Adverse Childhood Experiences 1

Adverse Childhood Experiences

Gracie Peterson
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It is inevitable that teachers will have children with Adverse Childhood Experiences, or

ACEs, in their classroom. In fact, in 2016 an ACE study found that 64 percent of people had an

ACE score of one or more (Adverse Childhood Experiences Presentation Graphics). But what

are Adverse Childhood Experiences? According to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention it, “is the term used to describe all types of abuse, neglect, and other potentially

traumatic experiences that occur to people under the age of 18” (Adverse Childhood Experiences

Presentation Graphics). Knowing that students in every classroom, in every school, in every part

of the world is going through traumatic experiences is alarming, but this is also a motivator for

making change and creating a caring classroom environment that is safe for children to come to.

Talking about ACEs is so important because healing can begin in the classroom. With

that said, that does not mean that classrooms are immune from the effects of trauma. When

students are exposed to ACEs they are in a fight or flight mode (Burke). This means that their

body is constantly on high alert and ready to escape or fight. While the hormones that their

bodies are emitting are good in a life-threatening situation, they can become deadly when

transmitted throughout the body constantly. This effect is called toxic stress, and children with

ACEs have to battle it every day when they come to school (Burke). If toxic stress remains

untreated there can be lifelong effects. The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard

University researched how, “this kind of 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” (Toxic Stress).

In a TEDMED talk in 2014 by Nadine Burke Harris she found that, “Children are

especially sensitive to this repeated stress activation, because their brains and bodies are just

developing. High doses of adversity not only affect brain structure and function, they affect the
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developing immune system, developing hormonal systems, and even the way our DNA is read and

transcribed” (Burke). So not only does trauma have effects on children’s brains, but on their body as

well. The problem is that students are not being treated for their ACEs or toxic stress like they would be

treated for the flu. ACEs are looked at as just needing to wipe the tears away and get over it, but that

could not be more wrong. Because of the mental and physical effects that trauma inflicted children

face, learning itself can be a challenge.

In an interview with Mrs. Heidi Weston, an eighth-grade math teacher at Rich Middle School,

told about working with a student with ACEs who I will call Tyler. Tyler’s father was out of the picture

and his mother was on drugs. He wore the same clothes to school every day and often got little sleep at

night. He suffered from ADHD, but his mother was not consistent with his medication. Mrs. Weston

explained, “Anything else he did in school was just a bonus, because for him it was just a place of

safety.” For many students suffering with ACEs school is a safe place, and learning comes second. The

brain’s first job is to protect. Children with trauma suffer from being triggered constantly, meaning they

have an unhealthy dose of cortisol coursing through their blood stream causing them to be in fight or

flight mode twenty-four seven (Gunn). Dr. Patricia Murphy says, “Fear and anxiety over time can

alter a child’s brain development. Children of trauma are at times “offline” and unavailable for

learning due to symptoms they may experience such as intrusive thoughts, dissociation,

flashbacks, or an under/over-active limbic system” (Gunn).

Teachers have a job to help students learn and that is why addressing their students with

ACEs is so important, but each child is different, and each situation is different. Through

research and inquiry, I have found that in my classroom I will be consistent and set expectations,

be truthful, respond with compassion, and I will not have all the answers.
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At a resiliency conference David Lewis, Director/Program Manager of Behavioral Health

Services at Seattle Public Schools says, “The goal is to provide good experiences for our kids, so

they can believe the world is a trusting place.” He spoke on how consistency and predictability

are key for students to trust not only their teacher, but the community around them (Korman).

Some examples of this would be posting a schedule, following a routine, and having a specific

plan of consequences for students when they do not meet expectations. Mrs. Millie Gibbs, a first-

grade teacher at North Summit Elementary School explained in her interview, “Any kid with

trauma at home or school have to have consistency. So, I have to keep my schedule right on.”

Setting expectations goes hand in hand. While teachers must be realistic of what their students

are capable of based on their specific circumstance, they should still have clear expectations.

Mrs. Gibbs goes on to say, “They have to know my expectations right now that I’m not putting

up with that. So yeah, your home life is kind of a mess, but when you’re here you have to forget

about it. This is your safe place.” While this is harder said than done, the principle of having

clear expectations still applies. She had a specific student that gave her problems all year and she

didn’t feel like she could ever get through to him. To her surprise he was crying as he left the last

day of school. A teacher in Mrs. Gibbs team reminded her, “He doesn’t want to go home because

he knows he is losing the consistency and any kind of positiveness today. He is going home to a

mess for the next three months.” Consistency and expectations are what separates life-changing

teachers from another bleeding heart.

“Why?” seems to be children’s favorite question. While it can be annoying when in the

middle of a lesson, it can be a powerful tool in helping students understand trauma. Mrs. Gibbs

explained a story from her sixth year of teaching in which one of her students, who will be called

Molly, was tragically killed along with her mother and brother. One weekend Molly’s mother
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went out to smoke not realizing there was a propane leak, because of this there was an explosion

that killed everyone in their family except for Molly’s father who found them a few hours later

when he came home from work. The story was all over the news, and Mrs. Gibbs was not sure

how she would face her class of 20 six-year olds. She explained to the principle how she was

feeling and that her emotions were too much to explain to the class what had happened the next

day, so he volunteered to come in to speak with the class. When he came in the next morning, he

explained what had happened truthfully. Of course, he kept out gory details, but he did not hide

what happened from the students. When he left, she described a “calmness” sweep over the

classroom, and they went about their day as normal as possible. Throughout the day students

would ask questions like, “What are we going to do with Molly’s work on the wall?” to which

Mrs. Gibbs would respond, “What do you think?” The day was filled with addressing “why”

questions, and because of this Mrs. Gibbs explained, “I thought that would be such an awful

trauma, but once they had the answer that they needed then they were fine.” Telling the truth and

being honest with her students prevented a whole classroom trauma. This can work on the

personal level too. Finding out the why behind students’ behavior can help the teacher and the

class respond in a more effective way.

