Trauma & Learning

Research shows that childhood trauma stands in the way of academic success for millions of children, especially those in underserved communities. Unaddressed complex trauma can profoundly affect a young person’s ability to learn, think, read, concentrate, and communicate, and social science has linked complex trauma with academic, behavior, and attendance challenges.

Studies demonstrate that childhood trauma can physically alter the developing brains and bodies of children, which can affect cognition and behavior for decades and lead to symptoms similar to those of veterans returning home from war with PTSD. Low literacy, high dropout rates, repeating grades, low achievement, and the school-to-prison pipeline have all been shown to have a high correlation with exposure to trauma. Trauma-sensitive school districts across the nation are beginning to deal with trauma successfully, and when they do, the benefits to kids, to families, and to the community are extraordinary.