ACEs and Student Trauma
Physical Abuse: Larryette Watts
Emotional Abuse Wade Schirack
Sexual Abuse : Avery Filer
Psychological/Emotional Neglect: Jie Chen
Bullying: Delfo Baroni
Racism, Sexism, Discrimination : Elizabeth Bento
Household Mental Illness: Ruoxi Zhao
Household Substance Abuse: Austin Lambert
Symptoms
Fear
Hopelessness
Shame
Difficulty concentrating
Anxiety
social withdraw
Sleep disorders
Response Strategies
Talk with your student- if you suspect emotional abuse talk with the student. Take an interest in what they are doing and get to know them. They may not open up right away and be comfortable sharing. Continue to build trust and Talk with the school counselor and inform them about the concerns you may have.
Get Active- encourage student to get active research shows that doing moderate intensity aerobic training and muscle strengthening training for at least 90 min a week can help you sleep better and reduce the risk of depression.
Response Strategies
Support Groups: Students are brought together to discuss bullying and strategies for dealing with it, e.g. how to improve the situation
School Solicits Help from Parent Community: Parents are encouraged to talk to their children about bullying and its traumatic effects
Develop Rules and Norms with Students: Allow students to take ownership in creating a climate of respect, trust, and kindness
Encourage Students to Talk to Teachers or Staff: If students witness bullying, or are worried about someone being bullied, they should not hesitate to talk to staff
Identify Triggers of Bullying: Peer groups, environment, social-emotional skills. Take preventative measures
Apply Sanctions: If bullying persists after repeated counseling, begin enforcing punishment
Symptoms
•Unexplained injuries, such as bruises, fractures or burns
•Changes in behavior — such as aggression, anger, hostility or hyperactivity — or changes in school performance
•Withdrawal from friends or usual activities
•Depression, anxiety or unusual fears, or a sudden loss of self-confidence
•Rebellious or defiant behavior
Response Strategies
• Research the proper channels of reporting the abuse, according to your state.
•Report the abuse as soon as it is suspected.
•Become watchful of a child who is suspected of being abused, and give additional attention to the needs of that child.
• Learn more about the process of child protection responses, so that you can assist with the child's progress through this process.
Symptoms:
•Excessive tiredness.
•Aggression.
•Withdrawn or distant.
•Irritability, paranoia, or anxiety.
•Inadequate health care.
•Difficulty making friends or maintaining relationships.
Response Strategies:
•Create and maintain a safe and positive learning environment for students.
•Establish and develop nurturing relationships with students.
•Be predictable and establish routines to provide a sense of order and stability.
•Practice wellness and mindfulness in class with students.
•Provide students with more opportunities to socialize and work together.
Symptoms
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Response Strategies
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Symptoms
•Nightmares or difficulty sleeping
•Sudden change in eating habits
• Develops fears of new people or places
•mentions of new "friend" or secrets shared with adults
•expensive gifts or money from an unrelated adult
In Younger Children
•New words for private body parts
•Displays unexpected knowledge of sexual language or behaviors, sometimes through writing, drawing or playing
•Age innapropriate sexual activity
•Wetting or soiling incidents unrelated to toilet training
In Older Adolescents and Teens
•Self-Harm, suicide attempts
•Issues with personal hygiene
•Resistance to intimacy
•Drug and alcohol abuse
Response Strategies
• Fast Response:
Take action as soon as you witness an incident, recieve information, or have a reasonable suspicion that a child is being sexually abused at home or in school. Speaking up early can lead to intervention and end risky behaviors before harm occurs
•Be a Trusted Adult
create a safe environment in your classroom and foster strong trust based relationships with your students, so that they can come to you regarding issues and talk to you about them
•Communicate with Parents
Parents may often not be aware of the signs or be knowledgeable about child development and behaviors. When potential indicators are observed, speak up and communicate with parents
Symptoms
Response Strategies
Symptoms
•Heightened reactions, anxiety and depressed mood.
•Experience nightmares.
•Loss of memory.
•Feel sad or hopeless.
•Confusion, difficulty concentrating.
•Feel disconnected or numb.
•Withdrawing from others.
Response Strategies
•Help students reduce stress by doing relaxation techniques such as meditation, deep breathing exercises.
•Encourage students have a well-balanced diet and have enough rest time in school.
•Always support when needed. In team work with school psychology, social worker and other teachers for collaboration work to students.
•Create more chances for students to participate in social activities and classroom activities.
•Motivate students to make new friends and maintain friendship with their friends.
•Connect with family, school and community. Try the best to offer resources and help students join a support group of trauma survivors if necessary and helpful upon agreement.
Symptoms
Changes in sleep patterns
Changes in eating patterns
Frequent crying
Becomes angry/hostile easily
Significant mood swings
Becomes withdrawn
Develops nervous ticks
Refuses to talk about what's wrong
Retrogressive behavior
Self-blame
Easy to get angry and beat others
Depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and other psychology
Fear, sadness, expecting parents to reconcile as before
Feeling of loss, rejection of adult help, loneliness, dislike of contact, anger, hatred of parents.
Discussion opportunities:
provide students with opportunities to share their feelings. When discussing families, especially as a part of my Family member lesson plans, make sure to discuss that there are many types of families. Some families have one parent, some have grandparents, and some live with uncles and aunts. Make teaching diversity a priority in class.
Words of encouragement:
encourage the student to share their feelings. If they like to do so in private, be caring and accepting of their views and thoughts. If a student feels anger, rejection, sadness and worthlessness, encourage them to get counseling.
Communicate with Parents:
try keeping both parents in the loop over the student's emotional and educational progress. If the non-custodial parent shows an interest in their child's development, cooperate with them. This will help in creating a supportive link for the child.
Maintain structure and routine:
provide students with some structure and stability by ensuring that schedules are followed and class discipline is maintained at all times.
Keep a boundary:
Set limits for the extent to which you can take their bad behavior and make sure students are well aware of those limits as well.