When Christina Bethell was little, she lived in a low-income housing complex in Los Angeles where her neighbor, a quiet lady the kids called Mrs. Raccoon, always had her door open for the neighborhood kids. Every Saturday she threw a little tea party with candy to celebrate any child with a birthday that week. Bethell fondly remembers the woman’s kindness as source of comfort during her challenging childhood.
Dr. Bethell, now a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, shared this story in an NPR interview last September on the release day of her study on the long-term effects of Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) on mental health.
The findings of Bethell’s study are especially significant for educators today as we face huge emotional fallout from the ongoing pandemic. While trying to support students with their varying degrees of anxiety, negative experiences and trauma — educators are grappling with their own.
“Just listen without trying to fix things, often kids just want to be heard and validated,” advises Caprice Young, superintendent of the Learn4Life charter schools network, in an Education Post blog on how trauma-informed approach especially applies in a virtual environment.
“Traumatized children who learn to thrive have someone in their life who encourages them and believes in their success,” says Young. “Educators should strive to be that support, and make sure this is a constant part of their educational experience.”
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