I recently saw a TikTok where the creator discussed how teachers worry about their students heading into a break. She pointed out some obvious worries: food scarcity, housing instability, or an abusive situation. The safety concerns she was speaking about impact students all over the country. Something struck me, however. Her normal content focuses on the lack of student accountability as it relates to behavior in the classroom. Watching it, I realized that while she clearly wasn’t making the connection between underlying causes of behavior or behavior as communication, she also certainly didn’t make the connection that the circumstances she outlined don’t just occur over breaks. Those are circumstances that so many students experience throughout the entire year. As an educator who strives to teach through a trauma-informed lens, I also want to take the opportunity to help support other educators in making that connection.
Students who have experienced trauma may not always display behaviors that immediately evoke empathy. Managing and expressing emotions can be challenging for these children due to the impact of trauma on their brains. The trauma alters their brain’s instinctual response to “fight, flight, or freeze,” making emotional regulation difficult. Observable behaviors, such as, yelling, hitting, kicking, or leaving the classroom, are direct outcomes of the activated “fight, flight, or freeze” response triggered by their trauma.
Teachers may be aware of the ongoing trauma these students face, especially during breaks, but may lose sight of it when significant behaviors manifest in the classroom.
Supporting students who are exhibiting big behaviors is not simple. It can be incredibly challenging to identify what unmet need is under a behavior and what skill needs to be taught or strengthened so that they are able to access their education. The persistent nature of challenging behavior, coupled with potential impacts on other students, sometimes leads adults to lose empathy. In a recent article, I explored the concept of the “other children” and emphasized the importance of creating an inclusive environment that destigmatizes mental health, fostering empathy among classmates. However, it is the teacher who sets the tone for this inclusive atmosphere. Educators need to maintain the same level of empathy for the students they are concerned about, even beyond breaks, to create a supportive learning environment.
Russell Barkley, an ADHD expert, once said, “The children who need love the most will always ask for it in the most unloving ways.” Early on in my career, I minimized that sentiment. I was still very entrenched in the compliance lens of behavior management. It felt too “soft.” While I knew it was more than possible for children not to know how to seek out positive attention and care from others, I also saw it as an excuse that people made for “bad behavior.” It took having an administrator who was so much more compliance-focused and thus implementing traumatic interventions like restraint and seclusion to open my eyes. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
Establishing trusting relationships with your students is at the very heart of being an educator.
Challenging behavior can interfere with building that connection, but it is absolutely imperative for students impacted by trauma. Compliance-based practices such as detention, suspension, missed recess, and expulsion do nothing to help students heal and connect. They are very outdated strategies that have been shown to be ineffective in deterring or preventing behavior. Adopting a trauma-informed approach, which involves identifying triggers, meeting any unmet needs, creating a plan, and delivering specially designed instruction to teach lagging skills, is a long-term and much more effective pedagogy.
Being trauma-informed is not about excusing behavior. It isn’t about being a therapist or mental health specialist. It’s simply holding on to the concern, worry, and empathy that you have for your students once you send them into the unknown. Are they safe? Are they provided for? Are they being harmed or living without their basic needs being met? Your ability to maintain empathy for students who are struggling because they may be experiencing trauma provides the foundation for their growth and healing.
