About 30 people attended the Blue Mountain Community Information Series Event held on Thursday, Jan. 24, featuring Christina Butts, a licensed clinical social worker at Blue Mountain who explained the new Trauma Informed Initiative program proposed to the Blue Mountain School District.
Still in the initial phases, the program is aimed at educating a select number of teachers about trauma-informed practices and providing them with the tools necessary to implement them.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, childhood trauma is defined as: “The experience of an event by a child that is emotionally painful or distressful, often resulting in lasting mental and physical effects.”
Trauma affects people of all colors, backgrounds, cultures and neighborhoods. It is not defined by any one specific demographic. Teachers and administrators say they are seeing more and more trauma-affected students due to addiction, divorce and COVID restrictions. The program teaches teachers how to address undesirable behaviors in the classroom.
Butts said traumatized students often are diagnosed with other disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, attention deficit disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, etc. The behaviors are similar and therefore misdiagnosed.
She cited statistics that survivors of trauma are 5000% more likely to engage in risky or addictive behavior than others.
“You can see why early identification is necessary,” Butts said.
Trauma stresses the brain and changes neurological pathways, making learning more difficult for those affected. Realizing that a child can’t learn as opposed to refusing to learn is the key, according to Butts. Understanding why a child is getting upset or angry and why it’s happening physiologically is important for everyone from parents to teachers to administrators.
Regulating the brain teaches a person how to put a little bit of time between feeling and reacting. When a child is not regulated, they act out. Trauma-informed practices are about helping children become regulated and teaching them how to regulate themselves.
“It’s a lifelong skill,” Butts said.
Brain breaks
Trauma informed is about teachers being more aware of how behaviors manifest and being able to address them in a more successful manner. If behaviors warrant a more thorough exam with a therapist or a medical professional, trauma informed initiative teaches teachers to partner with the family and community.
Trauma-informed teaches the 3-R’s — regulate, relate and reason. Regulating is about making the child feel calm, safe and focused. Relating is validating their feelings and connecting with them. Later, when the child is calmed, you can begin to reason with them.
Most youths have an attention span of about 20 minutes, according to Butts. Younger children have an attention span of about one minute per year in age for things they don’t want to do. “Brain breaks” are short intervals of creative activity used to re-focus students of all ages.
Teachers are taught how to utilize available resources such as fidgets, weighted blankets, yoga balls, comfort corners and other calming devices. But, Butts stressed, the first thing teachers are taught to do is to contact parents regarding the child’s behavior.
Audience members had various reactions to the program.
Deb Arnold, a counselor at Hamburg High School, said the program is used there. About 90% of the day is interrupted by students who are very high maintenance, Arnold said.
“For Blue Mountain to say that they want to do something proactive for their students is a really positive thing,” Arnold said. “The concept (for the program) came from trauma research.”
Another teacher who did not identify herself said she uses these practices every day in her classroom, and it helps the students to calm themselves and get ready to learn.
One parent who was unhappy with the presentation suggested teachers aren’t doing the job they’re being paid to do.
“The teachers are being paid — we already have counselors,” she said. “I don’t see the need for this. This isn’t new information,” she said. “You’re calling a straitjacket a weighted blanket.”
“You’re confusing discipline with management,” Superintendent Dr. David Helsel responded. “This is a toolbox for people in schools to get students ready to learn. We’re trying to get kids who have traumatic experiences at home or wherever, and they don’t always come ready to learn, these are tools that are not always foolproof, but they are tools in the tool chest that teachers can use to get kids ready to learn.”
According to Dr. Frank Musitano, assistant superintendent and director of pupil services, there has been an overwhelming response from teachers interested in the program. The participants are a cross-section of teachers from grades K-12. The program is expected to begin within the next four to six weeks and will be evaluated at the end of the school year.
The program is funded by the Eagle Foundation, a Snayberger Grant and the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Berkshire mont