REFLECTIVE JOURNAL (Essay Sample)

Reflective Journal 1 Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Professor’s Name Due Date Reflective Journal 1 Child and adolescent development is critical in understanding and influencing effective individual development. The learning process highly underlined the essence of understanding and actualizing different theories of child and adolescent development. Importantly, it emphasized the essence of understanding different stimuli or influences that affect different children and adolescents and learning how to respond to children’s needs depending on these distinct factors. The lessons underlined extensive information on child and adolescent development, and some of the major takeaways entail the developmental theories that concisely describe different developmental milestones through different periods and the different levels of environmental influences. The promotion of children and adolescent development highly depends on the capacity to understand different influences and stages of development. The class emphasized the concept of continuities whereby one stage of development directly affects the next stage of development of a child. For instance, if a child is exposed to violent behavior in early childhood, it may influence their development in middle adulthood. Children’s upbringing plays a pivotal role in their development, whereby children raised in a warm atmosphere may develop more effectively than children raised in a violent or abusive atmosphere. Studies suggest that children exposed to abuse or sexual assault are likely to suffer from mental conditions, such as major depressive disorder, in adolescence and later on in life (American Psychiatrist Association, 2022). Therefore, the class emphasizes paying attention to children’s development throughout every stage and ensuring they reach different milestones outlined during these stages. In addition, the class learning essentially points to the different periods of development and the specific milestones to observe during each period. For starters, infancy is characterized by notable physical developments, such as a child managing to support their head with their neck, reaching out to toys or things within their reach, crawling, and eventually walking (Santrock, 2023). Therefore, as a guardian or caregiver, it is paramount to pay attention to these developmental expectations and gauge a child’s development. The feat paves the way for better recognition of any delays that a child might exhibit and addresses them effectively. The different periods of infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood all occur in an order that makes it easier to determine the next developmental milestones to expect (Sigelman & Rider, 2012). Effective development in early childhood will pave the way for effective development in middle childhood. Therefore, every period matters when trying to reach optimal development status. Conversely, the lessons significantly underlined the importance of the environment in determining a child’s and adolescent’s development. We live in a contemporary, evolving world where we encounter different people on a daily basis. These people are exposed to different resources or parenting styles that influence their eventual growth. I previously worked with a bright child from a poor neighborhood. The rest of her classmates often bullied her due to her background. The child had much potential, but the constant criticism hindered her psychosocial development. During breaks, she would distance herself from the rest of her classmates. I often spent these times with her, but one could tell she was struggling trying to fit in or make friends. This recollection highly relates to the different environmental concerns that different people grow up in. When looking at the levels of the environment, the macro system stands out because it outlines the power of others on our development or our self-concept. Some individuals rely on approval from others, and the lack of approval damages their self-esteem. Self-esteem relies on positive or negative self-evaluations (Chen et al., 2022). In early childhood, it may be hard to comprehensively instigate a child’s self-confidence if the environment continually inflicts damage on it. Consequently, as a service provider, the class underlined the essence of taking the lead in helping children's development, especially their psychosocial development. Teachers and caregivers have the luxury of time, and with time, they acquire extensive experience. Therefore, the actualization of enactive attainments entails actualizing past performances or approaches to deal with children’s issues (Sigelman & Rider, 2012). Children are different and may respond to certain situations differently, hence the need to watch them and enact measures specific to them. Obs...