Lynn Miles, who suffered ACEs … The growing interest in understanding the effects of adversities has been accompanied by an increase in the development and application of trauma-informed care (TIC). ACEs are traumatic experiences that occur before the age of 18 and are remembered by survivors throughout the rest of their lives. Supporting Students with Adverse Childhood Experiences How Educators and Schools Can Help By David Murphey and Vanessa Sacks A dverse childhood experiences (typically referred to as ACEs) are potentially traumatic experiences and events, ranging from abuse and neglect to parental incarceration. Supporting young people who have had adverse childhood experiences Half of children will live through an adverse childhood experience and around one in 10 will suffer four or more. David Murphey(link is external) is a research fellow at Child Trends and the director of the Child Trends DataBank. Research has found that the risk for negative outcomes increases with the number of adversities; in other words, children who have experienced multiple adversities are substantially more likely to be negatively affected than children who have experienced only one.8 A 1998 ACEs study found that adults who have experienced four or more ACEs have a particularly high risk for negative physical and mental health outcomes, including some of the leading causes of death in the United States.9 Subsequent studies have identified lower thresholds, ranging from one to three ACEs, as the tipping point at which risk increases greatly.10 Multiple factors likely account for individual variation in response to adversity, including contextual factors such as supportive adult relationships. Support locally based, school-driven initiatives to create supportive learning environments. A possible exception would be to include related items in anonymous schoolwide surveys to raise broad awareness of the prevalence of potentially traumatic experiences. Nationally, 61 percent of black children and 51 percent of Hispanic children have experienced at least one adversity, compared with 40 percent of white children and only 23 percent of Asian children. Beginning in 1995, the Adverse Childhood Experience Study examined the prevalence of childhood trauma and its impact by tracking more than 17,000 children. It also looks at the effectiveness of the collaborative work between education and other public services in supporting these pupils and their families.This report considers school strategies to support pupils who are currently experiencing or have experienced trauma or adverse childhood experiences. It concludes by offering three ways schools can help and a three-part strategy for trauma-informed education policy. Among the adversities included in the survey, economic hardship and divorce or separation of parents or guardians are the most common adversities reported nationally and in all states. Almost half of children in the UK have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE) and one in 10 have experienced four or more. A key principle of trauma-informed care is to avoid practices that have the potential to cause, or reactivate, trauma. One mechanism responsible for the effects of ACEs--toxic levels of stress--can be substantially buffered by stable and supportive relationships with caregivers. American Educator, v43 n2 p8-11 43 Sum 2019. (back to article), Supporting Students with Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic stress in children has health effects that can last into adulthood — and beyond, Rural children more than twice as likely to be homeless in Michigan, No child left behind: How educators can support students affected by trauma, Students In Oregon Allowed To Take ‘Mental Health Days’, Medical students’ ACE scores mirror general population, study finds, Michigan ACE Initiative Virtual Conference: Nov. 18, 2020, Using ACE Information in Clinical Settings.