If Paper Tigers is the triumphant "after" photo, Spring Valley High is the "before"

Donielle Prince 10/27/1512:38 PM

By now I think everyone in America has heard what happened at Spring Valley High School in Richland County, South Carolina. A quick synopsis: After a student would not leave the classroom, the teacher followed a toxic series of steps too common in American schools.

He called the vice principal for reinforcement, who ordered the girl to leave the room, and she refused. The VP called the school resource officer, who for reasons unfathomable, decided to body slam and drag the body of this slight teenage girl.

This incident all started because she broke a classroom rule that was either: (reported differently in various accounts) that she chewed gum, or was looking at her cell phone. The notion that either of these behaviors would result in her being body slammed and dragged is not only appalling, but flies directly in the face of what this ACEs Connection community understands about trauma.

There was just one person in the whole room who stood up for this young girl. And it was a student, Niya Kenny. The adults merely watched as this child was brutalized. In the video clip below, Niya is being interviewed about what she witnessed- click the play button on the clip below:

(To see this video clip in a larger frame, go to: https://www.facebook.com/Alici...s/10153189096628597/&nbsp

What's fascinating about Niya's commentary in the clip above, are the clues about trauma in this classroom. She makes a point to tell the interviewer that the girl who was brutalized, "never talks to anyone. Ever". She told the Washington Post: “I know this girl don’t got nobody and I couldn’t believe this was happening,” Kenny, 18, told WLTX. (story linked below).

So Niya has noticed that something is going on with this young woman. What if the staff had been tuned in? What if the classroom teacher, or the vice principal had been tuned in to trauma-informed practice? Niya actually uses the word "traumatized" to describe how she and her classmates experienced witnessing this violence!

This interview with Niya, as well as the original video itself, becomes a powerful teaching tool for the need for trauma-informed practices in schools.

Recently, the film Paper Tigers was released for free screenings around the country. The film, a documentary by James Redford (Robert Redford’s son), tracks the efforts of high school principal in Walla Walla Washington to bring a trauma-informed approach to the students at Lincoln High School. At Lincoln, the students have significant challenges at home: from a withdrawn young man secretly buckling under the stress of responsibility for the care of a mentally ill parent, to a young woman with aggressive outbursts, who has been abandoned by her own mother.

Under Principal Jim Sporleder’s leadership, Lincoln High staff are trained and educated about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which is the study of the impact of trauma on well-being. Lincoln High staff also train their students about ACEs. The effects of this training have resulted in greatly reduced suspensions- down by 85%, and increased academic performance and graduation rates.

What happened at Spring Valley High did not have to happen. The question before us is, how do we get more schools to take these transformative steps that Jim Sporleder championed? Now that we know better, to not do better is a crime.

Read more on this story here:
Washington Post -- http://www.washingtonpost.com/...-this-was-happening/

New York Times -- http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10...-officer-arrest.html

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Donielle PrinceMember

Officer Ben Fields is a School Resource Officer. He is trained like other police officers, but serves his duty in schools. Many in the US think this is highly inappropriate, to have these individuals working in schools, as they are trained to handle street patrols. This isn't a child-centered choice. A police officer should not be involved in the discipline of children. Many believe that we should call for an end to School Resource Officers and spend that money on other needs in schools.

Originally Posted by Mem Lang:

I called the guy who dragged the student away a security guard. I just remembered reading somewhere that his job description was in fact to be there for the students' wellbeing. Hmmm. Clearly a lot of education needed.

10/30/1510:07 AM

Donielle PrinceMember

Mem, your comments highlight that schools need so many reforms to become trauma-informed. From scheduling and staffing decisions, to professional development and support. Even before the focus on student behavior, schools struggle to meet their obligations and face parent, community, and government censure for not meeting standards. Building trauma-informed schools has many layers to break through.

Originally Posted by Mem Lang:

Donielle, this video certainly went viral across the globe. Thank you for bringing it to attention again.

It is only because of mobile phones (cell phones USA) that this case was picked up, as have a few others involving police etc in the past, due to technology. I believe as you probably would, there would be so many such incidences occurring, again, across the globe such as this, but unrecorded therefore covertly done everyday in schools etc. Not seen (recorded), therefore didn't happen...

Whilst I am certainly not condoning this - the student was clearly small and light and appeared to be simply refusing to cooperate with the authority figures by not moving out of the room for chewing gum (?), so it was an over the top response to such a situation. I ask how do these situations occur, in less or more severe forms?

Did the security person himself have high ACEs or some form of brutality in his background? Ditto the teacher, etc present in the room? Or is it simply ignorance (power for power's sake/inability/lack of motivation to communicate with the student), or both?

Clearly there is a need to know the students well, what's happening to them in their home lives etc hence the ACE score for the whole of the school, including staff. What explains such a response otherwise? It certainly highlights the need for trauma informed schools. But again, I say, the staff themselves need to feel supported as well, so that there is not the possibility of overwhelming emotions (?)/other justifications, that lead to such inappropriate action. Smaller class sizes with high ACE students is a must as well as the trauma informed education.

Let us hope that such incidences as this, highlight the need for change.

10/30/1510:04 AM

Mem LangMember

10/29/158:19 PM

Mem LangMember

Donielle, this video certainly went viral across the globe. Thank you for bringing it to attention again.

Let us hope that such incidences as this, highlight the need for change.

10/29/157:19 PM

Donielle PrinceMember

Shoshana,

Were you at the Beyond Trauma conference in Sac? If so I think you raised this questions there, which was awesome!

That relationship between oppression and trauma does need to be well articulated and integrated into the work around trauma-informed approaches.

There are so many issues in this story that I couldn't write quickly about, but are so key- the fact that has come out about the young lady being a recently orphaned foster youth- so much trauma and so much invisibility for children who are living in foster care. Many feel both traumatized by the conditions surrounding placement, and in addition, feel shame around the fact that they are in foster care and often don't want people to know.

And back to oppression- the fact that her body is a target in ways that the bodies of other "defiant" kids bodies are not. Specifically, there is the whole issue of defining and encoding "defiance" in the first place; and whose defiance is worthy of a call to police, and whose is not. I wonder who is taking care of her emotionally right now, in the aftermath of all of this, especially since she is not with her family. I wonder if the school staff is asking themselves these questions. Much to ponder.

Originally Posted by Shoshana Akins:

Thank you for posting this. Racism, discrimination, and trauma go hand-in-hand in many situations. These types of systemic actions need to be spoken about.

10/28/1511:32 AM

Shoshana AkinsMember

Thank you for posting this. Racism, discrimination, and trauma go hand-in-hand in many situations. These types of systemic actions need to be spoken about.

10/28/1510:58 AM

Jane StevensPublisher, ACEsTooHigh; founder, PACEs Connection

So glad you posted this, Danielle -- and made the comparison between a very unhealthy school and a healthy school approach, as Lincoln High School exemplifies.

10/27/158:59 PM

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