase in the number of Hispanics who hold a college degree. A research by the Pew Hispanic Center Tabulations of the 2010 ACS (2010), shows that at least 13 % of the Hispanic population now holds a college degree, from 10% in the last decade.

Hispanic Early Childhood

Most Hispanic babies are born with the same weight and have similar capabilities to thrive during the first two years of their childhood (Coleman, 2016). These capabilities include inter alia, communicating verbally, reasoning capabilities, and identifying letters, shapes and numbers. This is however a lower rate of development when compared to their white peers. The cause for this difference between white and Hispanic children is brought about by many factors, for example (Ansari& Lopez, 2015); A number of Hispanics do not have a good command of the English language despite the fact that they are bilingual (Dahl&Lochner, 2015). This simply means that they are unable to speak, read or tell stories to their children using the English language or engaging them in other necessary pre-literacy activities. Most of the Hispanic parents are deterred by the fact that they believe that engaging their children in the aforementioned activitiesis the teachers’ area of expertise (Fuller, 2010). They therefore provide their children with very limited parental education.

Parental Engagement

Parental participation in their children’s school related activities such as participation in voluntary events of the school and helping with their homework, enhance the children’s likelihood to thrive in matters related to their academic, social and physical life (Dahl&Lochner, 2015). Children tend to have a better performance in schools if they have actively involved parents, which Hispanic parents do not offer to them. This especially happens to low-income Hispanic parents.

Pre-literacy engagement and cognitive development

Guerrero, et al., (2013) finds that Hispanic children lag behind especially when it comes to readiness for school. This creates a huge gap of 15% to 20% between them and their white peers. According to Ansari, (2015), when a child starts behind in kindergarten, the chances of them staying behind are very high, which in turn makes it a challenge for them to achieve socially and academically.

Another cause for lack of cognitive development and pre-literacy engagement in Hispanic children is lack of quality healthcare. According to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), in 2016, 15.1% of Hispanics do not have a healthcare coverage. Such problems stem all the way from the maternity period of a Hispanic mother. Fuller, et al., (2010). Post-partum depression could lead Hispanic mothers to abandoning their children leading to failing to engage them in the necessary parental cognitive development skills in readiness for further education.

Early Childhood Educational Centers

Among the major crisis for Hispanic families, is the conspicuous lack of child care centers in most of their states. Roughly about eight Hispanic states have few or no child care centers at all (Kenney, 2016). The number of children in these states is studied to be thrice the number of child care centers and even the few that exist do not meet the qualifications of an ideal child care center that will provide the child with adequate preparation in readiness for further schooling.  This situation is termed as ‘child care desert’.

For an early childhood educational center to be considered ideal and of high quality, several critical elements must be met (Yoshikawa, 2013). Such critical elements include among others; affordability and accessibility to Hispanics who have low incomes, availability of services right from the time of birth the age of at least five years, a good location which is comfortably accessible to all the children in that particular area, provision of an outdoor learning environment which has been proven to aid in boosting a child’s all round performances including mental health, all of which are important for early development, and engagement in activities that will nurture a child’s emotional development such as unstructured free play (Coleman, 2015).

Parental Education

Egalite, (2016) asserts that, the smallest challenges that hinder a child’s brain development can accumulate. For instance, Family background, structure, education, income and parents’ criminal record can collectively stand in the way of a child’s access to experiences and activities that provide for brain development, cognitive and pre-literacy skills. A good example is; a child’s academic attainment can be directly attributed his or her mother’s education level (Ansari& Lopez, 2015). Most people worldwide believe that 90% of educational characteristics arepassed on from the mother.

When a parent is educated, even the school that he or she will choose for his or her child will definitely be one that provides high-quality education which in turn directly influences the child’s learning in a positive way (Egalite, 2016). This is evident in quite a number of our industrialized societies, and even in the unfortunate event that a family has low income, if the parents are educated, they will still make an effort in participating in their children’s school activities like checking their homework and helping them select their colleges. Most Hispanic parents however lack both and therefore end up not investing in their children’s learning process. An increase in family income, as Dahl &Lochner, (2015) put it, subsequently leads to an increase in academic achievements in previously low-income families.

Child Associations with Parents and Peers

According to Coleman, (2016), neighbors, peers and any other people that a child relates with in his or her everyday life also has an effect on the child’s development as well as their academic achievement. An attempt at separating the independent effects of parental education, parental income and peer influence has proven to be quite a challenge as all of them collectively pose risks to student achievements and it is not known whether each of them can single-handedly affect children’s brain development, emotional stability and academic outcomes (Dahl&Lochner, 2015).

