In the second article of this series, Lara El Khatib, MEPLI 2018 Fellow, outlines how teachers can identify the signs and symptoms of trauma in a child’s behavior. This article is part one in a series on the topic of trauma, with the forthcoming article focusing on how teachers can identify the signs of trauma in the classroom.
By Lara El Khatib
June 6, 2022
These articles on trauma and its effects on children were in the process of being written when the Uvalde, TX, school shooting occurred. The author would like to dedicate these articles to the parents and teachers of Uvalde and to families affected by traumatic events worldwide.
As mentioned in Part 1 of this two-part article, trauma can be defined as any event that undermines a child’s ability to feel safe. This safety can be physical or psychological, and sometimes it is both. Trauma can be a one-time event (e.g., the Beirut port explosion) or a chronic, prolonged event (e.g. child abuse). It can emanate from the child’s home or from the outside world.
It is quite unfortunate and extremely sad and alarming that trauma is becoming increasingly common in children’s lives (and in the lives of adults), almost everywhere in the world.
Although trauma has many signs in adults, these signs can manifest themselves quite differently in children under twelve. In part one of this two-part article, we discussed some of the signs of trauma that a child may exhibit at home. In this second part, we will discuss some of the signs of trauma that one could see in the classroom. It is worth noting that many factors can influence the impact of trauma on a child. These include the child’s perception of the traumatic event, the child’s resilience and family circumstances, the child’s age, and the chronicity and severity of the traumatic event.
It is also worth noting that the list below is not exhaustive and that most children will not display all these characteristics:
- Generally speaking, any change in behavior can be seen as a red flag. This can include a change in academic performance or a change in behavior.
- When it comes to academic performance, many children may experience a drop in grades, mainly because the trauma may be interfering in their ability to concentrate and pay attention. Another reason could be that the child simply cannot be bothered to pay attention to schoolwork, because she has so much on her mind.
- At other times, however, we may see the opposite when it comes to academic order to escape the traumatic event and its memories, might throw himself into academic work, resulting in higher than usual grades.
- The child may refuse to eat or simply be unable to eat her lunch or snacks. Conversely, the child may over-eat and may end up eating her and others’ food.
- The child may fall asleep in the classroom or on the playground (or elsewhere on school grounds) because he has not been getting enough sleep at home.
- The child may be irritable, fussy, or angry.
- The child may engage in aggressive behaviors against people and/or objects, and this includes bullying others and not being able to show empathy for others.
- The child may be uncooperative or defiant with teachers and peers.
- The child may be sad, withdrawn or may feel worthless; as a result, the teacher may hear the child stating, for example, that he got a good grade on an assignment or an exam, saying “I was lucky” or “The exam was easy”.
- When asked how he feels, the child may struggle with his ability to describe his feelings, either because he cannot find the words or because he genuinely does know how he is feeling.
- Related to the point above, the child may struggle with memory. This includes working memory, which is the brain’s notepad (and therefore academics may suffer), as well as long-term memory. The child may start to forget things or may struggle with the retrieval of memories or information that are, in fact, there. This includes the ability to remember vocabulary words.
- The child may struggle with self-regulation and executive function skills.
- The child may have difficulty switching from one activity to the next or wrapping up one activity in order to move on to the next one.
- The child may be hypervigilant. They may be “on alert” all the time or most of the time, as if they are constantly expecting “something bad to happen”. Should this be the case, it becomes almost impossible for the child to pay attention to what the teacher is doing or saying.
It is worth mentioning (and this was mentioned in part 1 of this two-part series) that trauma can and often does lead to changes in the brain’s structure. After all, the brain is a social organ, and it keeps score. These changes can be manifested in some of the behaviors/feelings that are listed above. Some of these changes can be permanent and irreversible. It is also worth mentioning that trauma can affect one’s future health in multiple ways. It is therefore of utmost importance that teachers be as aware as they can be of the signs of trauma in children for them to start the process of helping these children as soon as humanly possible. That is because most impacts of trauma will not go away on their own. The child may need counseling or psychotherapy and a lot of support in the classroom in order to start to heal. The stakes are incredibly high, and we simply cannot fail children during the incredibly challenging times of trauma.
Further Reading
Craig, S.E. (2016). Trauma-sensitive schools. Teacher’s College Press.
Jennings, P.A. (2019). The trauma sensitive classroom. W. W. Norton & Company.
Sorrels, B. (2015). Reaching and teaching children exposed to trauma. Gryphon House.
Web Resources:
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Trauma. Psychology topics.
https://www.apa.org/topics/trauma#:~:text=Trauma%20is%20an%20emotional%20response,sy
mptoms%20like%20headaches%20or%20nausea.
Child Mind Institute. (n.d.). Trauma response: Helping children cope with traumatic events.
Family Resource Center. https://childmind.org/resources/helping-children-cope-with-traumaticevents/
Mind. (n.d.). Trauma. Types of mental health problems.
https://www.mind.org.uk/informationsupport/types-of-mental-health-problems/trauma/abouttrauma/
Trauma-Informed Care Implementation Resource Center. (n.d.). What is trauma?
https://www.traumainformedcare.chcs.org/what-is-trauma/