Trauma Impacts Our Behavior
As some continue to enjoy the days of summer, others within the country are preparing to head back to school. Some students can’t wait to come to school with their new supplies, excited to meet their teacher. On the flip side, others are battling with their own trauma and its effects. Districts are preparing to re-open to 100% in-person learning which will be an adjustment for many students who have spent the last 18 months outside of the classroom.
As adults, we know the pandemic has challenged many things; finances, employment, housing, health, mental health, relationships, etc. How have these experiences affected the children we teach? As educators, let’s consider how these traumas impact learning and the behavior of students. These students may already be behind and the effects of trauma can hinder growth even more.
Let’s encourage educators to deepen their understanding of trauma. While building relationships with students, try to understand their behavior. Every student is trying to tell us something through their behavior. Although not all is negative, it is still a message to be shared.
Even the students who are very attentive and respond promptly with every request may be responding this way as a learned response from trauma. You may be very pleased with these types of students but you may not be aware of the anxiety or fear they are harboring based on a traumatic experience in their life. This child could be conditioned to make the adults around them happy because they may live with an alcoholic parent who becomes verbally and/or physically aggressive when they don’t comply.
I worked with an extremely aggressive student who would attack adults on a regular basis. Many times when this student would return to school the following day after attacking adults, he would bring some sort of gift. As we continued to work with this student, we began to understand the gift mimicked what we knew about domestic violence. Often an abuser will try to give their victim a gift after having been aggressive, intending to make the victim feel better about what occurred. The day this clicked and we stopped accepting the gift from the student we began to see this student in a new light. This was a deep-rooted trauma and we needed to seek more understanding about trauma-informed care.
As educators, let’s build relationships with your students and remember to:
Be mindful of your own emotions and how you respond to a situation
Allow students to work through their emotions and learn how to respond. Sometimes we have to allow the behavior or response in order to gain insight.
Provide opportunities for students to express their feelings. This could be through talking, writing, or drawing.
Be mindful that some students are communicating through their behavior.
Connect with families, building relationships and trust.
Teach and model social and emotional skills as well as positive behavioral responses.
Partner with the school counselor, social worker, mental health professional in your school to help support your students.
Be proactive, not reactive in teaching these social skills to your students.
Choosing to acknowledge and learn from your students and their behaviors speaks volumes about you as an educator. For more information check out the sites below:
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
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