Why The Orphanage Needs To Be Reformed

Orphans have always been stereotyped. A lot of people believe that these children don’t get the necessary love and attention for growth. Sadly, this notion is mostly true.

Many studies have confirmed that orphans in orphanages tend to have delayed development and resilience. They are often neglected due to the structure of the orphanage home, which can lead to adverse side effects.

Many studies ascertain the importance of love and affection on a child’s development. One of these studies is the surrogate mother experiment. In this experiment, the monkey chose love and affection over physiological needs such as food time and time again.

It is a structural fault, but a lack of personal care and motivation can affect the child both socially and psychologically. That said, an orphanage institution tends to have about 9–16 members per group, and they are all cared for by one caretaker. This significantly reduces how personal the caretaker can potentially get with a child. They tend to take care of each child in a “business-like” fashion, with a little amount of warmth, sensitivity, or responsiveness to each of their individual needs.

What’s worse is that these caretakers get changed and altered over time due to several unforeseen reasons, discouraging the children from developing any form of personal connection with them.

As a result, kids who spend their first few formative years in an institutionalized home are more likely to show both physical and mental retardation. They tend to lag behind their peers in body dimensions, and they are also likely to show signs of a lack of expected cognitive activity and lower IQs. Additionally, during their stay and even after their leave, they are more likely to develop mental health disorders related to attachment issues such as borderline personality disorder, anxiety disorders, and even mood disorders like depression.

That said, the structure of the orphanage homes should be reformed with the comfort, care, and sensitivity of each child’s needs in mind. Only then can these adverse effects be countered. It might not need to go through a complete reformation, but the following factors in the orphanage need to be revised:

Smaller numbers of children the caretaker is in charge of

If you reduce the number of children the caretaker is in charge of, it will allow the caretaker to establish a more personal relationship with each child. As a suggestion, five should be the maximum amount.

2. The caretakers should be hired for the long term. Once again, if caretakers don’t get swapped every few weeks and instead are placed permanently in charge of a particular number of children, it would encourage them to try to form a relationship.

3. Requirements to recruit caretakers should be thoroughly revised. Presently, there are many orphanages that would just about hire anyone. If they set a standard instead, putting compassion for children as one of the criteria, then many of these children would grow up better than they do now.

The orphanage homes around today should also be highly commended because they’re doing their best. However, some things should definitely be reformed, which have been mentioned above.