Separating Children from Their Parents: The Impact of Separations, from Trauma at the Border to Drop-offs at Childcare
Summary: <a href="https://icd.umn.edu/people/gunnar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a>Every parent knows the heartache of hearing your baby or toddler cry when you leave them with a sitter for the evening or perhaps even head out of town on a business trip or child-free vacation. But the thought of separating children from their parents forcefully in a highly stressful situation, with no certainty of when – or if – they will be reunited, is almost unimaginable to most of us.<br> <br> <br> <br> <a href="https://icd.umn.edu/people/gunnar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Megan Gunnar</a>, professor of child development at the <a href="https://twin-cities.umn.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Minnesota</a>, has spent her career studying the biology of stress and the impact of stress hormones on children’s physical, cognitive and emotional development. She joins Marti & Erin today for an important and timely conversation about the biology of separations, highlighting the potentially devastating consequences of the kinds of separations happening to refugee children, while also providing helpful and reassuring information and guidance about more ordinary separations, as well as longer, more challenging separations any family can face.<br> <br> <br> <br> What are some of the unique elements of separating children from their parents at the border that put these children at such great risk for their future development? Considering more usual separations (or even especially difficult situations such as a long hospitalization or a military parent being deployed), what can help children thrive and adapt to those separations without undue threat to their longterm development?<br> <br> <br> <br> Related resources:<br> <br> <a href="https://z.umn.edu/momenough" target="_blank" rel="noopener">College of Education + Human Development</a><br> <br> <a href="https://connect.cehd.umn.edu/the-stress-of-separation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The stress of separation</a> CEHD Connect magazine interview with Megan Gunnar<br> <br> <a href="http://momenough.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Keys-to-Effective-Parenting-flyer.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Keys to Effective Parenting in the Face of Stress and Trauma</a> tip sheet from CEHD<br> <br> <a href="http://momenough.com/2016/06/toxic-stress" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Your Children’s Experience of Positive Stress and Toxic Stress</a> featuring Megan Gunnar<br> <br> <a href="http://momenough.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Separation-Anxiety.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Separation Anxiety</a> tip sheet by Marti Erickson<br> <br> <a href="http://momenough.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Separation-Anxiety-tip-sheet.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supporting Children Experiencing Separation Anxiety</a> tip sheet from St. David’s Center<br> <br>
