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to help you give the students in your classrooms the skills they need to foster resilience and a capacity to meet the inevitable challenges in their lives.
The Impact of Trauma and Adversity on Children and the Classroom
One important breakthrough in the field of education over the last several decades is a heightened awareness of the impact of trauma and adversity on the children who walk into our classrooms. Twenty years ago, few educators were talking about trauma, let alone considering it as they created their strategic plans and curricula. Today, most educators understand, broadly and deeply, the countless ways that children who have experienced adversity may have the deck stacked against them as they struggle to maintain balance while trying to learn, play, and connect to others.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) The term Adverse Childhood
mental health (CDC Vitalsigns, 2019). As a group, individuals who have experienced multiple ACEs are at higher risk for chronic diseases, mental health disorders, substance abuse, and early mortality. Thus, addressing and preventing ACEs have been recognized as important public health priorities. Still, the ACEs list is not comprehensive and other traumatic experiences can also have significant negative impacts on children’s well-being. Moreover, the presence of ACEs does not necessarily determine an individual’s future health outcomes, as resilience and protective
Experiences (ACEs) was first coined in the 1990s by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente in a study of the impact that traumatic events can have on children who experience them (Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., et al., 1998). ACEs fall into three categories: abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. Examples of ACEs include physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; neglect; parental separation or divorce; exposure to someone with a substance abuse problem or mental illness; and exposure to violence, among others. ACEs can have a cumulative, long-lasting impact on an individual’s physical and
factors can play a crucial role in mitigating the effects of trauma.
Introduction 13
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