How to Recognize Student Trauma

Trauma is not one problem or experience. Rather, trauma is a connection of challenges and symptoms spanning a duration of time and an array of experiences. When humans experience stress or trauma, it sends stress hormones throughout our body. If this happens sporadically, that is fine, but when it becomes a daily stress, that is when it becomes a problem for anyone. In the case of students, trauma will interfere with behavior and learning.

Trauma can happen anywhere on the planet, in low income neighborhoods to affluent ones. All cultures and races can experience trauma. Right now, there are so many stressors wreaking havoc on people’s lives, such as the pandemic, partner violence, mental health, physical, mental, and substance abuse, learning disabilities, war related incidents, world news, politics, bullying, struggles with sexual orientation, and the list goes on and on. If traumas are not happening directly to students, then all of these traumas in adult lives can and will spill over onto our students and interfere with their learning or create behavior issues.

Students may show an increase in behavioral problems during times of toxic stress. Students may also show signs of stress when they have daily headaches or stomach aches. These are all signs that students are having trouble coping and that daily stress and trauma are overwhelming to them.

It is natural to want to place blame back on the parents for creating this situation for their child, but actually everyone is doing the best they can. Often times parents are dealing with even more trauma and stress than their child. Instead of being curt, frustrated, or irritated with parents, try helping to find support for the family to end this cycle of pain for everyone involved.

Students are far more than grades and attendance records. It requires time to build relationships with students to help them deal with their trauma, not reports and data. No student’s worth is tied up in a grade or lesson. Don’t take a student’s behavior or negative attitude personally. Teachers have to rise above that natural defensive mechanism and recognize that the child’s behavior is trauma based.