Clinical traumatologist, Hanif Benjamin, says children in this country are becoming more and more vulnerable to crime and violence.
Speaking on CNC3’s The Morning Brew today, Benjamin expressed concern that T&T’s children are being overwhelmed by a tremendous amount of stress from societal issues.
“There is a myth that children and young people don’t go through stress,” Benjamin observed.
“A child would come home from school and say they are stressed out and tired, and the parent would say, ‘What do you have to be stressed about? All you have to do is go to school. I have to go to work and bring home the money’. “As adults, we go through stress, but children go through stress as well,” he explained.
He noted that children of different ages manifest their stress in different ways. What parents may view as bad behaviour or constantly demanding attention is the child’s way of showing they are stressed out.
“When we fail to pay attention to this, our children suffer in silence,” he warned.
The clinical traumatologist believes it is imperative that parents do their part to positively impact their children lives.
According to Benjamin, this is the only way to curtail the many ills which children are facing in their schools and their communities.
“We also need to be helping the parents to create a sense of safety in the home, to help the child understand that they are loved, safe and protected,” he asserts.
He added: “Creating a zone of safety and protection around our children helps them to come out of the high levels of stress they may be experiencing.”
Hanif Benjiman says children need a well-rounded life in order to become model citizens.
