Recent studies estimate two-thirds of students have experienced trauma before the age of 16, while new research suggests that as many as 13 out of 30 students in an average classroom will have toxic stress from three or more traumatic experiences.

 

Childhood trauma and toxic stress are recognised as the world’s leading health epidemic and only recently have its consequences and remedies are being seen in education policy and practice.

 

Trauma is commonly  measured by “adverse childhood experiences”, or ACEs, which describe all types of abuse, neglect, and other traumatic experiences that happen to individuals under the age of 18.

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Examples of traumatic events;     

 

-  Premature birth                         

-  Abuse and neglect

-  Domestic Abuse

-  Post-natal depression

-  Separation from care giver i.e.prolonged stay in hospital

-  Parental substance misuse

-  Poverty

 

Repeated experiences of fear and danger and hurt and isolation force the brain into survival mode and it takes the activity out of the learning parts of the brain.

 

Students exposed to three or more ACEs are:

 

• three times more likely to fail

• four times more likely to have poor health

• five times more likely to have severe attendance problems

• six times more likely to have severe behaviour problems

• almost six times more likely to have at least one physical, at least one mental and at least one developmental condition.

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