As Florida State University rolls out a massive new campaign designed to help students weather stress and cope with childhood traumas, Jim Clark, the dean of the College of Social Work, fears that the public might buy in to a damaging but common stereotype of college students: that they are fragile “snowflakes” in need of coddling.
Clark believes that they are resilient -- a term that has been co-opted into a psychological buzzword. But it strongly applies to Florida State’s new program, a unique effort to consolidate mental health resources for students and teach them about “adverse childhood experiences,” or ACEs, early traumas such as domestic abuse or a family suicide that have lingering and often deep effects into adulthood.
Since ACEs are often associated with depression, physical health problems and substance abuse later in life, they are particularly important for college students -- who are already adjusting to a new environment -- to learn about. For example, a contingent of more than 100 alumni from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, site of the Feb. 14 Parkland, Fla., shooting, will matriculate at Florida State this fall. This is a group that has already grappled with significant community violence, Clark said.
To read more of Jeremy Bauer-Wolf article, go to https://www.insidehighered.com...effects-early-trauma
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