BY: CLAIRE KIM
In the US, a large number of migrant children have been stripped away from their parents at such a young age. With such a traumatic breakup, children develop serious mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety as they constantly remember the last moment they saw their parent’s faces. In my opinion, it is pretty inhumane for the government to pull a family apart just because they are migrant or not a genuine part of this country. Even if they aren’t official citizens, regardless, it shouldn’t be acceptable for anyone to have the right to tear apart a family and isolate children with no one by their side. Children need their parents to develop successfully and live a life that isn’t filled with fear or sadness. How can we find it moral to see children wrapped in foil blankets sleeping in a detention center without any support or light of happiness instigated in their childhood? Why are we creating an environment where children will never feel safe or protected? It just isn’t right. As studies have shown, this process of separation expands the rate of mental illnesses among children and has been stated as severe according to many doctors in our nation’s hospitals. Even if a child receives treatment from the best doctors, they will never be able to erase a scarring past. Doctors have stated that one of the biggest challenges when providing treatment for these children is how they can correctly identify the severity of their mental health because most children at such a young age do not come across ideas of suicide or abandonment. Unlike adults who are much more prone to exhibiting these conditions, children, in general, are an age group where these types of illnesses are very uncommon. Another major challenge for doctors when treating migrant children is the fact that they don’t have an official medical record which is pretty important when it comes to figuring out what illness or disease the child is struggling with. Overall, the issues presented make it hard for doctors to accurately provide the best treatment necessary for the children which in the end may be useless because the damage of their toxic childhood may be too hard to overcome. The best solution is to stop this act of separation on migrant families and let them live together so that they can avoid stumbling across these detrimental health problems.
claire kim. 