The why usually leads to compassion. Compassion is key when dealing with students

with ACEs. An example of this came from an ACEs reading assignment about Lincoln High

School. In order to reduce suspension and misbehavior the principle established a new discipline

program that included compassion and expectation. Instead of shutting down students and

sending them home, back to their trauma, “Sporleder sits the kid down and says quietly: “Wow.

Are you OK? This doesn’t sound like you. What’s going on?” He gets even more specific: “You

really looked stressed. On a scale of 1-10, where are you with your anger?” He goes on to
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explain that there were still consequences, but instead of the student becoming more damaged or

angry he actually explained what was going on at home and he was able to receive some

additional support at school (Stevens). Imagine if every school did this. How different would our

world be? Mrs. Gibbs experienced this on a classroom level. She had a student that would cry all

the time, so she would let the student, who I will call Luke, go outside the classroom to regroup.

During this time she took the liberty to explain to her class that Luke is having a hard time and

when he gets sad they shouldn’t stare at him because, “you wouldn’t want someone to stare at

you if you were having a bad day,” and they should continue doing their work while he calms

down. They did just that. She explained, “once you have taught them why something is

happening, why somebody is crying all the time, why someone is mad and angry, why someone

is getting candy for their diabetes, once you have taught them why, then usually they are really

good at going on and accepting that.” The class didn’t stop at that, she shared multiple occasions

that they reached out to this classmate when he wasn’t having a meltdown to show kindness. I

was curious if Mrs. Weston had trouble with her student, Tyler. I knew that he had some traits

that his peers could have reacted poorly to, such as stench and hyperactivity. I asked how she

helped her class to show compassion, “By modeling. She’s nice to him, so I should be nice to

him too.” Compassion is the first step to creating a positive classroom environment. When

compassion is present is much more likely that patience, service, and positivity will follow. All

things that make an inviting and safe classroom.

Teachers can do as many things as they want to love and care for their students mental

and physical health, but sometimes they won’t have all the answers and sometimes they just have

to accept their best. When I asked Mrs. Gibbs about this, she reassured me, “You really don’t

know what to do until you are stuck in the middle of it. You kind of have to fail or try different
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things before you figure it out.” It is important in these situations to draw from the wisdom of

others and use resources. This may be other the other teachers in the team or asking for help

from the special education teacher. Each school and situation will vary, but the most important

thing to remember that addressing ACEs in the classroom doesn’t have to be done alone.

Another concern is how to deal with students when there isn’t improvement in their home life or

academic performance. Mrs. Gibbs adds about a student, “I am going home, and I feel sick about

him all the time. I know that’s the hardest part. It’s hard to not let it ruin how you are feeling

inside. It can eat you alive.” Mrs. Weston explained, “You just have to know that you are doing

your very best, you’re not his guardian, and report it. You have to keep the balance of you will

go insane.” She continued when talking about her personal family life, “Be the best mom you

can be when you are being a mom, and the best teacher when you are a teacher. Don’t get

trapped in mixing those.” Balance is key in not getting burnt out. When dealing with the great

tragedy that children with trauma face, teachers must accept their best effort and make sure they

take time for themselves. At a resiliency conference Dr. Burke says, “We need to put on our own

oxygen masks first, so we can stay self-regulated for our kids” (Korman). Teachers must take

care of themselves if they want to continue to support their students. While there are many tips

on self-care as a teacher, there will always be a struggle to not get too involved.

Students with trauma dot the classroom, and they cannot be ignored. A teacher’s job is to

help them achieve and grow, but they cannot do this until they feel safe and learn to control their

toxic stress and behavior. Teachers have many tools to do this, consistency, expectations,

compassion, self-care, and school-wide resources. Teachers cannot solve all the problems, but

they do need to use their knowledge and training to assist in helping these students receive the

help that they need.

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Works Cited

Adverse Childhood Experiences Presentation Graphics. (2016). Retrieved October 8, 2019,

from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/acestudy/ace-

graphics.html.

Burke, Nadine. (September 2014). How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime.

Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/nadine_burke_harris_how_childhood_

trauma_affects_health_across_a_lifetime

Gunn, J. (2018, March 26). How Adverse Childhood Trauma Affects a Student's Brain.

Retrieved October 8, 2019, from https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-

resources/this-is-a-students-brain-on-trauma/.

Heidi Weston, personal communication, 1 October 2019.

Korman, A. (2018, March 19). Tools for Teachers to Help Our Kids with Trauma, ACEs.

Retrieved October 8, 2019, from https://educationvoters.org/2018/03/18/tools-for-

teachers-to-help-kids-with-trauma/.

Millie Gibbs, personal communication, 1 October 2019.

Stevens, J. E. (2019, September 2). Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, WA, tries new

approach to school discipline - suspensions drop 85%. Retrieved October 8, 2019, from

https://acestoohigh.com/2012/04/23/lincoln-high-school-in-walla-walla-wa-tries-new-

approach-to-school-discipline-expulsions-drop-85/.

Toxic Stress. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2019, from

https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/toxic-stress/.
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