Nancy Fenton | July 27, 2015
Since the death of Freddie Gray, Baltimoreans have worked to address the underlying problems associated with the civil unrest. While city leaders look for solutions, Baltimore's children are bearing the brunt of the heightened turbulence.
In the days immediately following the surge of unrest, our young students in The Club at Collington Square, an after-school and summer camp for at-risk kids, were producing artwork that worried even our most experienced staff member, who has worked with city children for more than 20 years. Over and over, children were creating artwork filled with burning homes and people fighting. This is not just the result of watching a violent movie or having a bad dream. This is the reality of living with the fear of violence in one's own neighborhood.
The past few months have been particularly stressful and frightening for children in Baltimore who live in the areas of increased street violence. This summer, shootings are occurring almost daily in their neighborhoods.
They know the people who are involved in these shootings, and they know that the violence is not an anomaly; it is happening over and over again.
For young children, prolonged exposure to violence can actually create stress that can change the physiology of the brain's function. In severe cases, individuals develop difficulties in decision making, mood regulation and memory. For years, Baltimore's social workers, teachers, and nurses have seen how the impact of violence is expressed by very young children; Sudden emotional withdrawal and escalated responses to normal childhood disagreements are signs of an exposure to violence. So is a negative reaction to law enforcement; for these kids, interactions with police are often associated violent and scary situations. From the perspective of a 7-year-old, there is no rhyme or reason for what they experience.
Read the full article in the Baltimore Sun.
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