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Childhood Trauma
When one sits down with education experts, especially those who deal with the many-layered, many-factored dimensions of quality learning, they always seem to include the impact of trauma (or toxic stress.)
Trauma Sources
Trauma (toxic stress) originates, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), when a child experiences:
- Psychological, physical, or sexual abuse or assault
- Community or school violence
- Witnessing or experiencing domestic violence
- National disasters or terrorism
- Commercial sexual exploitation
- Sudden or violent loss of a loved one
- Neglect
- Serious accidents or life-threatening illness
- Also, chronic hunger, cold, or lack of safety
The Victims of Trauma
More than two-thirds of children in the US reported at least one traumatic event by age 16, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. And according to Harvard, when a child experiences trauma, it cripples their ability to learn.
The Impact
Ongoing trauma (toxic stress) has a cumulative toll on a child’s mental and emotional health. The more adverse events or factors, the greater the likelihood of developmental delays and other problems.
What are developmental delays? Ongoing trauma inhibits the parts of the brain responsible for reasoning, learning, and emotion. These experiences are toxic to their otherwise quickly growing brain, arresting their brain’s naturally fast and formative growth and, instead, effectively paralyzing the brain. It does not just slow growth; it can diminish it. This impacts learning, behavior, and emotional/mental health. For childhood victims of trauma, learning is stolen.
There is Hope
In Harvard’s study called “The Impact of Early Adversity on Children’s Development,” the summary stated:
During these sensitive periods, healthy emotional and cognitive development
is shaped by responsive, dependable interaction with adults.
A reading mentor is not a cure-all. Childhood trauma is too significant to treat that simply.
But in a world where too many children have few to no “responsive, dependable interaction with adults,” I think even the skeptics have to agree that…
When a child spends one hour a week with someone who says, “You are smart,” “I am proud of you,” “You have a future,” “You are worthy of my time,” “I am so lucky to have a friend like you.”
The positive impact can’t be zero. It can’t be.
