At my school, one of our focuses this year has been on trauma-informed practices and supporting students who have ACEs (adverse childhood experiences). These include having a parent in prison, being food/shelter insecure, witnessing abuse, etc. You can see a full list of ACEs at https://acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score/, and if you wish, take a quiz to evaluate your own ACEs score.
We have had a few professional development sessions to address this; during the last days of school last year, we participated in Mental Health First Aid Certification, and this year, we viewed the documentary "Paper Tigers" about an alternative high school that implemented a trauma-sensitive plan. We discussed how it related to our school and what we would like to do with our students.
We learned in the "Paper Tigers" documentary that students who have high ACEs score have brains that are wired differently, and they are constantly on alert. Our administrators have been making an effort, where possible, to be informed of a students ACEs and consider them when assigning punishments to students who need to be disciplined. Sometimes, this has worked well for relationship-building with students. Others, it has backfired and led to little improvement in or even worsening of student behavior, which can be frustrating to the classroom teachers who may feel like the student hasn't been dealt with appropriately.
My discussion topic for my fellow classmates is about ACEs and discipline. Here are some things I'd like you to think about/discuss. Do you think your school addresses students' ACEs when disciplining them? If so, what have you seen succeed or fail in this area? What are some ways that you could implement and support trauma-informed practices at your school? How do you think we can balance being aware and supportive of our students' adverse childhood experiences without sacrificing our order and school behavior management?