Family Backgrounds and set ups

Ramirez (2017) studied that, in the recent years, family structures have evolved in totality. We are no longer restricted to the normal families that are made up of biological parents or adoptive parents, both of whom are of opposite genders. We now have; single parent families, and same sex families (Coleman, 2016). Most poor Hispanic people have the one parent family. This could be due to parent separation that resulted from the need of either parent to work at a distant place far from his or her family in order to help in meeting the basic needs of the family, divorce or death.

Such a situation causes the parent that is away from the child to miss out on important steps and achievements in the growth of the child such as, birthdays and graduations among others (Guerrero, 2016). Unknowingly, and unintentionally, a pattern is created which can have adverse implications on the well-being and growth of the child. It affects the capabilities of the child to thrive academically causing him or her to lag behind (Kenney, 2012).

In addition, Putnam, (2017) asserts that single parents have little or no time to engage their kids in activities that will enrich their physical, social, emotional and academic lives. Children between the ages of one and two years who live with both their parents, that is a mother and a father, tend to have more stability when it comes to brain development and emotional health as compared to children of the same age who only live with a single parent (Yoshikawa, 2013). It has also been studied that households with both parents living together and handling parental duties together have many more positive attributes that positively affect their children’s well-being and family growth and formation.

According to Egalite (2016), single parent families have a significant negative effect on a child’s growth and well-being and may cause the children to be withdrawn or even depressed due to emotional instability and eventually end up adopting increased antisocial behaviors. Guerrero (2013), talks about the fact that the boy children have been proven to suffer adversely effects of being in a disadvantaged family, or rather a single parent family compared to their sisters or just generally the girl child.

Parental Incarceration

Parental criminal records, both previous and current, have a traumatic effect on the development of most of the children who have been affected despite the fact that there has never been a research or experiment to determine how a family’s criminal history affects a child’s development (Fuller, 2010). However, in my opinion, when either parent is incarcerated, it denies a child the chance to grow in a dual-parent family. Besides all the negatives effects brought about by growing in a single-parent family, parental imprisonment is no doubt going to cause a massive strain on the emotional growth and stability of a child which will significantly take a toll on his or her development in every other aspect of their lives including academic attainment (Dahl &LochnerM 2015).

It is unfortunate that twice as much Hispanic children are more likely to have an imprisoned parent compared to their white counterparts of the same age (Yoshikawa, 2013). Having one of their parents incarcerated simply means that; one source of income has been taken away from that particular family, in many cases, making it a low-income family, and it is even more unfortunate if the imprisoned parent was the sole income provider of the family (Dahl &Lochner, 2015). This puts the affected child or children at a greater risk of homelessness, lack of medical coverage, a stable home among other disadvantages that are likely to take a toll on the child’s well-being.

African-american Cultural Practices and Beliefs in Comparison to Hispanics

Introduction

One of the increasingly most important part of the life of an American is early childhood education in terms of health, social opportunities, career options, and economic stability among others (Sanders-Phillips et al. 2009). There is a substantial gap in academic achievement between students who are African American, who to score low on tests, and White, Asian and Hispanic students. The subsequent result is that many of them drop out of school due to failing courses, while those who proceed with school do not pass well enough to be enrolled in high school or accepted into colleges (Valant & Newark, 2017).

Childhood Development

African American Children are born with an ability to learn, just like all children. Such abilities need to be developed through interactions and experiences with anyone or anything that will promote brain development, physical, emotional and social well-being, as well as cognitive development (Yoshikawa et al., 2013). Most African American children are brought up in families where there are conducive adult relationships which provide a learning environment for them to meet their potential in development, while some are not fortunate enough to have that. A number of them are affected by racism and they end up thinking that education is not an important aspect of life (Adair, 2015).

Poverty

Poverty is rooted among the African Americans, more than in any other ethnic groups (USDA 2017).  This means that they will be forced to live in less conducive neighborhoods, and certainly struggling to make ends meet. Parents like these will have less time for their children’s educational, physical and social needs as compared to those who are better off economically (Alter, 2015). Living in segregated neighborhoods is toxic and can negatively impact children as they are likely to be exposed to extreme neglect and violence. Once toxicity is rooted into children, it becomes an expensive and hard task to return them to the normal development and learning trajectories (Valant & Newark, 2017).

