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Article Excerpt
On Monday morning, a collective shock was felt throughout the school as news spread of a student's death. John, a playful 5-year-old, had died in a car accident. One child in the class had witnessed the accident, but others had also heard of the tragedy from their parents or television news reports. Even children who were not classmates of the deceased student were affected by the emotionally charged environment as the caregivers around them became distracted and often overwhelmed by the compelling events that resulted in the child's death. Few of the early childhood teachers had specific training or experience in responding to traumatic events, and many struggled to address the emotions associated with the loss. Fear, shock, and anger filled many hearts on this dark day and in the ensuing weeks. The event attacked the sense of safety and security among the teachers and students. The day of this tragedy, the day after, and the following weeks and months all brought new transformations of the children's responses to such trauma and new opportunities for recovery.
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Children around the world are being exposed to traumatic events at a troubling rate. In large, nationally representative studies of children in the United States, researchers have reported that 71% of children have been exposed to at least one potentially traumatic event in the past year, and almost 70% of children have experienced multiple exposures--with an average of three different kinds of victimization reported (Finkelhor, Ormrod, Turner, & Hamby, 2005).
For millions of young children worldwide, these experiences involve large-scale traumatic events, such as war, terrorism, or disaster. An estimated 20 million children worldwide have fled their homes due to armed conflicts and human rights violations (UNICEF, 2007). Natural disasters affected an average of 255 million people each year between 1994 and 2003 and killed an average of 58,000 people annually (Guha-Sapir, Hargitt, & Hoyors, 2004). Millions of young children also experience small-scale traumatic events, such as house fires, chronic illness, family death, or abuse. Seven and a half million U.S. children were victims of violent crimes between 1998 and 2002 (U.S. Department of Justice, 2005). In 2006, 412,500 U.S. families experienced house fires, which resulted in 2,620 deaths and 12,925 injuries (U.S. Fire Administration, 2007). Even in the face of such devastating trauma, however, children have the potential to exhibit resiliency, courage, and an enduring vitality. Early childhood educators can play an important role in fostering these coping skills.
In this article, we discuss how trauma affects young children's physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. Then, we draw attention to the difficulties and challenges that teachers face when working with children who experienced trauma. Finally, we discuss specific strategies for early childhood educators to foster children's resilience.
Impact of Trauma on Children
Exposure to a traumatic experience has short- and long-term consequences in a child's life and can contribute to physical and mental health problems (Paolucci, Genuis, & Violato, 2001; Schwartz & Proctor, 2000)as well as educational impairments (Berson & Berson, 2001; Delaney-Black et al., 2002). Nearly 15% of these children will develop associated, chronic problems that can significantly impair their emotional, academic, and social functioning (Copeland, Keeler, Angold, & Costello, 2007). The majority of these problems are classified as anxiety disorders, with the most common being posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Young children who have experienced a traumatic event manifest numerous physical, social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive symptoms (Delaney-Black et al., 2002; Hoven et al., 2005; La Greca, Silverman, Vernberg, & Prinstein, 1996; Machel, 1996; Paolucci et al., 2001; Schwartz & Proctor, 2000). Physically, children may suffer injuries, such as broken bones; malnutrition, which may stunt growth; weight gains or losses; headaches or stomachaches; hyperactivity; or sleep disruptions (Cohen, Perel, DeBellis, Friedman, & Putnam, 2002; Machel, 1996). For some young children, the stress may manifest itself as a physical ailment that provides a mechanism the child can use to...
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