Undocumented Children
Trauma exists all over the world from the youngest to the oldest person alive. However, children are more vulnerable to trauma because of their size, age, and dependency. (Rousseau, 2018) My focus is not just on the 25% of United States children who suffer trauma before their 16th birthday however, but on the more than 2,000 children who were currently separated from their parents, the children known in the United States of America as undocumented children. The more than 2,000 kids who had no choice but to follow their parents seeking a better life and now face lifelong battles of mental health issues, the children who I strongly opposed being separated from their parents.
These children were separated from days to weeks from their parents and kept in a jail like setting surrounded by other children and guards. Working at a jail, I cannot begin to phantom a child being in a place that looks anything like a jail much less many of them together with minimum supervision and absolutely no love and affection. Stories have unfolded that some kids were given medication for mental health problems when many of them could not even speak; others were given shots to calm them down. Such is the story of a 5-year-old Guatemalan born child named Adonis.
Adonis lasted ten weeks in what he now calls “kid jail.” Six days after being released to his father, Adonis was already showing signs of mental health issues. Adonis showed emotional distress when a toy syringe was showed to him and commented that he would get a shot when he misbehaved that would put him to sleep. At five years old, Adonis has a lot of vaccines to go, the trauma he has suffered from this will show every time he receives a shot. Also, Adonis has now found a “newfound fascination for knives and machetes” and constantly displays anger and wants to be isolated from everyone including his family. At only age five, if left untreated, Adonis could end up with lifelong problems or suicide.
The problem with all this, the United States of America is not providing any sort of mental help for these children. Why? Is the question, if we separated them from their parents? I understand their parents came here illegally, but does any child deserve to be separated from their parents and placed in jail for weeks at a time? The answer is no. We need to take care of these children, make sure they get the necessary care for what they have experienced.
Many lawyers are currently fighting for this to happen and a lot of psychologists and doctors are offering their services pro bono. However, the United States of America isn’t doing anything about it even though they didn’t meet the reunification deadline and are the reason these children will now face problems. I am a strong believer that we as a nation need to do more to ensure that these children receive mental health care until they get mentally better. Why? Simply because it is the humanitarian thing to do and I would hate to see one of those children turn around and create mass destruction in the United States in a few years out of anger and range.
References:
Rousseau, D. (2018). Week 2 Lecture. PDF Copy. Boston University, Boston MA. Online Campus Blackboard.
Wan, W. 20 June 2018. The trauma of separation lingers long after children are reunited with parents. Retrieved 12 Aug 2018 from the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-trauma-of-separation-lingers-long-after-children-are-reunited-with-parents/2018/06/20/cf693440-74c6-11e8-b4b7-308400242c2e_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c42e0a331f75
Miller, M. 9 August 2018. “I want to die”; Was a 5-year-old drugged after being separated from his dad at the border? Retrieved 10 Aug 2018 from the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/i-want-to-die-was-a-5-year-old-drugged-after-being-separated-from-his-dad-at-the-border/2018/08/08/df4cc2aa-95e1-11e8-a679-b09212fb69c2_story.html?utm_term=.21d8d4f9139f
Gomez, A. 12 July 2018 . ACLU: Trump administration should pay counseling for separated families. Retrieved 12 Aug 2018 from USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/07/12/aclu-requests-trump-administration-pay-counseling-separated-families/780833002/