was sick and their father was busy, often face anxiety. As a result, their body produces

stress hormones. If this happens a lot, these hormones become toxic for their developing

brain, which then later can repress emotional and cognitive well-being for life.

The real story of Daniel Rucareanu, who spent part of his early childhood in a Romanian

orphanage, shows the full impact neglect can have.

The story began in 1966 when Romania's then leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, wanted to make

his country a world powerhouse and came up with laws to increase the country's population.

Abortion and contraception were declared mostly illegal. While the law led to a rapid rise

in birth rates, many of the poorer families were unable to take care of all their children

and Daniel, and around half a million others, were sent to state-run institutions.

In most orphanages there were no toys, no books, or anything else to stimulate cognitive

development. Many kids just stared at the bare ceilings, waiting for their next meal.

Due to the lack of human contact, some babies developed strategies for self stimulation,

such as rocking back and forth.

The cognitive neglect often led to lower IQ scores, delayed language development and a

lack of creative thinking. This happens because our brains build connections with every new

experience and stimulation. If there are no rich experiences during the first years of

life — the period in which the brain develops the fastest — children cannot build the

foundations necessary for optimal future learning. They miss out for life.

Daniel lived with over 400 other children and their shared bedrooms were hardly ever

cleaned. The meals were mostly tiny portions of boiled cabbage, which the staff would sometimes

steal to eat themselves. Some supervisors used violence to control the orphans. Others

encouraged the older kids to beat Daniel to humiliate him and exercise authority..

The consequences of physical neglect and lack of basic nutrients caused most orphans to

suffer from stunted growth. Some children contracted HIV and Hepatitis B as a result

of the reusing of medical supplies. The physical abuse caused severe bruising and other injuries.

The overworked and under-trained staff hardly ever soothed the crying children. In fact

they barely spent any time with Daniel at all. Some children were left completely alone

with their worries, others hid their feelings from the very people who ought to protect

them, since they feared being hurt.

Emotional neglect and anxiety lead to an excessive production of the stress hormones known as

adrenaline and cortisol,which is like poison for the developing brain.But the experience

also distorted the children's understanding of love and human relationships. They learned

to trust nobody and as adults, often suffered from depression, insomnia and social anxiety.

When Ceausescu's regime was eventually overthrown and the conditions inside the orphanages were

shown on television, researchers from around the world came to examine the nameless children.

MRI scans later showed that some had smaller volumes of brain mass. The resulting research

made a strong case that not only is nutrition vital to a child's development, but so is

human contact. To help the children, a large number were adopted into foreign families.

But even after being adopted, many had problems forming loving bonds to their new parents.

This aligns with the attachment theory and the notion that a child needs to establish

a loving relationship with at least one primary caregiver early in life. Daniel was quite

lucky with his family. While he continued to experience trauma and anxiety, he went

on to have a university education, started a family of his own and later he founded a

non-profit organization for neglected children.

If you grew up in a loving environment, count yourself really, really lucky. If you experienced

forms of neglect, try to internalize the idea that it was never your fault and maybe not

even your parents' fault either.

To read what we think can be done if you have ever experienced neglect, read the descriptions

below. One way is to share your thoughts about neglect and how you think it affects you today.

This and all other Sprouts' videos are  licensed under the Creative Commons. 

That means teachers from all around the world can 

use them in classrooms, online courses or to start projects - and today, thousands

already do!

To learn how it works and download this video without Ads or background music, checkout

our website  or read the description below.

If you want to support our mission and help change education 

visit our Patreon - that's patreon.com/sprouts.