Backed by brain research, California schools are beginning to address the effect of severe trauma on the health and 
achievement of their students.
In districts including Humboldt, Richmond, Santa Cruz, Aptos and San Francisco, groups of teachers are being trained to recognize that students’ explosive anger, classroom outbursts, habitual withdrawal and self-injurious behaviors could be symptoms of traumatic stress, the result of repeated exposure to violence, abuse and neglect.
But while other initiatives focus on providing counseling services to youth, these trainings aim to provide teachers with the science and skills to better manage traumatized students in the classroom, an approach known as “trauma-informed” or “trauma-sensitive” teaching. The trainings ask teachers and staff to look at how their tone may contribute, knowingly or unknowingly, to combative interactions with traumatized youth.
Comments (0)