A former principal at an alternative high school in southeastern Washington, Jim Sporleder said he became nauseous the first time he didn’t suspend a disruptive student.
The student had cussed out a teacher, an offense that would have typically resulted in a three-day suspension for the student. But in the spring of 2010 Sporleder had learned about Adverse Childhood Experiences and the impact they can have on brain development. That fall, he decided to take that knowledge and use it to shape how he and the staff dealt with problem students.
Instead of suspending the student, Sporleder asked him what was happening at home, and the kid opened up.
“Start asking and they tell you,” Sporleder said. “You see results immediately. It doesn’t mean that the behavior changes right away, that takes some time.”
Sporleder and Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, Washington, were subjects of James Redford’s documentary “Paper Tigers.” The film screened twice in Helena last week in conjunction with a summit organized by the ChildWise Institute, which aimed to educate people about ACEs and how to mitigate their detrimental effects.
An ACE is the result of continual stress through abuse, neglect or household dysfunction in a child’s life. Studies show that toxic stress causes the brain to flood with cortisol, inhibiting brain development and establishing a permanent fight-or-flight response.
[For more of this story, written by Alexander Deedy, go to http://helenair.com/news/educa...02-100aa36060b3.html]
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