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When 67-year-old Wayne Sperling appeared in a Denver courtroom for sentencing on December 30, 2014 , his long, snow white beard and button nose made him look like a real-life incarnation of Kris Kringle. But he more accurately resembled a sinister character from Oliver Twist. Sperling faced 10 felony charges related to child abuse but pleaded guilty to just one, a Class 5 felony that carried a sentence of up to eight years in prison. He’d already lost custody of his children. Now the judge...

On Nov. 9, educators at Bruce Vento Elementary in St. Paul fielded an onslaught of tough questions from students. Some wanted to know if they would be sent away, or if their parents would be sent away. Others were trying to make sense of the wall, wondering if Donald Trump intended to build a wall between black and white people. And at least one student raised the concern that black people would be forced into slavery. This list of post-election inquiries from students in a public preK-5...

To illustrate the impact of what’s known as Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACE, and the power of overcoming their impact, Peter Buckley tells the story of a young boy at Orchard Hill Elementary in Medford. The child could not sit still for more than a few minutes at a time, nor could he remain silent for long stretches like most of his peers. Consequently, the classroom interruptions were constant. Then, the teacher tried something called the “good behavior game,” which teaches students...

Elise just told me about her past. I knew she had been through a lot, but not all that. She said her mom hit her and left bruises when she was a kid, her neighbor touched her where she didn’t want to be touched, and I guess her brother was alcoholic. There was a lot of other stuff, too. It has gotten better in the last couple years so that is good. I have known their whole family for a long time and never knew any of that. What do I do now? I want to help somehow, but is there anything to...

To create healthy communities, we need to begin addressing the prevalence of trauma in our student’s lives. This webinar will discuss how community schools are helping to address trauma, as part of an effort to improve the health of communities. Speakers Include Tracey Schear, Director, Center for Healthy Schools and Communities, Alameda County Health Care Services Agency; Lara Kain, Senior Director, Transform Schools, Los Angeles Education Partnership; and Andrea Blanch, Acting Director,...

ACEs, Adversity's Impact Depression on the rise among U.S. teens, especially girls Childhood adversity linked to blood pressure dysfunction Brain and Biology Stressed-out rats consume more alcohol, revealing related brain chemistry Child welfare systems grapple with how to translate brain science into practice Three brain chemicals affect how we handle uncertainty Bullying Bullied kids may have double the risk of being overweight at 18 Childhood bullying victims more likely to use mental...

U.S. kids are eating healthier these days, but their daily diet is still nowhere near perfect, a new study reports. Kids today are eating more food that's good for them: whole grains, whole fruits, dairy, and protein from seafood and plants. And, just as important, they are more likely to avoid sugar-laden foods and drinks full of empty calories, according to a review of children's diet trends between 1999 and 2012. The reduction in empty calories was so steep that it "contributed to...

In our previous blog, we wrote about Monica’s experience in recovering from past childhood wounds that left her scarred and wounded. Monica knew that if she were to ever be healed from those painful experiences, she would need to forgive all of the people who played a part in those events, including herself. Monica did not feel that she had much courage prior to doing the inner and outer work that her recovery required, but by the time she had completed the forgiveness stage of the work, her...

Chronically ill women who don't use the internet may struggle with worse health, a new study finds. "A significantly larger proportion of non-internet users reported needing help learning what to do to manage their health conditions and needing help learning how to care for their health conditions," said researcher Carolyn Mendez-Luck. She's an assistant professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences at Oregon State University. She and her colleagues analyzed information...

My guest on today's show on "About Health" on KPFA.org or 94.1FM, will be Lisa Fredericksen, author of hundreds of articles and 11 books, including “If You Loved Me, You’d Stop!,” “Addiction Recovery: What Helps, What Doesn’t,” and “Secondhand Drinking: the Phenomenon That Affects Millions.” You can call in, Toll free 1-800-958-9008, with your questions and experiences about drinking too much or being raised by parents who did. For more information you can go to my web site at...

Amy Saltzman, author of a Still Quiet Place, and her team are bringing another great conference on mindfulness education for youth to San Diego. The Bridging Hearts and Minds Conference will take place Feb 10-12, 2017, and I will be there presenting on how to cultivate Self-Compassion with Teens. Some other wonderful teachers are coming too, like: Susan Kaiser Greenland, author of The Mindful Child and most recently, Mindful Games. Lorraine Hobbs and Karen Bluth are researchers who will also...

Richard B. Spencer is one of the main figures of the alt-right movement, a former doctoral student from Duke whose movement supports the creation of “an ethno-state” for white Europeans and “peaceful ethnic cleansing.” The Southern Poverty Law Center describes him as “a suit-and-tie version of the white supremacists of old, a kind of professional racist in khakis”; a recent Los Angeles Times profile ran with a photo of him in sunglasses and a black shirt, looking more like a hipster academic...