In the late 1990s, a couple of researchers named Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda conducted a landmark study that examined the effects of adverse childhood experiences—which they named ACEs. These ACEs included abuse, neglect, domestic violence and family dysfunction, among other issues. Interestingly, the study involved 17,000 mainly white, mostly well-educated, middle class people in San Diego, not those living in high violence areas. Felitti and Anda were surprised when they found a significant connection between the level of adversity faced and the incidence of various health and mental/emotional and social problems.
Further research found that kids with high ACE scores were far more likely to be suspended from school, and or to get into trouble in other ways.
Over the last 10 years, related studies conducted by some of the nation’s top trauma experts began to find that as many as one-third of children living in our country’s violent urban neighborhoods have experienced sufficient family and/or environmental trauma to have PTSD at a rate than that was greater than that reported for troops returning from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One of those studies involved middle school students in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
For school age kids, PTSD can mimic attention-deficit disorder, with the same lack of concentration, poor grades and inability to sit still.
Not surprisingly, kids suffering from intense trauma—whether measured as ACEs or PTSD—often wind up in the juvenile justice system.
According to the National Center for Mental Health and Justice, youth in the juvenile justice system are 8 times more likely to suffer from PTSD than kids in their communities.
The prevalence of PTSD is higher among incarcerated female adolescents (49%) than among incarcerated male adolescents (32%), and 8 times higher than among youths in the community.
For too long, we have ignored the effects of trauma on the mental and emotional states of kids and adults when we design public policy.
Fortunately, that attitude is beginning to change.
TRAUMA & RESILIENCE: TUNE IN!
With the above in mind, at 1 pm on Monday, March 17, The California Endowment is hosting an afternoon long program called “Health Happens with Everyday Courage” to explore community-based solutions for building resilience—in individual and the community itself—to the chronic stress and trauma that plagues many California neighborhoods.
Daily stress is normal, but traumatic stress—especially without the right support, can produce PTSD plus the risk of a range of physical and socio-emotional health problems.
Monday’s event is sold out. (WLA will be there and will report back.)
But you can live stream all or part of Everyday Courage
HOWEVER, IF YOU WANT TO LIVE STREAM YOU NEED TO SIGN UP HERE.
We strongly recommend you check it out.
In the meantime, take a look at this story written by Fania Davis for Yes! Magazine about how some Oakland classrooms are trying healing instead of punishment for traumatized kids who act out.