Dr. Pamela Cantor’s Op-Ed in The CT Mirror

Dr. Pamela Cantor’s op-ed in The CT Mirror responds to Arielle Levin Becker’s series of articles on childhood trauma and its lasting effects (“Starting Early: A four-part series,” January 20-23, 2015) by addressing the series’ exclusion of how trauma also impacts education. Children internalize adversity as stress, making children inattentive, disengaged and often disruptive. These barriers have the ability to not only impact the child’s own learning but derail an entire classroom. Here is an excerpt:

“Training teachers to recognize the signs of trauma and potential triggers, as well as providing trauma treatment to children on site in schools, much like the New Haven Trauma coalition is doing, is very important, but even done well will not reach all of the children impacted by adversity.

Instead, schools should be designed with a deliberate focus on the cognitive, social and emotional development of every student. Every adult in a school must be aware of how trauma and adversity impact behavior and learning, and more importantly, must learn how to address this recurring, predictable problem.”

We encourage you to read Dr. Cantor’s full op-ed here.