What Do Children Well-Being Mean and Why Does It Matter? Essay Example.

Well-being, in general, refers to the state whereby individuals are happy, healthy and able to enjoy a quality life. There are two aspects of well-being, subjective and objective state. Subjective states focus on individual feelings whereas objective state focuses on conditions which are likely to affect individual feelings. Children well-being can be simply defined as the time when children feel safe, comfortable and happy. There are four factors to consider when considering children well-being; cognitive functioning, behavior or emotional, social and physical health. These factors are all related in one way or another, in that failure of one of the factors may affect the well-being of the children even if all the other factors are addressed. Nonetheless, there is an important interplay between the parenting environment and children well-being. Healthy family relationships and caring of children empowers children to transition easily into adulthood (Promoting the Well-Being of Children, Youth and Families in Child Welfare, 2017). As such, parents should develop a deeper understanding of what affects their children satisfaction to intervene and help them realize their potential.

Children well-being is vital as it impacts the children either negatively or positively where some of the effects are short-term and others long-term. In other words, the future of any child depends on how well they were brought up as kids by their parents or guardians and the whole community at large. The effects experienced by children during their early stage of development creates a background for their intelligence, emotion and personality such that when the early experiences are positive then they will be impacted positively and when the exposure is negative then they will develop emotional, physical, behavioral and personality problems (Promoting the Well-Being of Children, Youth and Families in Child Welfare, 2017). Over the years, research has shown that low level of well-being among the children results in social, health and personal problems. Some of these problems include social isolation, poor mental health development and involvement in harmful behavior.

Over the years, there has been an increase in the number of brain development research, especially in children. According to research, it has been found out that poor brain development begins during infancy and early childhood an aspect that can be avoided by ensuring our children well-being. Damage in the brain development means that these children physical, emotional, cognitive and social growth will be adversely affected. From research, it has been found out that those children whose well-being is compromised tend to be emotionally weak. These are the type of children who fall prey to bullies and at times tend to commit suicide due to increased depression as they are not emotionally strong to endure suffering (Alperstein, & Raman, 2003). Nonetheless, these children tend to be socially isolated as they find it hard to fit in with the rest of the kids. Such antisocial behavior is relatively harmful as these children may suffer in silence and the long run engage in risky behavior such as sexual exploitation.

Improving the well-being of children will reduce adverse outcomes of children growth and thus children will grow up as good children with positive behavior and life chances. Understanding what affects the children is crucial if they are to be supported in the society. Children need to be brought up positively to be able to be respected by others, to respect themselves, to stand for themselves in case of bullies, to establish loving relationships with other and to be socially active (Alperstein, & Raman, 2003). Families need to develop a quality relationship and provide enough to their children so that they can easily fit in with the rest of the children. Moreover, children should be provided with a safe and healthy environment. As such, there is a need for parents, guardian, community and the whole society to come up together to better the lives of their children as they are the future of tomorrow.

References

Alperstein, G., & Raman, S. (2003). Promoting mental health and emotional wellbeing among children and youth: a role for community child health?. Child: Care, Health and Development, 29(4), 269-274.

Promoting the Well-Being of Children, Youth and Families in Child Welfare. (2017) (pp. 1-13). New York State. Retrieved from http://ocfs.ny.gov/main/cfsr/Promoting%20Well-Being2013.pdf