Impact of Parents Migration on Children Left behind - Research Paper Example

Impact of Parents Migration on Children Left behind Introduction Parental care is the most important thing for a child in life. Children need parents in their life for many reasons such as the provision of guidance, protection, education, food, health, and clothing. Migration of the parent to another place or another country while leaving the child behind can create a adverse effect to the child’s life. This paper explains the relationship between the migration condition of child’s parents and child’s academic performance, behavior, and psychological/emotional results among other impacts created. However, there can also be a positive effect on the children especially when the parent is not in a position feed the family. One of the reasons why people migrate is to look for greener pasture in terms of earnings to take care of their families; therefore, migration by parents can create both positive and negative impacts to the children left behind. Institutions such as UNICEF, Special Unit South-South Corporation (SU-SSC) in Latin America, Albania, Philippines, and Moldova have conducted a lot of research and Mexico indicates how migration has a major effect on children left behind. Statistics shows that their parents to look for employment especially mothers (Save the Children, 2006) leave approximately one million children in Sri Lanka. Education Education is one of the most important gifts that a parent can give a child. Migration of a parent has both positive and negative effects on the children left behind especially when the parent is not available in the home country. There is a probability that when the parents settle in another country or any other place far away from homeland, expenditure is reduced by some percentage if in case the child is left under the care of somebody. This is an indication that there is an increment for the child’s chances of going to school, health maintenance and a decrease in exposure to child labor. However, parent’s absence from home or being next to the children can create a great negative impact that can outweigh the positive effects of the migration. Parental migration also influences the school attendance by the children (Giannelli & Mangiavacchi, 2010). In most cases, children always get encouragement from parents on issues concerning school. In the absence of the parent, most children do not attend classes’ hence high rate in school dropout. Absence from school is an example of indiscipline from the child; parents play a major role in instilling disciplinary actions to children and their absence results to increase in indiscipline (Booth, 1995). The impacts may differ. However, which depends on age and gender of the children. Children might be exposed to early labor as one of the ways to cater for their needs after dropping out from school. Sometimes girls are subjected to into early marriages. Most of the street children are because of migration by parents leaving the children with no proper means of living. Psychological distress Most children go through depression and experience health disorders related to stress that is created by the absence of the parents. Children show the feeling of sadness even though they understand a genuine reason their parents went to other places. The feeling of abandonment is one of the effects that the child will experience. Children are given the responsibility to take care of themselves while the parents are away. The responsibility is always difficult for the children especially when it comes to ensuring that they get everything they need. For the children who are left at an early age, there is a possibility that the memory towards the parent will get lost. Most of these children are always overtaken by emotions of anger, fear, the feeling of rejection and resentment. Children who are in such situations cannot be persuaded nor be given any gift to make them happy, however, this scenario is mostly experienced by children who are left at later stages. They face emotional deprivation and trauma because of missing the parents next to them, and neither money nor gift can replace the love to the parents. Dangerous behaviors Parental care and guidance are important to the child’s development. Discipline is given to the children by the parents who value the life and welfare of the child. It is unfortunate that children who are left behind because of migration by the parents lack this noble opportunity to be guided by the parent. In this situation, children are exposed to risky and unwarranted behaviors that are adopted from other peers. Most of the bad behaviors are due to the absence of the parent from taking full control of the child and giving direction to morals. Some of these behaviors include drug and substance abuse, lack of attention to school and theft. Parents acts like a role model to children and their absence means that there is nobody to mentor the children hence they will copy other people’s way of life. These children receive less supervision from the parents hence easily influenced by peers to get involved in behaviors that are not pleasing (Toth, 2007, p. 10). Exposure to abuse Migration has adverse effects on the children, and it promotes risks for the child to be abused and exploited. Most girls have gone through hard time in the hands of people who have taken advantage of their predicaments. They have been sexually abused and exploited for many reasons and by them is may be getting a daily meal. Children need food, clothing and shelter, and it is the responsibility of the parent to ensure that children are well taken care of. The absence of the parents’ means that children will lack these necessities hence is being subjected to such dangers at an early age. The reason can be applicable for the children parents do not send money back at home, but it can also affect them in a negative way. The being sent for home use may be directed to other uses such as buying drugs and other destructive substances that pose a danger to the lives of the children. Health On matters of health, Children lack access to quality health since those who are left behind to care may be ignorance or lack knowledge concerning the child’s health. Health is not only seeking proper medication, but also the ability to proper feeding habit and good maintenance of diet. If the parents are not available, the child may lack general knowledge concerning proper feeding habit an issue that expose them to more risk as a result of deficiency of minerals due to the failure of taking a balanced diet. It is unfortunate that most of the researchers do not consider the health condition of these children. Attention is given to education and behavior even though health is also important. There is a sufficient evidence to confirm that children left behind experience worse diets leading poor health condition. Apart from health, education, psychological distress, another critical channel to consider is the likelihood that one guardian's international relocation might likewise bring about a change in bargaining force among family leaders if one guardian ventures abroad while alternate stays in the source nation. On the off chance that folks have diverse inclinations over goods and some valuable items, this may additionally affect the allotment of assets and along these lines results for kids. This sort of component would be as per the proof exhibited in. The