Schools are filled with students who have experienced recent trauma, or whose lives include ongoing trauma.
Children who are traumatized may experience considerable difficulty in the school setting. This occurs not only in terms of focus and learning, but in being able to manage their behaviors. In fact, children served by child welfare may spend more waking hours in school than they spend in their homes.
Because many traumatized children have not developed the brain or body tools required to regulate their emotions, they experience a state of chronic anxiety rather than calm. As a result, they are poorly equipped to tolerate and deal with the academic and social demands of the educational setting. As a result, school can become a highly stressful experience that may contain frequent trauma triggers. School will likely remain a stressful environment for these children until a setting conducive to emotional regulation has been provided.
Many children with special needs qualify for and receive specialized educational services through Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which covers mental and physical disabilities, including learning disabilities. They also receive specialized education services through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which covers students who meet requirements of one or more of 13 disabilities.
Although “serious emotional disturbance” is one IDEA qualifier, children who have experienced trauma do not necessarily meet any of the requirements of either Act. Thus, trauma-affected children may receive no special consideration or modifications in the school setting, as they are not viewed as having special needs.
Many educators approach these students without the knowledge necessary to help them gain the most from their academic experiences. They may view a traumatized child as a bad child who is disruptive and will not learn, rather than as a child who has many struggles to overcome. However, schools that are trauma-informed and responsive can serve as a critical support system for their trauma-affected students.
While child welfare agencies can begin to shift their own practice to more effectively help children work through trauma and heal, the work will always be incomplete if school systems fail to gain similar trauma-related knowledge and skills. Child welfare administrators must develop their own paths for approaching and affecting necessary changes in the educational system.
Whether administrators work with teachers, counselors, principals, superintendents, or school boards, it is essential that school personnel be trained on the impact of childhood trauma. They must help traumatized children overcome special barriers to learning and interaction, learn to help children manage their trauma-related reactions, and work to enhance the protective and coping factors of those in their charge.
A well-trained, sensitive educational system can take many actions to respond individually to trauma-affected children while altering their environment. These actions range from those fairly easy to implement, to those that require more effort and resources, and include:
- Modified school schedules that match the child’s level of emotional tolerance.
- Reduced peer interactions, particularly if the child has been a victim of teasing or taunting.
- Daily, consistent one-on-one mentoring by an adult who relates calmly yet firmly, to provide the child with a trusting figure with whom he/she can feel secure.
- A low-stimulus, secure environment to decrease external stimulus and aid the child in maintaining a state of calm.
- A highly structured, consistent environment with a minimum of change to promote the child’s maintenance of a state of regulation.
- Additional time to complete assignments, to reduce the child’s anxiety and allow more opportunities for mastery.
- Choices for the child, to provide more sense of control.
- A safe place for the child to talk about his or her trauma, and simple, realistic responses to the child’s questions.
- Sensitivity to the cues in a child’s environment that may cause a reaction, like an increase in the child’s negative behavior near the anniversary of a traumatic event, for example.
- Awareness of other children’s reactions to the traumatized child, non-disclosure of the details of a child’s trauma to classmates, and protection for the child from peers’ curiosity.
Implementing appropriate modifications and accommodations in the trauma-affected child’s educational setting will greatly assist that child in maximizing his or her cognitive abilities in an environment that would otherwise be perceived as very stressful. Close monitoring as the child progresses may make it possible to moderate or eliminate some accommodations.
From the Child and Families Services Reviews Information Portal. Read More: https://training.cfsrportal.acf.hhs.gov/section-4.
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