When we talk about holistic child development, the socio-emotional aspect of a child’s life can seem a little fuzzy—what’s that have to do with poverty?
How socio-emotional development happens
Depending on where a child grows up, they might be exposed to many negative habits or patterns. For example, some children are raised in communities where domestic violence is commonplace and even accepted. Others might grow up in an environment where drinking, swearing, prostitution and gangs are the norm. Tragically, some children grow up in homes where they never hear that they are loved or valuable.
All these influences shape who a child becomes. That’s why helping children develop healthy relationships and thought patterns is vital to releasing them from poverty—it’s stopping the social evils that perpetuate poverty in the first place.
Through Compassion’s holistic child development curriculum, children learn how to have healthy relationships with their parents, their friends and their neighbours. They learn social skills, such as how to talk and relate to others, that will help them obtain stable employment in the future. They learn how to make responsible life choices. And they learn that they are valuable individuals whom God has uniquely created.
Through developing the social and emotional aspects of children’s lives, Compassion is equipping them to overcome their environment that can so easily entrap them.