RESPOND TO STUDENTS POSTS
Grace post
This discussion hits home for me, addiction is and was something my family struggles with. The addiction and the addict itself and the flip side of it, the codependency of the addict, and the families aspect of it all. There are many factors why people don’t quit drugs, smoking, drinking, using porn, or even over eating. There can be a chemical imbalance in your head, environmental factors, biological factors, and even just the personal want of it. I use to live in north west Indiana majority of my life, in the town I grew up in, heroin, is the name of the game. I graduated high school in 2010 and within the 10 years I have graduated more then a dozen of my classmates have overdosed and died from this drug. Some I knew on a personal level but, most I didn’t, who would honestly choose to die at the age 27, it is baffling to me. This is a pure example of how environmental factors can play into addiction and why it can be hard to quit. If you are around this drug everyday, your friends use, and it’s in your face this is going to raise your risk of relapse with no question (Mennis,2016). A classmate of mine who struggled with heroin use in this area moved, he relocated to California, thinking that would help relapse. Sad to say, this didn’t help, he ended up overdosing at the age 27. There are many factors why people don’t quit using, however I wish there were more to do, more to say, this feel like a hopeless fight.

Barrett post
Addiction is something that has affected my family personally. My father is an alcoholic, my mother left him when I was 2 because of his unwillingness to get help. He could not hold a job or contribute to the family and home. To this day my father still drinks and we do not have much contact with him due to his drinking. He started drinking at a very young age. I believe it was 12 or 13. He was the youngest of his siblings by 10 years. They all drank and would give him alcohol so he could “act like them”. The town that he grew up in also contributed to  his drinking. The town did not see underage drinking as an issue so they did not try to stop him. His environment and his family structure is what lead him to become who he is today. He has a hard time quitting because of a couple reasons, he does not think he has a problem and he has done this for so long so what the point? Like my father many people have this same thought process that enables them from being able to see that they need help. I think for these individuals they need their families to be involved and to help him overcome this hurdle.

Discussion 
Part 1:
Read the following article:
National Scientific Council. (2012). The science of neglect: The persistent absence of responsive care disrupts the developing brain. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/The-Science-of-Neglect-The-Persistent-Absence-of-Responsive-Care-Disrupts-the-Developing-Brain.pdf
How can learning the impact of responsive caregiving affect your work with young children? Please be sure to provide specific examples.

Part 2:
It is important that early childhood professionals can explain the importance of responsive caregiving in early childhood to parents. In parent-friendly terms, explain the importance of early childhood education and responsive caregiving and the research supporting responsive caregiving. Please be sure to include at least two examples.
 

Discussion
Part 1: 
One of the issues you learned about in this unit was the importance of healthy nutrition. Food choices can be influenced by culture. Read A Celebration of Culture: A Food Guide for Educators and answer the following questions.
Dairy Council of California. (2011). A celebration of culture: A food guide for educators. Retrieved from
http://www.healthyeating.org/Portals/0/Documents/Tip%20Sheets/CulturalFoodGuide.pdf
It is important to respect each familys culture and their choices in food for their children. Please give two examples of how an early childhood professional can encourage parents choices in food for their children.
Part 2: 
Discuss how early childhood professionals can address childhood obesity and healthy nutrition in the early childhood classroom. Please discuss two examples for the classroom environment and one example to share with parents for the home environment.