Despite Bainbridge Island’s idyllic surroundings and quality schools, a “hidden crisis” that stems from childhood trauma is looming in some households, according to Kitsap Strong Project Director Kody Russell.

And it might explain why some kids are disruptive at school and home, or turn to drugs, alcohol, bullying and other aggressive behaviors.

The “crisis” lies in so-called Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, such as physical or mental abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction, divorce and parental incarceration and other stressors that kids encounter before age 18.

At a recent Bainbridge Island conference on ACEs — which has become one of the country’s most important public health initiatives — Russell told a group of educators, health professionals and community leaders that the cumulative effect of childhood traumatic experiences harm children’s developing brains so profoundly that the effects show up decades later in the form of chronic health issues, mental illness, behavioral problems and violence.

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