Our opinion: District and city must unite to ward off trauma’s effects [thenotebook.org]

I was in a writing group with Nancy Slonim Aronie of Writing from the Heart. The prompt she has given to every workshop for more than three decades is the one she says gets people to open up, in a safe way about childhood. She asks people to write about "Dinner at My House" and she has them (us) do so for ten minutes straight without stopping. She does other exercises as well and when people feel safe, and invited, people are eager to share. And when she receives stories, about loss, trauma, grief, as well as hope, joy, and bliss ALL the same and as human experiences we all lived, people also share. And many come back over and over and over again to do this. 

For me, this was a wonderful way to own, inhabit and understand my own life and also to compare it with what others lived in an open circle of sharing. It gave me a view of what others do/don't live with and deal with and the realization we ALL have a story, albeit our stories are different. This, for me, is EXACTLY what the ACE study did. It showed me more about people who grew up with a high ACE score as well (I wouldn't have used those words as a kid or young adult) and it also showed me how many have ZERO adverse childhood experiences and that makes them healthier and happier not just as kids, but for life. That's really motivating for any parent to know and not something all of know from the get go. 

So, the ACE Study and expressive writing are great ways to get people sharing both stats and stories (like ACEs Connection/ACEs Too High do). 

To help children comfortably discuss these issues in school, consider a group exercise where they write a play about a kid who is getting hurt at home.

"What should the kid's name be?"  "And where does he or she live - in town or out in the country?"  "And who else lives in the house?  What are their names?"  "And what are they like?" Etc. 

The advantage of this approach is that no one is talking about themselves.  This is make believe.  We're learning to write a play.