RAD, PTSD, Anxious, and Angry Students

Symptoms:

The US Department of Veteran Affairs and the National Center for PTSD list these behaviors/effects of PTSD in children:

• Fear, worry, sadness, anger, feeling alone and apart from others, feeling as if people are looking down on them, low self-worth, and not being able to trust others
• Behaviors such as aggression, out-of-place sexual behavior, self-harm, and abuse of drugs or alcohol

Educators:

• Maintain usual routines. A return to “normalcy” will communicate the message that the child is safe and life will go on. • Give children choices. Often traumatic events involve loss of control and/or chaos, so you can help children feel safe by providing them with some choices or control when appropriate. • Increase the level of support and encouragement given to the traumatized child. Designate an adult who can provide additional support if needed. • Set clear, firm limits for inappropriate behavior and develop logical—rather than punitive— consequences. • Recognize that behavioral problems may be transient and related to trauma. Remember that even the most disruptive behaviors can be driven by trauma-related anxiety. • Provide a safe place for the child to talk about what happened. Set aside a designated time and place for sharing to help the child know it is okay to talk about what happened. • Give simple and realistic answers to the child’s questions about traumatic events. Clarify distortions and misconceptions. If it isn’t an appropriate time, be sure to give the child a time and place to talk and ask questions. • Be sensitive to the cues in the environment that may cause a reaction in the traumatized child. For example, victims of natural storm-related disasters might react very badly to threatening weather or storm warnings. Children may increase problem behaviors near an anniversary of a traumatic event. • Anticipate difficult times and provide additional support. Many kinds of situations may be reminders. If you are able to identify reminders, you can help by preparing the child for the situation. For instance, for the child who doesn’t like being alone, provide a partner to accompany him or her to the restroom. • Warn children if you will be doing something out of the ordinary, such as turning off the lights or making a sudden loud noise. • Be aware of other children’s reactions to the traumatized child and to the information they share. Protect the traumatized child from peers’ curiosity and protect classmates from the details of a child’s trauma. • Understand that children cope by re-enacting trauma through play or through their interactions with others. Resist their efforts to draw you into a negative repetition of the trauma. For instance, some children will provoke teachers in order to replay abusive situations at home. • Although not all children have religious beliefs, be attentive if the child experiences severe feelings of anger, guilt, shame, or punishment attributed to a higher power. Do not engage in theological discussion. Rather, refer the child to appropriate support.

NCTSN. "Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators / Caja De Herramientas Para Educadores Para El Manejo De Trauma Infantil." National Child Traumatic Stress Network. NCTSN, Oct. 2008. Web. 07 Aug. 2016.

For more information and reading, consider:

• Responding to Students with PTSD in Schools
  
• Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators