Trauma, this is a word with many connotations. Typically, the word trauma is associated with appalling abuse or a terrible car accident, however the word trauma is beginning to take on a new meaning, in terms of its impact on school children. Trauma in this context can be loosely defined as any negative experience that causes a child psychological or emotional stress or damage. Trauma can come in many forms, including parent arguments, divorce, death of a family member, abuse, neglect, among many other adverse experiences that numerous children face daily.
I have taught multiple children who have experienced trauma that is unimaginable. To give a few examples, last year a student in my class had his house was robbed and ransacked while his
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Each of these students exhibited extreme misbehaviors and sometimes violence. I felt like my classroom was spiraling out of control. The five students who experienced the trauma were miserable and the rest of the class didn’t feel safe. I was so busy trying to manage behaviors reactively that teaching was no longer my top priority. The school counselor introduced me to the idea of trauma informed care and gave me some simple ideas to try in my classroom. I implemented them immediately. Slowly my classroom became more manageable and all of the students, not just those exhibiting behavior issues, were learning to more effectively self-regulate their emotions and behavior. I only implemented two simple trauma informed care techniques into the classroom and saw amazing results. I kept the same procedures in place for my second year of teaching, and again students learned to self-regulate. I rarely had students exhibiting the extreme behaviors that I saw the year before. I know there are many more trauma informed care techniques and philosophies, and I intend to use my action research to study their effectiveness in teaching students to self-regulate and to ultimately become more resilient people. I am also interested to see the effects trauma informed care can have on extreme behavior issues and
Trauma is an overwhelming experience that causes injury to a person's psychological state of mind. Complex trauma, on the other hand, is a term used by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). In which an increased emphasis is placed on the impact of multiple traumatizing events that occur during child development stages. As well as an increase in sensitivity of those traumas involving close personal relationships, such as caregivers and siblings (Forkey 3). Children exposed to complex trauma suffer from detrimental short-term and long-term effects on every aspect of their child development. These effects significantly impact their overall "quality of life," specifically affecting areas of cognitive functioning, neurobiological
Reviewing the 12 Core Concepts of the National Child Trauma Stress Network, James is suffering from three of the 12 concepts. Number 1 core concept, Traumatic experience are inherently complex. Traumatic experiences are inherently complex no experience are the same varying degrees of objective life threat, physical violation, witnessing of an injury or death. The victim perceives their surroundings and decides what is best for them now safety and self-protection. Number 4 core concept, A child or adolescent can exhibit an extensive range of reactions to suffering and loss. Number 9 core concept, the developmental neurobiology triggers a youth’s reactions to traumatic experience. In this paper, we will be covering another trauma that affects the social worker or case worker who works on these cases of
Historical trauma is described to be an experience or event that have caused a generation or individual harm.
Developmental Trauma Disorder (DTD) was a proposed by Van der Kolk and D’Andrea (2010). The premise of DTD is based on research data of individuals involved in several research studies. According to Van der Kolk and D’Andrea (2010), DTD is the result of living in a fear-based environment which includes, poor treatment by primary caregivers, instability, and neglect. This type of inadequate treatment is often hidden, meaning it is may not be visible on the surface. Neglectful caregiver-infant relationships perpetuate DTD. These interactions relay the message to the infant or child that the world is not safe, is threatening, and is unreliable. This lack of emotional safety is often as damaging as lack of physical safety (Van der Kolk & d’Andrea,
The results of trauma can be physical, emotional, cognitive, social, economic, and spiritual. The impact of trauma is layered in the neurological and endocrine system, affecting all parts of the body and mind. Life force energy can become blocked. There might be physical injury as well as chronic pain syndromes or immune problems that occur from long term stress. Emotions or unmet needs can become stuck, leaving the person trapped in patterns of thought, emotion, or behavior. Trauma also makes individuals more vulnerable to further stressors.
Childhood Trauma is defined as “The experience of an event by a child that is emotionally painful or distressful, which often results in lasting mental and physical effects.” (The National Institute of Mental Health). Childhood trauma is an epidemic that seems to be running its way throughout the world. Childhood trauma is a worldwide problem that can affect anyone and everyone. People tend to just try and help the problems that occur due to the childhood trauma, but not the problem itself. Many of these issues will also follow the child into their adult years and will cause negative effects. This paper will discuss the negative outcomes for a child who suffers from childhood trauma, and the negative outcomes that can follow them into adulthood.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines trauma as a very difficult or unpleasant experience that causes someone to have mental or emotional problems usually for a long time (Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2015). From a medical perspective trauma is describe as severe damage to a person’s body. Trauma can be cause by multiple factors in a person life. Trauma could stem from a distressing experience of a physical or psychological nature. In recent years’ major natural disasters and acts of terrorism have become more prominent and devastating creating long lasting traumatic effects in individuals lives. Trauma can have a lasting negative impact on a person’s life. The lasting effects of trauma can have a negative effect in development as well as
Warnings put a stop to break downs and other traumatic phases. Bailey Loverin, second-year literature major at UC Santa Barbara, states “trigger warnings in the classroom don’t censor material. Neither are they an excuse to avoid challenging subjects; instead, they offer students with post-traumatic stress disorder control over the situation, so they can interact with difficult material.” Loverin illustrated in the article that the use of trigger warnings in the classroom are not meant for censoring materials but are meant for allowing the student control of the situation and preparing them for what is being taught and making a choice to stay or go. Loverin, contends “If students are suddenly confronted by material that makes them ill, black out or react violently, they are effectively prevented from learning. If their reaction happens in the classroom, they've halted the learning environment. No professor is going to teach over the rape victim who stumbles out in hysterics or the veteran who drops under a chair shouting.” She gives insight in the article that if a student is bombarded with material that may have a negative effect on them and causes breaks downs it halts the learning experience. To be realistic would you be able to focus on a lesson if break down of a student happens in class? Another source that supports my claim is Emma Pettit, Administration of veteran’s affairs, states “Everyone's got an
First Nations children suffered many forms of abuse at the hands of the Canadian Government (Oh, Canada!) under the guise of residential schools. The purposes of the residential schools were to remove First Nations children from the influence of their families and cultures, and to intergrade them into the dominant culture (The Residential School System). This was done under the assumption that First Nations culture was lesser, “to kill the Indian in the child” as it was commonly said. The children were forcibly separated from their families to live in year-round schools where they were taught “white man” curriculum, with a two-month vacation time, completely separated from their Aboriginal heritage and forbidden from speaking their own languages (The Residential School System). If these rules, along with many others, were broken the punishments were severe (Oh, Canada!). Residential school survivors spoke of their horrible abuse during their time at the schools, including: sexual, physical and psychological (The Psychological and Intergenerational Impacts of the Indian Residential School System). The students received an inferior education, usually only taught up to grade five, training them for manual labor jobs (The Residential School System). The residential school system undermined First Nations culture and disrupted families for generations, leaving severe psychological damage in not only the survivors but also their families and the following generations (The Psychological and Intergenerational Impacts of the Indian Residential School System). Many students grew up without experiencing a family life, never gaining the experience and knowledge necessary to raise a family of their own. The effects of the schools were far reac...
A traumatic experience can physically and emotionally affect a child. Overcoming a traumatic experience means that the child is resilient. According to Werner (1995), “Resilient children exhibit good developmental outcomes despite high-risk status, sustained competence under stress, and recovery from trauma” (as cited in Couchenour & Chrisman, 2011, p. 91). Teachers can help build resilience in their students. This article mainly focuses on this topic and provides different strategies that teachers could use to help students overcome traumatic experiences.
Trauma is defined as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience; however, it can impact those who experience the initial experience and those who learn about it. Secondary trauma is a state of emotional distress caused by hearing the firsthand stories of trauma survivors. Trauma is a social disease because it is spread through close relationships impacting family and friends and can be prevented.
Children experience decreased development in the left brain when traumatic events occur (Network, n.d.). Imagine being a child and growing up with these types of events occurring. A traumatic event in a child’s life can cause a child to experience a long lasting negative effect. Life events are happening everywhere and more often in the lives of children (Understanding Child Traumatic Stress, n.d.). Trauma can cause them to do three things. First, they try to see what the danger is and how serious it is. Secondly there are strong emotional and physical reactions. Thirdly they attempt to come up with what to do that can help them with the danger. Traumatic events can cause a child to develop differently, which effects the young child stage,
According to the American Psychological Association, trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event. Some terrible events that happen all too often are rape, natural disasters or an accident. Immediately following the event shock and denial are likely to occur, but in the long-term flashbacks, unpredictable emotions and troubled relationships can arise. Defining emotional trauma on a child. Emotional trauma in a child can be created by bullying, emotional abuse, death of loved ones, separation from parent, or chaos and dysfunction in the household. Child symptoms of trauma can be very similar to depression symptoms. They can over sleep or sleep to little, unexplained anger, trouble focusing, obsessive worrying and some anxiety. How a child experiences an event and how it’s handled by those around him have an effect on how traumatizing it can be, notes Dr. Jerry Bubrick (Child Mind Institute , 2017). People grieve at different speeds and the way the child grieves is not the correct indicator on how the child will cope later. Defining physical trauma on a child. Physical trauma on a child is considered non-accidental or the cause of physical injury. Some households that suffer from alcoholism/substance abuse and anger issues have higher occurrences of child abuse as compared to households without according to psychology today. Sometimes kids that are abused are unaware that they are being abused and are victims of child
Child abuse has become a chronic and common issue in the country today. In the United States of America, an estimated three million children are victims of abuse every year. Whether the abuse is physical, emotional, sexual, or neglect, the scars can be deep and can have a negative effect on a child’s education. According to academic research preformed at Brown University in April 1996, it was noted that abused children have a harder time maintaining good grades in school due to their stressful home lives, which leads to a lack of focus in the classroom. These issues are severely hurting the education of many children which damages their conscious development. Unstable households are the number one cause of children not performing at the level of proficiency in the classroom. (Family Mobility Helps) There are four different types of abuse, but the effects are similar, which is physical, or emotional harm placed upon the child. There are certain types of abuse that are often harder to identify. Neglect is the most common form of child abuse. Family members and caregivers are the abusers in most cases. Research has shown there are three major reasons why abuses children suffer academically. The reasons are withdrawal, poor communication/social skills, and behavioral problems. Child abuse does not only hurt a child’s education, but can lead to deaths. Therefore prevention is the key to the success of a child’s future. (Rynders)
Psychological Trauma can alter, destroy and create a lot of bad impacts in a person’s life. The main definition of psychological trauma is the results of unique individual experience of an unusually event that invaded a person’s sense of security and safety, making he or she feels helpless and at risk of dangerous situation, and the ability to assimilate his or her emotional experience is overwhelmed at certain situation. (Lawrence Robinson, 2011)