Environmental impact

When a child’s life begins in an environment where their rapidly evolving needs are met because there is existence of continuously safe relationships which are responsive, their likelihood of reaching out, exploring as well as learning is high (Kenney, 2012). Successful academic achievers hail from families that have resources such as healthcare, numerous learning opportunities, emotional stability and physical security among others, at the palm of their hands. According to Sanders-Phillips et al., (2009), African American children have however been exposed to slavery, indecent housing, racism from a very tender age, as well as voting inequities, all of which leave a negative cultural residue.

Just like the Hispanics, African American Challenges of early childhood development are directly linked to situations of the children’s families and their environments as well, slowing down their achievement rates. Resources to improve and support family functioning should thus be provided by people and organizations that deeply understand the complexities required for such kind of support (Calarco, 2014).

Solutions to Challenges of Early Childhood Development

Better Living Conditions

The problems encountered by Hispanic families according to Yoshikawa (2013), can be solved mainly by providing solutions that will start by bettering the living conditions of the entire family, for instance, increasing their income levels, providing them with proper medical insurance coverages, providing parental education methods and coming up with quality early child development facilities among others (Kenney, 2012).

Poverty Reduction

Ansari & Lopez (2015) says that current leaders have the ability to come up with policies that may help in curbing and reducing poverty and increase resources that can support Hispanic parents together with their children especially in terms of easy access to amenities such as health care, early development and education programs and to ensure that the population of their children does not exceed the number and quality of the aforementioned amenities. This was also claimed by Fuller, (2010).

Improved Quality of Early Childhood Development Systems

Research shows that, when Hispanic children are provided with the proper early childhood development education, they match and even surpass their white peers in academic and social activities. Ansari (2015). This cannot be attained due to the obvious lack of early development care for Hispanic children and poor quality ones if they exist, and also because fewer Hispanics enroll their children to the few earlychildhood development centers that have been provided (Dahl&Lochner, 2015). This factor is what calls for parental education, as we have seen that lack of a parent’s education directly affects the child’s educational development in a negative way.

Establishing Community Schools

Another solution is to establish community schools specifically meant for Hispanics. A community school serves multiple purposes which are beneficial to the entire Hispanic community at large. This is according to Yoshikawa et al (2013). For example; It can serve as a resource center with elements such as; health centers, early childhood development centers, family wellness centers, before and after school programs, centers for educational support and even as a community meeting area (Guerrero, 2013).

Government Participation

Leaders and researchers should come up with a way of how to custom make policies and support programs for the entire Hispanic communities and sub-groups all across the country, as Ramires (2017), suggests. This calls for them to access their entitlement to participation by the government in implementing some of these policies and solutions through assistance by providing incentives such as tax credits and Children’s Health Insurance Program, (CHIP) on Hispanic families that need them (Coleman, 2016).

Stronger Parent-Children Relationships

According to Ansari& Lopez (2015), approaches that attempt to connect Hispanic children to their parents should also be considered as a potential solution to some of these challenges, approaches such as promoting awareness of the importance of early childhood development centers and the importance of allowing children to partake in such activities and experiences. In Kenney’s view, Kenney (2012), This can be done by collaborating with relevant organizations and bodies which have an interest in improving the levels of early childhood development of not only Hispanic community but all the other populations in the country such as the African-Americans as well as children being raised by same sex parents, active-duty military families and low SES (Fuller, 2010).

Recommendation

Policy makers and educators need to have an understanding of the family contexts, socially, politically and economically, and their connection to children’s education. According to Valant & Newark (2017), It is also important that they acknowledge the fact that education begins even prior to birth and pre-literacy engagement is necessary for all children in readiness for further education. Calarco (2014), asserts that, cultural differences must be recognized, and academic expectations that are high to be set for all the children.

Reflection

The findings of this research links the home, family and community to the children’s well-being, growth and achievements. It puts emphasis on the importance of parental education, improvement of family income and lifestyle and increasing the number and quality of early childhood development centers, all of which are vital in shaping and enhancing the children’s brain development, identity, and self-worth all in readiness for academic achievements.

Conclusion

From the above review, It is clear that the root of all Hispanic Challenges that are related to early childhood development are rooted from the family itself. It is therefore only reasonable to start by solving the family problems which will in turn significantly create a conducive environment for early childhood development of Hispanic children. A peaceful home definitely creates a peaceful and sustainable environment for development of a child in every aspect of his or her life and creates readiness for a child to pursue further education and attain a desirable education attainment.

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