02/02/2024
When Jack has ran away at school and is in the playground behind the bins, as yourself, is this a child who is misbehaving? Or is this a child who is struggling and needs help from a caring adult?
Is this a child who has made a rational, cognitive choice or is this a child who has been hijacked by their survival brain and is trying to cope?
This video is such an important watch for anyone working with children.
When we see children struggling with their behaviour, it is a sign they are struggling with their emotions, feelings, thoughts or beliefs. Often this stems from a deeper place internally and for many children it stems from experiences of adversity or trauma. When children experience trauma in their lives like domestic violence, loss or abuse their bodies respond to keep them safe, their brains flip in to a state of survival and they are flooded with stress hormone. They might have to run away, hide or fight back to cope. A child might learn that when they feel afraid, it is best to hide under the bed. Or that when things get hard, it is best to run away.
The thing is, their bodies then create triggers to help them keep safe next time- so if they feel afraid again ( in any capacity) their body will respond in the same way. Even if that is when they feel overwhelmed on the playground or feel like they can't do the work at school. If their brain identifies anything potentially threatening or stressful- it will respond by sending the child in to a state of survival.
We must begin to consider trauma informed practices in our approach when we are working with children. Only then can we really help make a difference.
Children don't need to be told off when they are struggling. They need our help.
Acclaimed psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, author of “The Body Keeps The Score,” discusses the widespread existence of trauma and how it manifests in our bo...
