James Brown has been principal of Sayreville War Memorial High School for 16 years. He prides himself on knowing most of the students by name, and shows it in a walking tour of the New Jersey campus, talking to various kids between bells.
"It's the most incredible place I've ever been. There's a heartbeat here," Brown says of the 1,700-student school, located in a working-class town along the Raritan River. "The kids mean everything to me. I try to make them feel like this is their home and that I'm going to protect them."
Brown has led the school through the aftermath of 9/11 and the devastation of Superstorm Sandy, which washed hundreds of residents out of their homes. But a 2014 locker room hazing scandal involving Sayreville's football program also stands out as devastating to the longtime administrator and school community.
A source of pride, Sayreville's football team had won six state championships and made the playoffs for 20 consecutive seasons. Within 10 days of the scandal breaking, seven players faced criminal charges and the football season was cancelled.
"Tough. Difficult. There really are no words to describe it. Everyone was hurting in some way," Brown says. "There was trauma all around."
A few weeks after the incident, Brown scheduled events focused on healing and communication, using the theme, "The Power of One: One Community, One People." The school held a "Week of Hope," bringing in counselors, motivational speakers, and national experts on hazing and bullying.
The district also implemented stringent bullying training for coaches and students who participate in extracurricular activities. Extra counseling was offered to the victims as well as the alleged perpetrators, none of whom were enrolled this fall.
"We have done everything we can, and then some, to restore normalcy and get past this," Brown says.
Recognizing the Impact
"Restoring normalcy" is critical when students are affected by a crisis or traumatic event, whether it occurs on campus or off school grounds. Alison DuBois, an assistant professor at Pennsylvania's Westminster College, says trauma affects students' cognitive, social-emotional, and language development.
More than 46 million children are affected by trauma each year, with one in 10 facing five or more violent incidents, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's Defending Childhood Initiative. Children exposed to repetitive trauma are at risk for a variety of physical and mental health issues—anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, substance abuse—that also affect their ability to learn.
"Most of us do not develop in a vacuum. We have environmental and social influences that shape and define us," says DuBois, who trains teachers and school counselors to understand trauma. "Trauma restructures a child's neural networks. It affects attention and memory, in addition to executive functioning skills, such as organization, planning, and self-regulation."
At Hoover High School, which serves 2,200 students in one of the most violent sections of San Diego, Calif., every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. "Witnessing domestic violence, child abuse, homelessness, caretakers abusing substances at home—those are the things our children are coming to school with and it is affecting their learning," says school counselor Tawnya Pringle.
"They can't concentrate," Pringle explains. "They act out or just sit there spacing out because they know they may go home that day and have to find another place to live. In our school, it's the day-to-day things that start chipping away at their inner selves."
David Schonfeld, director of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, says schools must offer professional development on how to recognize the signs of repetitive trauma and understand its effect on students. In the classroom, teachers can "acknowledge that a student is struggling, take time to find the source of their problems and deal with that, show they care—all of those things help children feel safe," Schonfeld says.
Providing a Safe Space
In the summer of 2014, Principal Joe Austin enlisted the California Center of Excellence for Trauma Informed Care to train Hoover's staff. Five core values were covered: safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, and empowerment.
By understanding what students "come into the classroom with and how it is affecting them," Pringle says teachers now approach critical incidents and outbursts from a different perspective. Rather than automatically sending a disruptive student out of class, teachers learn to analyze the incident quickly and respond so that situations don't escalate.
"Learning is a safety issue, and much of the training is around students' physical and emotional safety," Pringle emphasizes. "If you start seeing signs of a kid being defiant, is it a physical safety issue that needs immediate attention or is the student unconsciously responding to traumatic events with defiant behaviors?"
The timing of the training was fortuitous. In 2014, San Diego Unified moved away from its zero-tolerance policies and issued a directive to schools to find ways to reduce suspensions. Hoover issued 310 suspensions in the 2013–14 school year; after the training, the number went down to 61 the following year.
Teachers say the training and other in-school supports, such as an onsite health clinic that provides physical and mental health services to students and families, are having an impact. Although overall student achievement did not increase, the dropout rate declined for the first time in years.
