CHAPTER
15
The Role of Schools in the Life of the Traumatized Child
It is
no surprise that children struggling with the effects of
traumatic exposure to family violence, either as witnesses
or through direct abuse, often have difficulty focusing,
following rules, trusting adults and peers, and completing
academic tasks.[231] For some children, this difficulty
can result in a failure to succeed, which can, in turn,
lead to dropping out of school or engaging in disruptive
behavior. For other children, the outward signs of trauma
can be less disruptive to the classroom, but nevertheless
devastating to a child's school experience. Such symptoms
include perfectionism, depression, anxiety, and self-destructive
or even suicidal behavior.[232]
The
following summary from the Massachusetts Advocacy Center
describes the case of Sam and exemplifies how abuse-related
problems can become compounded when our systems of care
respond poorly or not at all.
Sam was removed from a pre-adoptive home where he
had been physically abused. Returned to foster care at
the age of 12, no one in the system diagnosed his trauma
symptoms. His DSS social worker took him to a mental health
center, but there were no placements for a child who was
suffering from so much disappointment and hurt. At school,
he began fighting with other children and was expelled
for hurting a teacher who tried to break up a fight.
He subsequently moved through 15 foster homes with
no schooling until finally, at the age of 14, he was referred
to the Massachusetts Advocacy Center for legal representation.
Finally, two years after the abuse, he was diagnosed with
posttraumatic stress syndrome and placed in a school for
children with behavior problems. He continues to struggle
to overcome his anger to this day.
Though
the task is complex, schools have an enormous opportunity
to assist children exposed to violence. Schools can function
as a non-chaotic and non-stigmatizing "community" where
children can learn how to trust adults and function appropriately.[233]
The small schools movement which encourages smaller schools,
smaller classrooms, mentoring, and environments where adults
know each child, will be very beneficial to this group of
students. However, it is critical that trauma specific approaches
be developed now for all schools so that the needs of children
traumatized from exposure to violent environments can be
addressed.
It must
be emphasized that schools cannot undertake this job alone.
Community resources including mental health centers, social
service agencies, community centers, and housing agencies
must collaborate with school personnel at the most basic
levels to support teacher efforts to foster the success
of traumatized children in the non-stigmatizing environment
of the public school. Through consistent support and encouragement,
teachers can be regular lifelines to children who come to
believe they are helpless, behave helplessly and are often
punished, disregarded, or disrespected for their seeming
lack of motivation. This will require a concerted system
of support within schools and from outside of schools.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The
following are recommendations from the Task Force on
Children Affected by Domestic Violence coordinated by
the Massachusetts Advocacy Center (MAC), and supplemented
by participants at the spring, 2000 Symposia convened by
MCC on "The Impact of Trauma on Children: Implications for
Policy, Protection and Prevention." Comments from participants
at "Helping Traumatized Children Learn," a subsequent conference
sponsored by MAC and Lesley University Center for Special
Education, are also included.
- Stop the re-traumatization of children in schools.
Training educators to identify the symptoms of traumatized
children is a crucial starting point in developing a comprehensive
school-wide approach to helping traumatized children learn.
At a minimum, a training curriculum should:
Help teachers understand that traumatized children may
not be able to express their suffering in ways adults
can understand;
Lacking the words to communicate their pain, these children
may express feelings of vulnerability by "acting out,"
becoming aggressive, or feigning disinterest in academic
success because they believe they can't succeed. Teachers
must be helped to understand that the traumatic symptoms
most detrimental to children's educational experiences
often do not originate in willful defiance, but in their
feelings of vulnerability. With this insight, school personnel
are far less likely to re-traumatize children with surface-oriented
punishments, such as suspension and expulsion, "dumbed-down
curriculums," and demeaning comments ("You're not trying.")[235]
Emphasize the negative effects of publicly labeling
specific children as "traumatized" or "abused."
This is critical to ensure that the experiences of maltreatment
do not become the prominent feature of any child's identity.
Emphasize the importance of helping children feel safe;
Many traumatized children engage in disruptive behavior
and/or are unable to concentrate on academic tasks because
they are afraid. In order to educate these children, it
is necessary to help them feel both physically and emotionally
safe within the school setting. Only when they feel safe,
(including safe from teasing and bullying) can they begin
to learn to modulate their emotions, enabling them to
focus on the important academic tasks before them.[236]
Teach children how to calm themselves and modulate
their emotions;
When children bring traumatic memories with them to school,
any event (a look, the color of your hair) that reminds
them of their trauma can trigger behaviors that may not
be appropriate in the classroom. (This is a classic symptom
of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder discussed earlier.) Mental
health professionals must help educators develop techniques
for calming children and helping them to modulate their
emotional response to the classroom environment, and,
thus, their behavior in it.
Help traumatized children learn to influence what "happens"
to them;
Children who come from chaotic homes often fail to learn
basic notions of cause and effect.[237] Helping them learn
that obeying rules can result in good consequences and
can actually help them succeed can be critical for these
children. Educators can play a healing role in the lives
of these children by helping them make these connections.
Prepare teachers to work with parents victimized by
violence.
It is critical that teacher training help teachers understand
the cycle of violence and its effects on adult as well
as child victims. This information may enable teachers
to better partner with parents who may also be victims
of violence.[238]
- Create clinical support systems for teachers where
they can develop classroom strategies for addressing the
needs of traumatized children.
It must be recognized that teachers are often working
with several traumatized children each day and need clinical
supervisory input to develop classroom strategies based
on the individual needs of their students. A further benefit
of clinical input for teachers may be to assist those
who themselves have suffered from abuse, neglect or trauma
and who request support in handling their own responses
to encountering similar children in their classrooms.