menace of child labor is highly on the rise because of migration by parents leaving behind their children. Most children have been victims of child labor especially those that whose parents are far away. The child is uncalled for in almost all nations around the globe. In this case, the child cannot be blamed considering the situation that the child might be going through. Most children have developed bad attitudes from their parents because of being left alone more so when the parent does not send the money for upkeep. The condition affects not only the child, but also the concerned agencies within the government. Agencies have been formed to deal with such issues and seek for a permanent solution. In an attempt to rescue the children, governments through different bodies have set institutions for helping such children. A child can be taken to any center, and this is an indication that the child will miss the parental care and the desire to be with the rest of the family members. Child trafficking has also been experienced in some places, due to the lack of parental care and protection; most children have fallen in the hands of child traffickers. The effects on parents are beyond the scope of this study but it is important to acknowledge that for children, the parent’s well-being appears more important than those of their children do especially when the parents leave to find work overseas. This is likely to bring key impacts to the child’s life. The age at which the child is left and the financial status of the family before the parents leave. The child might not be able to see the reason the parents should not migrate with high expectations of better things that the parent would later come back and change the current the situation within the family. Parents, on the other hand, saw the migration as relieving economic problems in the family with a determination to get better things while in another place. However, the expectation may be different, and this indicates the beginning another problem within the household. The most affected group in this situation are the children are going through a financial support while the parents are not with them. Since they can’t stay without food and money, they will have to find other means of survival, and this subjects the child to early suffering with the heavy burden of being independent at an early age. Children need material support from the parents and absence of the parents results into mental torture, something that the child should not experience at the early stages of life. Most children expect the migration of their parents to be beneficial for the family, especially those that understands the reason the parents leave. Therefore, they expect the parents to keep interaction with them and provide the basic needs, however, contrary outcome of the expectation normally disappoints children and they begin to develop negative attitude towards the parents, and that can result in a bitter rivalry between them. Personal contact with the child is highly valued even if the parents do not realize the initial intentions for migration. At times, the blame should not be directed to the parents because it is believed that no parent may feel happy to feel happy nor subjects the child to problems; it is because the parent while in the foreign place never realized the main the reason for migration. Life is always difficult when an individual has no source of income and that may be the situation the migrants might find themselves and the effect are highly felt by the children who are left helpless in the home country. The contact between the parent and the children should be considered, in this case, to help the children feel the presence and the love of their parents. The child is encouraged even during difficult moments when the parent is close. The frequent contact ensures close supervision on the child’s progress and the desired character is also maintained. Most children develop a conflicting feeling of their parents being away. The social relation support and close relation is more important to the child, they need parents company most of the time, however, the impact may be moderated if frequent visit is maintained or at least the presence of one parent; living nearby. The situation is eased by the emergence of technology in the communications sector, as far as the parents can communicate directly to the child, the sense of loneliness is still experienced by children. Mobile phone contact is now convincing through the ability to communicate within a short duration; helps both children and parents to express their concerns. However, early exposure to communication gadgets especially internet enabled phone pose threats to the life of the child. It is through the misuse of these gadgets that the child may learn some unwarranted behavior such as watching misleading video contents through the internet. Technology, despite its importance to the society, has contributed negatively to the destruction of the current generation lifestyle. A parent will not be able to apply a disciplinary action to the child through the phone nor any other source of communication; he/she must be present. Most of the children who are fond of indiscipline in many occasions lack parental watch and guidance, and this affects the future of the child. Discipline is the key to achieving almost everything in life. Therefore, lack of discipline is an indication of parents’ failure to adhere to his/her responsibility. Children that lack parental guidance and encouragement due to migration may get limited or no roles in the society in future and this can significantly influence their growth and socialization. The roles that are played by parents are important to the growth of the child. Children themselves cannot take making money, taking children to hospitals, supervision among other roles roles such as cooking, effectively. Therefore, parents’ presence is highly recommended. Conclusion The absence of the parents disrupts and creates caregiving programs to the children. Migration of both parents leaves emotional feeling on the children left behind. The absence of the mother affects the children more than that of the father due to the duty of the mother in the family. In terms of well-being, children who are found in the migrant families are having advantage especially when the family relationship is strong. They can manage the separation of the parents because of international relocation. Children left behind are better off in terms economic stability due to remittance by parents. They are also able to get good education thus improved academic performance. However, the outcome can be contrary. Due to lack of parental guidance and intervention, academic performance of the children left behind can be worse. Other essential needs such as access to medication and proper diet may be difficult for the children whose parents have migrated. Therefore, it is clear that the migration of parents can bring both negative and positive effects to the children. Reference Toth,G,(2007). A Qualitative Approach to the Risk that the Children Whose Parents are Working Abroad are Exposed In (2007 print) Giianneli, Gianna Claudia & Lucia Mangiavachi (2010), Children schooling parental migration: Empiracal evidence on the generation left-behind (2010 print) Zoller, B, Margaret(1995), Children of migrant fathers: The impacts of father absence on Children’s readiness for school (1995 print). Read More