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Toddlers Through Primary Grades
Three-year-old Trina often uses challenging behavior in her preschool classroom, including biting, hitting, spitting, and not respecting her classmates. However, Trina is a different child at home-quiet, nervous, and always close to her mother's side. Often wetting her bed and crying out in her sleep. Trina is haunted by memories of the nightly abuse she and her mother endured.
Six-year-old Shawn used to love going to school. He danced through the hallways, drew pictures for his teachers, and enjoyed playing with friends. Since being injured in his family's automobile accident, Shawn spends most days staring out the window, unable to complete his work or pay attention. Though they fear he may be slipping from their reach, Shawn's teachers are hesitant to push him too hard.
When 5-year-old José began Head Start, he had difficulty making friends, connecting with his teachers, participating in activities, and staying on task. Though he is too young to remember the violence in his home country or the night that his family fled, the fear surrounding those experiences lingers, making it difficult for him to reach out to new people. His inability to trust others is reinforced by his parents' reminders that his family will be deported if anyone discovers that they did not legally immigrate to the US. José worries that his family will not survive if forced to return.
Though the details of each event are different, their impact is the same-Trina, Shawn, and José are too afraid to learn. Saddled with traumatic memories, these children are trapped in fear, reliving their worst experiences or running from previous events. Children who live in such tumultuous worlds find mistrust is more protective than trust, and fear is more powerful than hope. It is difficult to convince children who experience trauma that monsters live only in their imaginations. Those children who would benefit most from school are often too scared to embrace it. Acknowledging the impact of trauma on children's development is critical for providing the support and understanding necessary for their healing.
Understanding trauma: A world turned upside down
Trauma is not an event itself but a reaction to extremely stressful life circumstances. Trauma occurs when an external event overwhelms the ability to cope, leaving...