The author of this article, Leana Wen, conducted a
discussion with a group of young Baltimore children asking for their biggest
concerns, all of which included traumatic situations which can result in mental
health issues. Traumatic situations can involve
seeing family or loved ones die due to gun violence or drug abuse, dealing with
physical and verbal abuse, and living in poverty. Scientific research has shown that children
suffer the most from these traumatic events.
This trauma can play a significant role in negative situations occurring
later in these children’s lives. The
Baltimore City Health Department has recognized that the effects of trauma in
lives of the citizens of Baltimore, particularly its children, needs to be
addressed.
The
Health Department, along with its partners, have created four principles to
address this issue. The first principle
is that children are seen not as “at risk,” but rather “at hope.” The second calls for recognizing our city as a
place of recovery and resilience. The third
calls for understanding how history has played a part in the amount of trauma
that citizens are faced with today. The
fourth asks for a break in the stigma of mental health issues and to rely on
our scientific findings—that trauma cycles can be broken, especially with early
intervention.
Several
grants are now being used to address and alleviate traumatic situations occurring
in Baltimore. With the help of a 2.3
million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Baltimore City
Public Schools will be able to devote much more attention to mental
healthcare. This includes hiring a
full-time clinician at 13 schools and providing training to all staff about
recognizing and preventing trauma.
I found
this article interesting because it seems to be addressing something that
teachers and school staff, I feel, have known about for years. Many teacher had students who disrupt class
or struggle with paying attention. In
many cases, teachers are wondering in the back of their minds, “Where did this
student sleep last night?” or “Who is caring for this student while his or
parent is in jail?” If we think back to
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, basic needs are the most important, closely
followed by the needs of security. If
students are coming into school without these basic needs being met, how can we
expect them to learn? Speaking from my
own personal experience, I had a student who I had discovered slept on the
floor without a pillow for many nights.
How could I blame him for being too tired in math class the next day? Many teachers
go above and beyond to help make the classroom environment as mentally healthy
and welcoming as possible for their students, but they cannot alleviate these
problems alone. They need support that
will also address community needs. They
also need more support in what to do when they have students in their
classrooms who are in need of mental health support.
Congressman Elijah Cummings is
quoted saying, “It is our duty to ensure that where our children live does not
determine whether they live.” This
relates to the idea that all children deserve a good education. They deserve to be in a school where they are
valued and given opportunities to become their most successful selves. Aligning with this quote is the first
principle that students need to be seen as “at hope” rather than “at risk.” Currently in education, there is a great
demand for change in mindset. I think
this is a great summary of what those changes are asking. We cannot just label as child as “at risk” and
consider it normal that they face these traumatic situations in their everyday
experiences. We need to work as a city
to see that these students become “at hope”—that they aren’t seen as problems
that need to be dealt with or ignored, but promises we need to keep.
I have included the link to the Baltimore Sun article below.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-baltimore-trauma-20161016-story.html
