(part II) are linked and that reading that set of chapters together can help you gain more complete information.
Let’s get started on your journey toward mindfulness, and prepare for creating, and being a part of, a heart centered community.
PART I
THE URGENCY OF NOW
In part I, we build on the first of three streams of research that guide our work toward creating mindful, compassionate communities: pediatric neurobiology research on the impact of toxic stress and trauma (Ford & Courtois, 2009; Zelazo & Cunningham, 2007) on brain development. This research suggests that toxic stress and trauma are particularly damaging for preschool and elementary-age children during their early developmental years, and those early years are an important time for helping children recover from trauma due to the brain’s neuroplasticity.
Chapters 1 (page 13), 2 (page 21), and 3 (page 37) provide context for the reader regarding the importance of changing the conversation and narrative of how we educate and the importance of beginning now. These three chapters provide the urgency for implementing mindfulness as the foundational practice for cultivating caring, compassionate school communities as a direct response to combat the escalating prevalence of trauma and toxic stress in our students’ lives and in those who teach and lead. As we begin the journey toward healing, we also provide foundational information on developmental trauma and neuroscience, and information regarding the underlying structure of the brain that teachers must consider in developing classroom-based interventions, introducing mindfulness, and building caring, compassionate school communities. Note that chapter 3 contains overarching sections that explain the connection between our brains, our emotions, trauma, and stress.
We believe that by engaging in schoolwide mindfulness activities and creating caring, compassionate school communities, educators have a vehicle for strengthening executive functioning (EF), accelerating personalized learning, advancing student interest and strengths, and helping students heal from trauma.
CHAPTER 1
The Need to Care
I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.
—Pablo Casals
key principle
Mindfulness practices can stimulate the paradigm shift in schools and the new societal mindset needed to overcome the impact of trauma and stress.
Children live with nightmares. Whether it is the trauma of living through a hurricane or earthquake, feeling uncertain of where one’s loved ones are, or living in a neighborhood of poverty or neglect, their trauma surrounds us today. Whether it is domestic abuse, school shootings, or graphic displays of killing on television and in video games, violence is all too prevalent. All too often for young children living with fear, anxiety, or violence, their experiences and unvoiced reactions create layers of damage (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2014).
Trauma touches the lives of children of all ages. It may be pre-traumatic, post-traumatic, or recurrent. It is not limited to youth who are in gangs or those who are of a certain age. While violence may not be the source of trauma for all children, the trauma could be related to abuse, or neglect, or simply losing a friend. While the impact of a traumatic event will not affect everyone equally, the impact of trauma resulting from each of these experiences could be significant. Sometimes teachers will be aware of the traumatic event the student brings into their classroom. We as teachers may hear about the death of a grandparent, for example. At other times, all we may see is that Christopher did not finish his homework or that Latosha seems to have withdrawn. Traumatic experiences are not left at home. Children come into classrooms and the school community every day carrying their school bags and the weight of their traumatic experiences.
There Is a Mounting Urgency
We know many teachers care deeply about children’s emotional health and have the intention to nurture this emotional health even in a time of tremendous pressure to achieve academic gains. Many teachers understand that actualizing this intention requires being mindful that there is a myriad of impacting student realities to which they must pay attention (Feuerstein, 2006; Jackson, 2011; Kabat-Zinn, 2003). If you have cracked the cover of this book, you may already be aware of the realities and huge unmet needs that many students face on a daily basis. Factors such as poverty, racism, divorce, homelessness, and abuse, when coupled with the everyday stressors we all face, often lead to toxic or ongoing stress. Over time, this stress impedes brain development and creates blocks to learning, memory, and one’s sense of security, safety, and happiness.
Trauma Causes Lifelong Damage
Potentially, the effects of profound, long-term damage that accompanies trauma permanently alter children’s brain architecture, resulting in decreased learning and behavioral and emotional problems. According to an American Academy of Pediatrics (2003) report, the damage and cost of suffering extend well into adulthood, with social risk factors, mental health issues, substance abuse, violence, and risky adult behaviors increasing and parenting capabilities reduced, thereby continuing a cycle of adverse childhood experiences well into our next generation of children (Shonkoff, Garner, Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, & Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 2012). These consequences have far-reaching, damaging tentacles that can profoundly impact society as a whole, with the potential to cripple a whole generation of children if their needs are left unmet.
Alarming Statistics
The following statistics support the need to mitigate factors harmful to student well-being and development.
• Over seven million young children a year are referred to a child protective agency for trauma due to neglect, physical abuse, or sexual abuse. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2016) cites this number as an underestimation because not all abuse is reported. The horrific reality is people do not automatically recover from childhood trauma, and 60 percent of adults report experiencing trauma during childhood. Stress from abuse distorts the brain’s cognitive functioning, impairing judgment and contributing to slower academic progress and deflated test scores (Smith, 2010). The statistics of this reality are a cataclysmic foreboding for the future of the United States. (The website www.recognizetrauma.org has more information. Visit go.SolutionTree.com/behavior for live links to the websites mentioned in this book.)
• For students of color, especially African American males, the reality of racial abuse is an additional ignored reality. At very young ages, the reality of racism results in negative perceptions children have about themselves, affecting their psychological and cognitive development (Starr, 2015). Tragically, the confrontations children of color personally encounter or view through the media happen so regularly and are internalized
