Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events, such as parental separation, violence, abuse or neglect, that occur during childhood. Experiencing multiple or chronic ACEs may lead to toxic stress, in which the body’s stress response system is activated for a prolonged period. This can profoundly affect the development of a child’s brain architecture, causing lifelong harm to physical, mental, and emotional health.
As educators and school staff, we can help children heal and build resilience by taking simple actions to reduce the impact of trauma. In this monthly series, “Taking Action,” I speak with educators and school staff about the things they are doing to help all children thrive.
Dr. Barbara Prempeh, Psy.D.
Vice President, New Jersey chapter of the Association of Black Psychologists
Psychologist at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
Clinical Specialist at Montclair State University
By Amanda Adams
I recently spoke with Dr. Barbara Prempeh, a clinical psychologist known for her expertise in helping children heal through the juvenile justice system, trauma-informed care, crisis intervention, racial/cultural issues, and resilience. Dr. Prempeh also teaches college-level psychology courses.
She ardently presses educators, parents and law enforcement to go beyond simply acknowledging childhood trauma and do more to prevent it or—when it’s too late—help those who’ve experienced it to heal.
Q. Over the past academic year, you were a consulting counselor at a Pre-K through Grade 12 school in New York State. What did you learn about the challenges facing students, particularly students of color?
Over the past year and a half, while we’ve been in this pandemic, there’s been a lot of talk about the need to understand that this is an emotionally challenging time for students, and also to understand the prevalence of social injustice and how we all got a firsthand view. We had no distractions while we were in the pandemic and had no choice but to see what was happening on our screens and social media sites. Students saw it with their own eyes as well, and we saw students protesting and marching alongside their parents.
There’s been a lot of talk about it, but I want to see action now that schools are opening. Where is the action? My concern is that we can do a great deal of talking and acknowledging but then we stop there. It’s great to acknowledge. I’m glad that a lot of places have acknowledged the racial trauma and the collective trauma that we’re experiencing with the pandemic, but what’s the action behind it? I really want to see schools emphasize their emotional support for students.
Q: What should schools think about as they navigate another year affected by the pandemic?
As we navigate this year, we need to be asking ourselves some hard questions such as how we will deal with grief and loss, given the high number of students we’ll have in classrooms who lost a parent, a grandparent, an aunt or a community member to this COVID pandemic. What about the classrooms where teachers aren’t there because they passed away from COVID-19? How are we addressing that?
This is in addition to the increased anxiety that students have experienced, maybe the lack of motivation, because during that year and a half things just weren’t the same, they weren’t able to interact with their friends as much, or they missed out on junior prom. What about kids who were in eighth grade when the pandemic started, entered a new high school last year, and now they’re sophomores? Not only are they adjusting to being in a new building, they’re also adjusting to this new group of students.
Are schools running emotional support groups? Are they providing some type of psychoeducation to parents to inform them on how to support their children at home? I get it that some schools just don’t have the capacity, or don’t want to add anything else to the school day, but we have to become creative in how we’re supporting students.
Q: Part of your career has been focused on juvenile justice and you’ve spoken out about how most children in the juvenile justice system have a history of trauma. Can you talk about this intersection?
This is where my passion has been. I began my educational journey focused on juvenile justice and did my doctorate internship at a juvenile detention and probation center. I saw firsthand that statistic regarding the history of abuse with a lot of the kids for whom I did assessments. This shifted my focus and made me want to help kids in the juvenile justice system. I understood that to better help them I had to better understand the impact of trauma.
That intersection is very important because it helps us recognize the things that could be done earlier in children’s lives to actually decrease the likelihood of someone ending up in the juvenile justice system. The work around ACEs makes the connection from these adverse childhood experiences to long-term medical impact, but there has to also be this second piece of connection relating to incarceration. Maybe there are variables, where a certain number of adverse childhood experiences increases the likelihood of incarceration. That’s where we’re seeing the two worlds come together. When you think back to the school-to-prison pipeline, you have to question if there are resources that kids with ACEs are getting or not getting? Are there certain disciplinary actions taken against kids with a history of ACEs? And do these things increase the likelihood of kids ending up in the juvenile justice system?
The shift in thinking needs to be that instead of handing out excessive suspensions and expulsions, what therapeutic resources are you putting in to stop that trajectory toward the juvenile justice system? Instead of a suspension because the kid is fighting, why not have them meet with a counselor or put them in some type of therapeutic program? This is what I’m hoping will happen as people become more trauma informed. They’ll look beyond the observable behaviors to understand you’re not just seeing a present moment, but you may be seeing a history of things being presented to you.
Q. Why should educators get training on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)?
Educators should get trained on ACEs because this training will help them become better teachers for the children who need more care and nurturing. By understanding how ACEs affect children, you gain insight into how a child’s mind, brain and learning process can be altered when they experience a traumatic event.
There’s a pronounced difference between a healthy brain and the brain of a child who has experienced trauma. A child who has been traumatized has difficulty sustaining attention and engaging in complex tasks. This is because the child may be having flashbacks or may be anxious and vigilant, and those things invariably impair their ability to engage in the classroom. So ACEs training actually supports educators by helping them gain insight into the experiences of the children whom they serve and equipping them to create curricula or classroom activities that can be more supportive for all learners.
Q. What can educators do to turn their schools (or their classrooms) into places of healing and connection?
When we think about educators turning classrooms into places of healing and connection, we can’t overlook the importance of supporting educators and ensuring that they feel emotionally healthy. Educators have gone through a lot during the pandemic, especially when you consider the lack of control they had over their classroom environment and the disconnect from their students because of remote learning. All of this has resulted in educator burnout.
We have to give educators the tools they need to support social and emotional learning. We need to teach them that it is okay to express emotions and talk about how it made them feel. By doing so, they can be the example for students and open the door to let students know it’s OK to talk about feelings and emotions.
We also need to think about our allies within the school system—connecting with the school psychologist, connecting with the learning specialist, connecting with the school nurse, connecting with the parents to find additional support because it truly cannot all be on the shoulders of teachers. So, the approach to creating healing-centered classrooms really starts with supporting the teachers so they can better support the students.
Q. Do you have any tips for educators—or other school staff—about how they can help kids build resilience?
Often when we think of building resilience and helping kids who have had adverse or traumatic experiences, we feel like it’s such a heavy task. In reality, it is the little things that can make kids feel connected to someone else. Something as simple as asking a child how their weekend was or what they did over the weekend can make a huge difference in a child’s life by making them feel connected to someone.
Having one consistent adult whom they have a connection with makes a world of difference to a child because it communicates that there IS a connection and there’s someone who cares about you. So, if something happens to the child, they know they can come to you and get help from you.
By building supportive relationships with children, you can help reduce the impact of ACEs while building children’s resiliency. To learn more, go to Actions4ACEs.com.
Actions 4 ACEs is a statewide initiative to build awareness about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the role adults can play in reducing the impact of trauma and helping children heal. Actions 4 ACEs offers educators invaluable resources and materials to better inform, educate and activate.