What Schools Need Now: Relational Discipline

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... when schools reopened ... children returned with smiling faces, played with new friends, and responded to their teacher's requests. But those who were struggling to cope with the trauma and destabilization the pandemic created in their lives soon began to "act out." These children are letting us know they're not OK. Read more>>>

Ongoing Police Violence is Devastating to the Mental Health of Black Children and Youth: Here's How You Can Support Them in Your Professional Role as an Educator

Racially motivated police brutality is an incredibly traumatizing form of violence because the effects extend far beyond the individual or group of police officers who commit these acts. Such violence affects children’s fundamental beliefs that the world is a safe place and diminishes their willingness to trust authority figures. Read more>>>

Supporting Students Coping with Chronic Trauma

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De-escalation strategies can help prevent students’ emotional outbursts, and aid them and their peers in finding calm after one. ... Students often display several signs of agitation in the early stages of the Acting Out Cycle before a major emotional outburst occurs. Read more>>>

Preparing Schools to Meet the Needs of Students Coping with Trauma and Toxic Stress

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Trauma disrupts the development of core cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral competencies that are needed to succeed in school. ... Schools can increase their capacity to meet the needs of students coping with trauma by creating a school-wide plan that includes all staff, in addition to family and community stakeholders. Read more>>>

Bringing Evidence-Based Decision-Making to School Safety

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Although there is substantial evidence that police officers in schools, also known as school resource officers (SROs), do not advance safety in schools, their presence in schools has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. ... Research consistently places practices to improve mental health as well as social and emotional skills at the center of evidence-based school safety interventions. Read more>>>

Building Trust Between Students and Teachers Helps Kids Overcome Trauma—and Makes Schools Safer

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While a growing body of research can make the subject of helping students overcome trauma complex, the core of it all is intuitive: When students trust that the adults in the room will keep them physically, psychologically, and emotionally safe, they do better. Read more>>>

Building Racial Equity Through Trauma Responsive Discipline

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This current moment of civil unrest in the fight against systemic racism and police brutality underscores the need for schools to be responsive to students coping with trauma. Read more>>>

Preparing Educators for the Challenge Ahead

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Educators made it through one tumultuous academic year, but the educational challenge is just beginning. Research from previous disasters, like Hurricane Katrina, indicates that we should be hopeful that most children will exhibit resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Read more>>>