“By the end of 2019, educational leaders will have zero doubt that all learning is social and emotional. This reality will transform how educators engage with students and each other. SEL PD will have to include personal development for teachers, because we can no longer separate the head from the heart in education”.

Scott Schickler, CEO and co-creator, 7 Mindsets

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Schools

Dr. Kristina L. Brinkerhoff, Ph.D.

Research surrounding the prevalence and impact of adversity during childhood has surfaced as a

possible key to addressing the impact of chronic stress on children during their early years and well into

adulthood. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) are chronic events that occur during childhood

and have the potential to cause harm. ACEs include the harmful acts to a child or the neglect of a

child’s needs, in addition to the familial and social-environmental influences on the child

(Clarkson Freeman, 2014; Kalamakis et al., 2014; Sedlak et al., 2010). The impact of this harm

creates a disruption to a child’s health and development (Bick, Nelson, Fox, & Zeanah, 2015;

Nelson & Charles, 2015; Szilagyi & Halfon , 2015). When exposure to adversity is cumulative,

brain development is disrupted, leading to emotional and behavioral problems (CODC, 2015;

Masten & Wright, 2001; Perry & Salavitz, 2006; Walker et al., 2011). By increasing protective

factors, the building blocks to resilience, individuals will be able to overcome a variety of risk

factors, have success in the face of adversity, and disrupt the trajectory toward future problems

that may develop from adversity (Benzies & Mychasiuk, 2009; Donnon, 2010; (Szilagyi &

Halfon) . It may be that if teachers were aware of ACEs and the impact to child development,

they may then contextualize student emotional and behavioral problems and assist with

increasing protective factors that may help mitigate the impact.

The human brain develops on a predetermined course beginning approximately two

weeks after conception and progression through genetically controlled production of synapses

and a structured “pruning” of unused synapses to create, refine and organize the brain system

(Bick et al., 2015). The brain consists of three major parts; the brain stem, ultimately responsible

for regulating the functions within the body; the diencephalon and limbic systems, operating

emotional responses that guide our behavior; and the cortex, operating the characteristically

human functions of language, abstract thinking, planning, and deliberate decision making (Perry

& Salavitz, 2006). If there is an unexpected input such as abuse and neglect, multiple areas of

the brain are impacted (Perry, 2000) and the brain loses its ability to reach full potential (Bick et

al., 2015; Nelson & Charles, 2015; Walker et al., 2011) . The sympathetic nervous system is part

of the autonomic nervous system and is responsible for the unconscious stimulation of the body’s

fight or flight response. Chronic stress reduces hippocampal volume, increases disproportionate

emotional responses, and reduces physical structures of the brain (Bick et al., 2015). When

there is an imbalance in use of certain areas over others, the one that is used most often becomes

the first the sympathetic nervous system relies on when responding to stress (Duerden & Witt,

2010; Perry, 2006). This chronic arousal pattern leads to over activation of a person’s

sympathetic nervous system, releasing over 14,000 chemicals flowing throughout the body upon

perception of any real or imagined threat (Bailey, 2011; Nakazawa, 2015; Walker et al., 2011).

The main chemicals are necessary for survival and very useful in times of stress. Cortisol,

catecholamine, and endorphin all act as a catalyst for a person’s most primitive safety function

(Bailey, 2011). However, children who experience chronic arousal maintain high levels of these

chemicals in their systems, oftentimes rewiring brain connections, disconnecting conversations

between the brain stem and the prefrontal cortex, and creating misfires between signals in the

brain (Bailey, 2011; Evans & Pilyoung, 2013; Teicher & Sampson, 2016). Prolonged activation

of the stress response systems can disrupt the development of brain architecture and other organ

systems and increase the risk for stress-related disease and cognitive impairment well into the

adult years (Bick, 2015; Nelson, 2015; Teicher & Sampson, 2016). The ongoing flood of stress

chemicals creates a state of hypervigilance, which can lead to emotional, behavioral, and

cognitive problems (Bick et al., 2015) . When children experience cumulative adverse

experiences, such as physical or emotional abuse, chronic neglect, caregiver dysfunction, or

substance abuse by caregivers, prolonged activation of the stress response systems disrupts the

physiological development of brain structure and can have a cumulative toll on an individual’s

physical and mental health for a lifetime (CODC, 2015).

