Children's Needs II. [antikvár]

Introduction: Children's Needs and School Psychology's Response Kathleen M. Minké and George G. Bear University of Delaware Töday's children face enormous challenges. Recent figures from the National Center for Education Statistic's Youth Indicators (Snyder & Shafer, 1996) highlight somé of the stressors that impinge on children's daily lives. For example, family work patterns have changed dramatically in the last 45 years. In 1950,11.9% of married women with children under six were employed or seeking employment. In 1993, this figure was 59.6%. Concurrent with this change in work patterns, changes in family composition have occurred. In 1994, 59% of Black children, 29% of Hispanic children, and 19% of White children lived in single-parent homes. These families are particularly vulnerable socioeconomically; 53% of children in female-headed households lived in poverty in 1994. Clearly, large numbers of children are experiencing the effects of poverty and family stress, just two of the multiple and interrelated factors associated with the ever-expanding needs of children in our society. Children need help. They need help not just from families but alsó from schools and communities. Their needs demand effective prevention and treatment programs addressing the multiplicity of physical, social, emotional, and academic problems they present. These needs rangé from brain injury due to motor vehicle accidents, homicide, suicide, and HIV/AIDS (four of the six leading causes of death among youth ages 10-24 [see Health promotion, this volume]) to more common, but nevertheless serious, problems, such as reading difficulties, low achievement motivation, aggression and bullying, fears, peer rejection, social skills deficits, and loneliness (see related chapters, this volume). Given the expanding rangé of children's needs, it should come as no surprise that approximately 20% of all children need mentái health services. For example, McDermott and Weiss (1995) classified 5.2% of their national sample as "seriously maladjusted" and an additional 16.2% as "at-risk" for serious maladjustment. After reviewing 12 recent epidemiological studies, Doll (1996) concluded that, in a typical school of 1,000 students, between 180 and 220 students would be expected to have diagnosable psychiatric disorders. Studies of children's physical health-related problems are equally disturbing. For example, survival rates among preterm infants are improving, but as many as 30% of infants requiring neonatal care will have a disability identified in the preschool years (A. R. Fuchs, F. Fuchs, & Stubblefield, 1993; see alsó Prematurity, this volume). Further, by age 18, around 10% to 15% of children experience at least one chronic medical condition; these illnesses and injuries may significantly challenge the coping skills of the individuals involved (Taraowski & Brown, 1995). HIV infection is affecting increasing numbers of children and adolescents, both directly (e.g., through prenatal exposure) and indirectly (e.g., through infection and death of family members [see HIV/AIDS, this volume]). Other health-related difficulties, while not always life-threatening, often compromise children's developmental outcomes. For example, children with chronic seizures (approximately 1% of all children) frequently experience academic and social problems (see Epilepsy, this volume). Children who are obese (as many as 1 of 4 school-age children) are at increased risk for low self-esteem, loneliness, and mood disorders (see Obesity, this volume). Common allergies, affecting as many as 20% of children, can result in frequent school absences, decreased attention and concentration, and anxiety related to breathing problems (see Allergies and Asthma, this volume). Children's healthy development is further compromised by the severely limited availability of services to youth (see Doll, 1996). Bowe (1995) estimated that states are serving no more than 70% of infants and toddlers with disabilities, and only around 5% of youth access mentái health services (Inouye, 1988, cited in McDermott & Weiss, 1995). As described by Doll (1996), even under the recommended psychologist/student ratio of 1:1000, the school psychologist would have to work with a different student each day of the school year to even meet every student with a psychiatric disorder! Schools, therefore, are called to serve a population with a tremendous multiplicity of needs and limited access to scarce resources. They are asked to serve students in an atmosphere of public dissatisfaction with generál education, which has increased in the years since