Respondtoat least oneof your colleagues' postings. Be sure to respond to a colleague who referenced a societal or environmental factor of development that was different than yours. Suggest at least one different societal or environmental factor of development that you think would also be relevant. Explain why. For example, if your colleague identified socioeconomic status as one of the most important social influences for a person they discussed, and you think a different societal influence, like culture, is also important, respond by defining that societal factor, and explain why you think it is also relevant for your colleague to consider

The two societal factors I've chosen to refer to are the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the Coronavirus Pandemic. The two individuals I've chosen to discuss are my mom and my niece.

My mom was born in Kentucky in 1975 and is of white ethnicity. In the 1980s HIV/AIDS became an epidemic in America and my mom was influenced by it. Her favorite uncle and best friend was a gay man who would eventually die from AIDS. My mom had the opportunity to attend an AIDS walk in Louisville Kentucky in the 1980s with her uncle and she remembers seeing her picture on the front of the newspaper. Because of the type of relationship she had with her uncle and what he represented, my mom has always supported the LGBT community, but I strongly believe that since her uncle passed from AIDS, she has always had this excessive fear of infections that affect the reproductive system even the most common female reproductive infections that have nothing to do with STIs. According to Feldman (2022), nurture is a word to describe behavior that is influenced by one's social environment, so my mom's beliefs and behaviors in this case were influenced by nurture (p. 11).

An inherited factor that has influenced my mom's life is her hair and eye color. The majority of my mom's family have blonde hair and blue eyes, but not my mom, she was born with brown hair and brown eyes. Her mom has blonde hair and light brown eyes, while her dad and two sisters had blonde hair and blue eyes. When younger, my mom always questioned why she was the only child with brown hair and brown eyes, and even though her mom had brown eyes, she had a hard time accepting this part of herself, as did her dad. Eventually, the truth came out that my grandpa was in fact not my mom's biological father, and the physical differences finally made sense. My mom told me the story of how she found out when she was just a middle-aged kid that her dad whom she loved dearly, was not her real dad, and still today she holds a grudge against her mom. At times I get the sense my mom despises the fact that she looks more like her mom or some man she's never met versus her dad whom she loved and took care of till he passed away from cancer when I was just a toddler.

My niece was born in 2015 in Texas and is of Hispanic ethnicity. A societal factor that has influenced my niece's life recently is the coronavirus pandemic. "Cohort effects provide an example of history-graded influences, which are biological and environmental influences associated with a particular historical moment" (Feldman, 2022). She had to virtually attend kindergarten during the beginning of the pandemic and like many other kids, it affected her academically as she went on to first grade. The school wanted to retain her in first grade seeing as she wasn't reading or speaking at a first-grade level. Today she is in second grade and although she has academically improved a lot, she is still slightly behind and struggling with reading.

An inherited factor my niece has is a slight speech impediment. As she got to the stage of speaking, I quickly noticed the way she was pronouncing her words. I wanted to ignore it and some it up to "it's normal and she will grow out of it", but when she started attending school, they became concerned and brought it to her parent's attention that they should consider speaking with a doctor who eventually recommended speech therapy. "Inherited influences on development include the genetic and biological factors passed down to children from their biological parents" (Walden University Interactive media, 2022b). One of her parents also has a speech impediment.

In my family, mental health isn't really spoken of, nor do the majority of them believe in treatment for mental health/illnesses. I believe my mom's fear of infections and unresolved feelings about her DNA has really influenced how she thinks and behaves. There are great resources available such as talk therapy that can help her improve her quality of life, and help her overcome these feelings that seem to be taking a toll on her, but she chooses not to seek help. As for my niece who is about to be 8 years old in a few months, she has a chance at a better quality of life. Thankfully her parents are open-minded about mental health and ask questions without feeling ashamed of the responses and diagnosis they may get. Although we are still dealing with everything related to the coronavirus pandemic, from still being easily contagious and having to wear masks in certain places, it is no longer negatively affecting her academically. Her parents and teachers can now focus on helping her reach her academic goals in the proper setting. She is also getting the necessary treatments for her speech impairment, which seems to be improving.