Excerpt from editorial written by Jackie Augustine and published in the Finger Lake Times here.
Trauma is not just an immediate problem but an accumulated effect that has been proven to have not just psychological but physical effects. Chronic stress related to dealing with trauma rewires the brain, can accelerate aging, and can mutate DNA to bring on disease.
For years a small group of dedicated individuals called Success for Geneva’s Children, has been collecting data on the experiences of infants and children in the city. They have been measuring conditions that negatively impact not just children’s health but health of families generally. The Geneva 2020 initiative features this data in its focus on educational opportunities from preschool to high school. In the most recent survey, 67 percent of Geneva’s children face at least one ACE in their lives, and one in eight children has suffered four or more. Another indicator not captured in the ACEs score is the stress related to not having a stable place to live. According to school district data, 94 students were classified as homeless last year.
The research shows that four or more ACEs correlate with significantly reduced health impacts as well as social and psychological effects. What is recommended is that children receive multifaceted interventions to assist them with processing and releasing the trauma of these exposures. Just as children of smokers are at higher risk of asthma, children with parents in prison or children being abused or children who witness domestic violence in their homes are at higher risk of long-term damage to their mental, physical, social, and psychological health.
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