- Reevaluate school policies on confidentiality, curricula,
and discipline in light of the needs of traumatized children.
Child Abuse Reports (51As):
School policies on filing 51As, when appropriate, must
be clarified to avoid stigmatizing children in the school
setting or threatening the child's ability to trust adults
at school. In most circumstances, parents should be informed
prior to a 51A filing. After the filing, schools should
work closely with parents, when appropriate, to support
their parenting skills.
Protocols For Parental Interactions:
Schools must develop sensitive approaches for discussing
a child's school experience and symptoms of trauma with
his or her parent(s). These procedures are particularly
important where the child's trauma originates in exposure
to violence in the home, namely, as a witness to spousal
battery.
Safety Planning:
Schools must be apprised of and, when appropriate, involved
in safety planning for children and their families who
require protection from batterers. Policies on confidentiality
must be clear and unequivocal.
School-Wide Policies
Policies must be developed that respond to traumatized
children's need for predictability, sensitivity, and clear
expectations. A predictable daily routine can contribute
greatly to a child's feeling of safety in the school setting.
Schools must also create consistent individualized response
systems so that each child in the school knows how adults
will respond to their behavior whether they are in homeroom
or art class.
If, for example, a rule exists in a child's primary classroom
that he or she can take a three-minute "breather" when
frustrated, and the same rule exists in art class, the
child can use the same coping strategies throughout the
day. The child can thus assume greater responsibility
for regulating his or her own behavior, which promotes
a sense of self-control and feelings of safety.
When feeling stressed and near "losing control," the consistency
of rules enables the child to handle his or her emotions
more constructively by at least providing a stable, predictable
environment in which they can manage their inner controls.
Where the expectations of traumatized children are clearly
established, they are better able to grasp the difference
between life at school and life in the unpredictable and
uncontrollable world in which they were traumatized. The
end result is that the child has more energy and attention
for important academic tasks and far greater likelihood
of behavioral and academic success in mainstream classes.
- Adapt school curricula to respond to the needs of
traumatized children.
Researchers have only begun to look at trauma-specific
methods for teaching core subjects like reading and writing.
However, it is recognized that traumatized children can
benefit from interactive teaching styles that accommodate
their often-reduced capacity for attention. Moreover,
recent studies of childhood trauma have found that the
body "keeps score" of traumatic memories;[239] that is,
the neurobiological effects of exposure to trauma are
as tangibly impactful as their emotional consequences.
This research may have vast implications for educational
curricula, particularly as it attests to the value of
physical education and arts programs in elementary and
secondary schools. Innovative curriculum development in
academic areas, such as reading that incorporates these
new findings must be piloted and funded at the state and
local levels.
Dr. van der Kolk encourages teachers to help traumatized
children feel they can affect what happens to them by
developing what he refers to as "islands of competence."[240]
By encouraging these children to cultivate their strengths
in non-academic areas ranging from physical education
to theatre,[241] art and music,[242] educators may foster
the development of self-confidence and a sense of mastery.
In addition, educators should incorporate instruction
in conflict-resolution skills and the development of empathy
into the regular education curricula. As these children
begin to develop the ability to adopt another's perspective,
they are more capable of anticipating others' behaviors
and responding accordingly. Traumatized children thus
gain a feeling of control over what happens in their environment.
Moreover, conflict-resolution skills help children understand
and name their emotions, and thus gain a sense of mastery
over them and a greater capacity for self-control.
Since researchers are only beginning to develop "best
practices" for use by school personnel in their instruction
of traumatized children, funding must be made available
to enable psychologists to work closely with educators
to identify these practices and the most effective school-based
mental health interventions for serving this population.
In their attempt to meet the needs of traumatized children,
each school must respect the individuality of its particular
culture and the confidentiality and safety needs of these
children.
- Develop protocols for early identification and services
before children are at risk for discipline or school failure.
Mental health professionals must work with schools to
develop tools that can assist regular teachers in identifying
children who need referral for assistance or for evaluation,
before their behavior problems affect their social or
academic performance. These tools or protocols must be
simple and not overly intrusive. For schools, the details
of what caused the trauma are far less important than
recognizing the symptoms of trauma in a child's behavior.
Thus, as van der Kolk argues, it is more important for
school personnel to consider "who is there for the child"
in the school setting than to "become obsessed with the
mechanics of abuse."[244]
Special education evaluations must consider the traumatic
aspects of a child's disabilities and offer trauma-related
services as necessary to address his or her individual
needs. Yet educators must also work with community mental
health providers to diagnose appropriately the symptoms
of trauma. Schools must take caution not to misdiagnose
traumatic symptoms as ADHD or other learning disabilities,
or vice-versa.[245] Misdiagnosis can result in traumatized
children struggling through special education programs
that fail to meet their needs because they do not address
the traumatic symptoms interfering with the learning process.
- Fund collaboration at the local level.
Community-based mental health centers, trauma experts,
and local child protection agencies must be given funding
for the creation of networks of local services that can
support schools and provide the resources they need to
help each traumatized child succeed. These networks should
facilitate the collaboration of those most immediately
involved in the provision of services. It is important
that teachers, the child's social worker, psychologist,
therapist, guidance counselor, parents, and school administrators
be able to collaborate directly, without fiscal or confidentiality
barriers.
Schools should offer the families of traumatized children
an opportunity to meet with local Family Support Teams
that can assist them in identifying services they might
need or want. Schools should be eager to participate on
these teams when appropriate. Family Support Teams and
services should not be located within schools. Families
have the right to strict confidentiality and to normal
interfaces with their children's school. The primary status
of schools as educational settings must be safeguarded
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Section
IV: Healing Our Children:
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