NYC: A Safe Haven

Recently in tech class we were assigned a project where we had to make a multimedia presentation in regards to the topic we are working on promoting awareness for. The topic I more specifically narrowed in on was the psychological effects of family separation on children. I did a lot of research surrounding this topic and found out some very interesting but also slightly horrifying. According to one study done by the American Psychological Association,

“We were surprised to find that family separation was on par with beating and torture in terms of its relationship to mental health,” says Jessica Goodkind, PhD, one of the authors and a professor in the department of sociology at the University of New Mexico. “This tells us that family separation is one of the driving factors that creates psychological distress.”

Stringer, Heather. “Psychologists Respond to a Mental Health Crisis at the Border.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, http://www.apa.org/news/apa/2018/border-family-separation.

This shows that by separating children from their families they are put at the risk for mental health issues from a young age, that could appear even later on in their life. Children should never have to go through something as traumatizing as this. They are already leaving behind everything they knew, possibly other family, and their friends, everything familiar only to come to a place where they get separated from the one person or people who they know and love.