Why We Need Trauma-Informed Schools, not Just Trauma-Informed Educators
May 22, 2023- A few months ago I was involved in a heated discussion on an Instagram post in which the organization posting offered a free resource to help educators better understand the effects that trauma has on behavior, thus allowing the educators to better support their students. The heat came from the tension between the teachers who felt that ‘of course we need to be trauma-informed’ and the teachers who were in disbelief that yet one more thing was going to be expected of them.
As a former educator in an American public school system, I remember the overwhelming amount of work, time, and energy I devoted and was expected to devote to my role as a teacher. So I understand the backlash from teachers when it seems like here’s another burden added to an already heavy load. Ask any teacher of any age group what their responsibilities are and the list will blow your mind. So to expect teachers to be trained to be trauma-informed can be the straw that breaks that camel’s back.
However, I also know that if I had been trauma-informed when I was teaching I may even still be a teacher. But I couldn’t deal. It was just too much. I knew my students needed me to be with them differently but I had no idea where to begin. So I did the best I could and burned my candle at both ends, including the very heart-center of me. I couldn’t keep teaching because it was killing me. Almost literally. There were many issues, but I know in hindsight if I had the information and understanding I have now, it would have made a world of difference for my students, my colleagues, and for myself.
I believe that now more than ever we need trauma-informed educators. To know what trauma is—how it affects behavior; the brain’s ability to learn, retain, and integrate new information; and stability in classrooms, hallways, playgrounds, lunchrooms, buses—may be one of the most invaluable tools a teacher has in hand. And I also believe, wholeheartedly, that this should not be laid only on the shoulders of teachers.
School as community
A school is an environment, a culture, a climate. All individuals associated with that school informs the health of that environment. Not only should teachers be trauma-informed but also: lunch room staff, custodial staff, secretarial/administrative assistant staff, counseling department, nurses, bus drivers, para-educators, coaches, building and district administration, parent liaisons, librarians, technology support staff, etc. Every single person in a school has a responsibility to the students in that building. This is a community. Or at least it should be.
It makes no sense to have teachers be trauma-informed only to have their students walk out of the classroom into a population of adult staff who aren’t trauma-informed. All the work teachers do to show up to their students with the tools and knowledge to navigate trauma in the classroom will be promptly undermined when the student who carries trauma in their body encounters someone who does not recognize when that student is demonstrating symptoms of PTSD-related behaviors.
Trauma affects the areas of the brain that are required for learning. If students come to school to learn, and teachers are teaching students so they can learn, then to not be trauma-informed will cost that school time, energy, money, and cause staff and students alike untold problems and suffering.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, almost 75% of high school students reported at least one adverse childhood experience (ACEs), more than half reported at least two ACEs, and almost 8% reported four or more, which catapults these kids into a very high risk category. It’s hard to imagine that there isn’t any school affected by the trauma that their students carry. This affects everything in the school, from arrival to departure, seat time, transition times, social interactions, discipline, student-staff relationships, grades, attendance, graduation rates—essentially every aspect of this thing we call “school.”
Another striking impact of students’ trauma is how it will resonate with the trauma of the adults they come in contact with. Vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, burnout often have their roots in the trauma triggers going off in the staff and faculty—secondary traumatic stress. The distressing, perpetuating loop this can cause between student and adult will play out in a myriad of ways, for example:
personality conflicts
power struggles
boundary violations on both sides
health issues
No, teachers aren’t therapists
Another argument that many educators have against being trauma-informed is the belief that they then have to become classroom/school therapists. No, this is not the case nor should it be. Being trauma-informed does not mean being a trauma therapist. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that educators need to always have intervention strategies. Being trauma-informed means that we have a deeper understanding:
of what is getting in the way of the child’s ability to learn;
of the possible underlying causes of acting out behavior that have absolutely nothing to do with us and therefore we can depersonalize the behavior;
on how to regulate our own emotions and nervous system so that we can respond accordingly, appropriately, and effectively;
and what it takes to create healthy and safe school climate for students *and* staff.
Schools cannot afford to not be trauma-informed
Schools ignore their students’ trauma at the peril of the students, the staff, and the community. Being trauma-informed can lay the groundwork to improve school climate and safety, reduce the mental health crisis we’re seeing in our adolescents, and empower staff and faculty to enter into compassionate, strengths-based relationships with their students. In this day and age of school violence, we cannot afford not to take advantage of a powerful resource.
Photo by Evan Kaminer