What are ACEs?
ACEs are adverse childhood experiences. They are traumatic moments or series of events in a child’s life that have a strong negative effect on their development. ACEs can fall under one category or a combination of these categories: household dysfunction, abuse, and neglect. Learning to be trauma-informed and provide trauma-informed care to students who need it can help them grow in positive ways.
Statistics
It’s important to not let a student’s ACE score define how you think of them or how they think of themselves. It is easy to start thinking in a deficit mindset when you see the score and realize the implications of that number. The statistics go beyond grades. A person’s ACE score also correlates to their likelihood of developing alcoholism, heart disease, and depression.
Remember that these statistics don’t seal your students’ futures. Teachers are not therapists and are not responsible or qualified to psychoanalyze their students or provide therapeutic services. However, teachers can use trauma-informed care to be a safe person for students and prevent the above statistics. Having someone to consistently rely on for guidance may help students struggling with ACEs.
Signs of Trauma
- Symptoms of trauma can look like symptoms of ADHD: difficulty with concentration, organization, and personal agency.
- Overreactions to everyday challenges in comparison to other students.
- Appearing very sad or having frequent headaches or stomach aches.
- Falling behind or having aggressive outbursts in class.
- Keep in mind that side effects of trauma can look different for different students.
What Teachers Can Do
- Take care of yourself. Every teacher understands how easy it is to burnout. Try to avoid this as best as you can, try to find ways of coping that work for you. If you feel yourself breaking down, reach out to others to let them know your situation and keep them updated.
- Stay calm and don’t take things personally. Students are probably not having a trauma response because of something you did. It’s likely due to something that is completely unrelated to anything that you’ve done. It’s important that you stay calm to de-escalate a situation.
- Avoid a deficit mindset. It can be easy to view students with trauma as “broken” people that we can fix in some way, but this puts us in a deficit mindset and that doesn’t help the student. Students with trauma are just as capable as students without it.
- Don’t give up. It will be hard to watch students struggle with trauma, and to see your efforts to help them fail. I think that if you are consistently showing that you are on their side, that you are a stable adult they can come to for help, that is the best thing you can do for these students.
Hey Lydia! Great Post! I specifically loved how inclusive your post was with those who are enduring the trauma. I think it is critical that teachers understand the statistics but also know that the students are not bound by these statistics. They give us insight into the overall issues that cause trauma but they don’t define those students or their futures. How can you give grace to those students that are dealing with trauma while also holding them accountable for their participation/efforts in the classroom?
Hi. I really like your use of graphics within your post. It is a very thought-provoking blog post. I like how you included real-world examples of how teachers can utilize self-care. As educators, how should we address our own trauma?
Thanks for your comment. To answer your question, I think it depends on what coping strategies or treatment works for you. There are many things you can try – taking time to do something you love, being with friends or family. You can also try therapy or medications to help manage the symptoms of your trauma.
Hi Lydia, this is a very well-informed post. It is important for teachers to be aware of ACE and what to do about them, especially since it is such a sensitive topic. The most important part of this post for me is the section about what teachers can do. I also liked how you highlighted the importance of avoiding a deficit mindset.
Hi, thanks for your comment. It seems like deficit mindsets can be really easy for teachers to slip into and it’s important we avoid them as best as we can. We just need to remember that students don’t need us to “fix” them, but provide ways for them to succeed.