Prevalence of ACEs

Annually, more than 1.25 million children in the United States experienced maltreatment

(Sedlak et al., 2010) . The majority (61 percent) of the incidents studied were neglect and an

estimated 44 percent of children experienced various types of abuse (Sedlak et al., 2010). Sedlak

et al. (2010) found a majority (58 percent) of the children studied experienced physical abuse

one-fourth sexual abuse, and 27 percent emotional abuse. Additionally, researchers found that

by age 6, approximately 70 percent of children experienced at least three or more ACEs

(Clarkson Freeman, 2014; Sedlak et al., 2010). Over Forty percent of American children will

have at least one potentially traumatizing experience by the age of 18 (Sacks et al., 2014). In

fact, a survey revealed that 13 percent of children under the age of 17 reported they had

experienced some form of serious maltreatment by adults within the past year (Perry & Salavitz,

2006). Estimates suggest that at any given time, more than eight million American children

suffer from serious, diagnosable trauma-related psychiatric problems (Perry & Salavitz, 2006).

Forty-eight percent of American children have been found to have at least one ACE based on

data collected from the National Survey of Children’s Health (Bethell et al., 2014). Throughout

the nation, 22.6 percent of children from the ages of 0–17 were found to have two or more ACEs

(Bethell et al., 2014). Most alarmingly, for children ranging from ages 12 to 17, 30.5 percent

have had two or more ACEs (Bethell et al., 2014). Children who did not have ACEs were found

to demonstrate resilience, as compared to children who have had ACEs. Children who had two

or more ACEs were 2.67 times more likely to be retained in a grade during school (Bethell et al.,

2014). Children who did not have ACEs were 2.59 times more engaged in school, as compared

to children who did have ACEs (Bethell et al., 2014).

Exposure to even one ACE increased the risk of poor childhood outcomes, while

increasing protective factors was found to neutralize potential impact (CODC, 2014). Protective

factors are the structure behind resilience, which enables children to counter risk factors that are

typically associated with negative outcomes (Bethell et al., 2014; Powers, 2010; Walker, 2011).

Children who experienced a pattern of stress in a nurturing environment rich in protective

factors, were found to have resilience strategies and were able to neutralize and or reverse the

impact of ACEs (Greene, Galambos, & Lee, 2003) . Researchers found that supportive,

responsive relationships with caring adults as early in life as possible prevented or reversed the

damaging effects of chronic stress (Bick et al., 2015). Morrow (2001) found a close bond with at

least one caregiver during childhood in resilient adults. Favorite teachers were found to be one

such person, filling the role of a positive adult in the child’s life.

Trauma-informed

Difficulties in school need to be viewed as a health and educational crisis because the

diagnosis of psychopathology in adolescence is frequently preceded by challenges or difficulties

in school and social domains (DeSocio & Hootman, 2004). Resilience increases as bonds with

adults and resources are available as a child goes through developmental stages (Greene et al.,

2003). What is not present in the literature is a connection between ACEs and difficulties in

school from the perspective of the teacher. It may be that if educators were aware impact of

ACEs on child development and how resiliency and protective factors can mitigate adverse

outcomes, they may be able to increase the protective factors and likelihood that a child will

develop resiliency thus reducing the negative impact of their ACEs experiences.

It is important for educators to understand the important resource that is made available to

children at risk through the exposure to protective factors that can combine to create a level of resilience (Powers,

2010). The school system has the rare opportunity to meet the needs of all children, regardless of the presence of

development challenges due to exposure to adversity, by adopting trauma informed practices that can enhance the

level of resilience present in the child’s “toolbox” (Blodgett, 2015).