- Student development
The problem is not only the prevalence of illness as such (in winter, even in the United States, approximately
one person gets infected with a minor illness every few seconds), but the fact that illnesses are not distributed
uniformly among students, schools, or communities. Whether it is a simple cold or something more serious, illness
is particularly common where living conditions are crowded, where health care is scarce or unaffordable, and where
individuals live with frequent stresses of any kind. Often, but not always, these are the circumstances of poverty.
Table 6 summarizes these effects for a variety of health problems, not just for colds or flu.
Table 6: Health effects of children's economic level
Health program Comparison: poor vs non-poor
Delayed immunizations 3 times higher
Asthma Somewhat higher
Lead poisoning 3 times higher
Deaths in childhood from accidents 2-3 times higher
Deaths in childhood from disease 3-4 times higher
Having a condition that limits school activity 2-3 times higher
Days sick in bed 40 per cent higher
Seriously impaired vision 2-3 times higher
Severe iron-deficiency (anemia) 2 times higher
Source: Richardson, J> (2005). The Cost of Being Poor. New York: Praeger. Spencer, N. (2000). Poverty and
Child Health, 2nd edition. Abington, UK: Radcliffe Medical Press. Allender, J. (2005). Community Health
Nursing. Philadelphia: Lippinsott, Williams & Wilkins.As students get older, illnesses become less frequent, but other health risks emerge. The most widespread is the
consumption of alcohol and the smoking of cigarettes. As of 2004, about 75 per cent of teenagers reported drinking
an alcoholic beverage at least occasionally, and 22 per cent reported smoking cigarettes (Center for Disease Control,
2004a). The good news is that these proportions show a small, but steady decline in the frequencies over the past 10
years or so. The bad news is that teenagers also show increases in the abuse of some prescription drugs, such as
inhalants, that act as stimulants (Johnston, et al., 2006). As with the prevalence of illnesses, the prevalence of drug
use is not uniform, with a relatively small fraction of individuals accounting for a disproportionate proportion of
usage. One survey, for example, found that a teenager was 3-5 times more likely to smoke or to use alcohol, smoke
marijuana, or use drugs if he or she has a sibling who has also indulged these habits (Fagan & Najman, 2005).
Siblings, it seems, are more influential in this case than parents.
Cognitive development: the theory of Jean Piaget........................................................................................
Cognition refers to thinking and memory processes, and cognitive development refers to long-term
changes in these processes. One of the most widely known perspectives about cognitive development is the