What is Trauma?

As I have started telling stories and reading through comments, the word trauma has been used repeatedly, but what is trauma? Trauma can include physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Trauma can include violence in your community, violence in your home, or violence in your school. Trauma can include the sudden or violent death of a loved one or the prolonged illness of a loved one. Emotional or physical neglect can cause trauma. Trauma can stem from substance abuse, divorce, or mental illness. Homelessness can cause trauma. Trauma can stem from a pandemic such as covid. 

Students come to school every day dealing with the impact of trauma in their lives. Some students have support to help them through the process, but others do not. For the students coming to my school, the list below includes just a few examples of REAL trauma they carried with them to school each and every day….

• Substance abuse… specifically pot. Many mornings students come to school reeking of pot. The smell permeates their hair, their clothing, their backpacks. Sometimes it is so strong that the whole classroom will smell. I’ve had to go search backpacks in classrooms because the smell was so strong, we felt there had to be something in someone’s backpack. Guardians come into the front office to sign out their students, and the smell overwhelms the staff.
• Violence…
  • Many students live in environments where there is domestic violence. They watch their mothers or other family members being abused.
  • Many students come to school with bruises, burns, or cuts that result from abuse.
  • Drive-by shootings in the community; or at their own home.
• Physical and/or Emotional Neglect…
  • Dirty clothes, dirty hair, clothes that don’t fit or have holes, rips, etc. 
  • Many don’t have food at home and the only meals they eat are at school.
  • Parents working 2nd or 3rd shift and their students stay home alone (8 and 9 year olds) or with an older sibling. When do they see their kids? When do they talk to them? 
  • Students who rarely if ever go to the doctor, the dentist, or the eye doctor. 
  • We saw a huge increase in suicidal ideation among our elementary students.

Each week we had 30-40 students who took home food bags that were donated by a local church. We kept a clothing closet at school because many students came to school and needed clothing… including underwear or socks. We had a supply of shoes as well because many students came with shoes that were falling apart or they were so tight the child’s foot hurt. There were numerous times the staff pulled together to buy groceries, gas cards, or clothing for families if they needed more than we had on hand. One day, I gave a student the extra pair of tennis shoes that I kept in my office because her shoes had literally fallen apart. 

What happens when children suffer from trauma? They have trouble with negative thinking and tend to have poor self-regulation… they struggle to manage emotions which can lead to impulsive actions and aggression. They struggle to trust which leads to trouble forming relationships with teachers. Many children struggling with trauma struggle with hypervigilance which means they can be jumpy or have an exaggerated startle response. If someone accidentally bumps into them, it may turn into a huge fistfight. Trauma affects children’s memory, and their ability to pay attention or think things through.          No matter what type of community you live in, children are dealing with trauma; however, for schools serving lower socioeconomic groups of students, they are inundated with trauma. The examples I listed above are just a few of the REAL situations I saw on a daily basis. The examples I listed of what happens when children suffer from trauma are just a few of the REAL examples we saw at school daily. And through this whole post, I didn’t even talk about the effects of covid……think about that.