"The kids who are acting out are getting help, and now we're reaching out to the ones who aren't acting out because the staff has a heightened sensitivity to the trauma our students go through," Pringle says. "Our kids are being given space to open up about why they're acting the way they are, and teachers are [participating] in conferences with [the counseling staff and students] when issues arise. We're embedding this in the school's culture, and it's working."
The Silent Treatment
What about schools that haven't taken these steps? Without proper training or interventions, the repetitive nature of poverty-related trauma can have a debilitating effect on both students and staff, DuBois says.
Less than 100 miles from San Diego, five students and three teachers filed a federal lawsuit against the Compton Unified School District, saying the system fails to educate students who are exposed to repeated violence and trauma. Inadequate training for teachers is an issue in the lawsuit, which could also test whether "complex trauma" is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"Trauma can have a critical impact at any age," DuBois explains. "If children experience nurturing relationships, they are more likely to demonstrate trust and maintain strong relationships. As children mature, the impact of trauma can inform their worldview in addition to perceptions and values of themselves and others. It all depends on how frequent and sustaining the trauma is."
In schools where community violence and trauma are common, Schonfeld says teachers are susceptible to burnout and can become desensitized to their environment. "The majority really want information and strategies on how to respond. They see what's going on and they care, but they just don't know how to make a difference."
If nothing is done, however, the silence can take over, says Schonfeld. "These kids experience so much loss, and adults [are] overwhelmed and don't know what to do. So the kids stop asking for help and turn to their peers, gangs, and other forms of support. Just because they stop talking doesn't mean they don't need help. In reality, they need it more than others."
That's what bothers Brown most about Sayreville's hazing scandal: No one talked. "I said to students, 'Why didn't you tell me? You know I'm always around, and I would not have let this happen,'" recalls Brown. "Why didn't we know? That was the question I asked the teachers, the security guards, everyone I saw. This whole thing shook my world."
Thanks in part to the interventions and community support, Sayreville didn't see a slide in achievement. In August, it was named one of the top high schools for low-income students in Newsweek's "Beating the Odds" list. The football team, with a new coach and a new athletic director, was back on the field in early September.
"We have a good school with good kids," Brown says. "We are showing our resiliency as a school and as a community. We have learned a lot from the trauma of this past year and we are better for it."
RED FLAGS AND RESILIENCE
Know What Trauma Is
Broadly defined, trauma is caused by exposure to violence, crime, and psychological or physical abuse. A student who is repeatedly exposed to violent incidents can face intellectual, social, and emotional delays.
Identify Red Flags
Be on the lookout if a younger student has difficulty paying attention; becomes upset and withdrawn; is tearful, sad, and talks about scary feelings and ideas; fights with peers or adults; shows changes in school performance; wants to be left alone; eats more or less than usual; or gets into trouble.
A teenager who is exposed to trauma may constantly talk about the event or deny that it happened, refuse to follow rules, talk back, engage in risky behaviors, have different sleep patterns or frequent nightmares, become increasingly aggressive, isolate himself, or get into trouble with the law.
Is This an Emergency?
When a child displays one or more of these behaviors, take a moment to determine whether the issue demands immediate attention. If the student is disrupting your class, decide whether he needs to take a break or talk to the school counselor. If possible, wait to speak with the student after your lesson. Remember, if a student is not in class, he's not learning.
Be Sensitive
Instead of asking, "What's wrong with you?" when a student acts out, ask, "What happened?" Give the student time to answer before casting judgement. When you see that a child is having a difficult time, acknowledge it and ask if she needs assistance. Some will seek help; others won't. But he will know you care.
Reward Resiliency and Self-Advocacy
It is easy for traumatized kids to shut down academically and emotionally. Take time to listen. When a student shows that he is resilient, make note of it and let him know you're seeing progress.
Talk to Counselors and Student Services Staff
If you see a child with signs of physical or emotional trauma, let your school counselor or social worker know immediately. If an issue is affecting multiple students, invite the counselor to offer guidance to the class.
Know What Triggers You
When a student leaves you upset or angry, it could be due to trauma in your own past that you haven't recognized. Are the student's actions upsetting you, or is the student just pushing the wrong button? In the heat of the moment, take a step back to think and come up with a better resolution.
