Trauma and Human Rights as they relate to children has recently become a hotbed of discussion with the detainment of children at the international borders of the United States.  News feeds are ripe with reports of deplorable living conditions, insufficient medical care, inhumane treatment, and trauma.  Are these stories so different than that of the Internment Camps during World War II or Native American Boarding Schools?

It seems to this writer it is all too often forgotten by the adults of society that children are people too.  Adults make decisions for themselves without considering the impact on their children or for their children that can be detrimental to their well-being.  In fact, it has only been 81 years since the government had to step in and make laws against child labor.

I took my children to the Lockport Caves this summer where we learned about “powder monkeys”.  While trying to blast out the rock to build factories, boys 8-12 were hired to light the dynamite fuses because they were smaller and could run faster.  Imagine today letting your child take a job where they went hundreds of feet underground, crawled into small holes with matches, lit the fuse on an explosive and then ran like crazy to get far away enough to not be blown up or crushed by a cave in, only to do this over and over again?

In 1938 the U.S, Government enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) which set age limits and guidelines for the employment of children, including guarantees for fair pay, non-interference with education, and a level of safety.  This was the beginning of defining some rights for children.

As young as these laws protecting children from unfair labor are, the laws around child welfare are shockingly younger!  Although a Children’s Bureau was founded in 1912, little attention was paid to the welfare of children until the 1960’s.  Children were considered property of their parents and therefore parents had the right to manage their property as they deemed fit.  In 1974 Congress passed the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), which was the first major legislation regarding child abuse and requiring states to develop a means of reporting abuse. 

In 1974:

• Women had the right to own property for 74 years
• Women had been voting for 54 years
• Native Americans had begun to be recognized as citizens for 50 years
• People of African Decent had held the right to vote for 9 years
• Native American Civil Rights Act was 6 years old

Children are both one of our most vulnerable and most valuable assets.  This makes them as priceless as any natural resource.  Yet these children are still falling victims to abuse from the micro level to the macro level.  According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families Administration on Children, and the Youth and Families Children’s Bureau, the following is the child abuse statistics for 2017:

The most concerning aspect of these statistics is the level of abuse in children under three years of age.  Not only are these the primary years of identity formulation they are also the years of verbal development.  SO why is that important.  Children are experiencing traumatic events during the time they are developing their sense of the world and of themselves, often creating a very negative and maladaptive pattern of thought and behavior.  These can lead to contact with mental health and legal communities.  However, because the abuse happened before language traditional expressive therapies are ineffective.  This creates a difficult position for parents, teachers, peers, and the community for the best way to understand and help these children.

In these cases, prevention is most likely the best intervention.  In lieu of this, those charged with caring for and raising victims of early childhood trauma will benefit from education about early life trauma and ways to support their children.  It is in this endeavor I hope to bring together education, support, and people for the sake of the children.  In the end, it really does take a village.

Do you ever feel like you’re tired all the time?  Do you ever wake up and start planning when you can take a nap?  Do you ever wonder if other people feel as tired as you do?  For me I can answer all three questions with a resounding “YES!”  And yet when I scan through my newsfeeds on social media it seems like every other person is posting a meme or a gif about the exact same thing.  So maybe we’re not alone.

I am a full-time social worker, a full-time mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, and a friend, just to name a few.  With all those things is it a wonder I would say yes to these questions?  Probably not.  And since I had maybe one Tuesday a year free it made complete sense that I should fill it up with going back to school, right?  I thought so, which is why I decided to enroll as a part time doctoral student through SUNY Buffalo School of Social Work.

I know what you’re thinking, “She’s crazy.”  “When do you plan on sleeping?”  “Why would you do that to yourself?”  I’m not crazy (I don’t think), sleep’s over-rated, and let me explain why………when I was 5 years old my dolls and animals had medical records.  Every year when I got my physical, I gave them their physicals.  I updated their charts, gave them a sticker, and sent them on their way.  For 13 years I would insist I was going to be a pediatrician when I grew up.  I was going to make the sick well, the broken fixed and the healthy healthier.  Then there was organic chemistry and a year of soul searching.  I found myself on the path to becoming a social worker.  My poor mother, “What will I tell everyone?  I told them you were going to be a doctor!”  My answer was simple.  “When a child gets abused, they may have a broken bone or a bruise that the doctor might cast or bandage, but the injury left from that abuse is so much deeper and not so easily fixed.  I’m going to fix that.”  Pretty profound for a 19-year-old.  And also, unknowingly prophetic.

Years later I find myself working at an inpatient hospital with children who have severe early childhood trauma.  I find myself educating parents, foster parents, teachers, and direct care staff on the significant effects of this abuse- from behavior, to brain structure, all the way down to the basic genetic makeup of a child.  And I find myself shocked at times how little education is provided to those charged with caring for, supporting, and raising these children.  So came the inspiration for this blog.  To offer a place where people can be educated, share resources, and begin new discussions about trauma, children, and the impact trauma has on the micro, mezzo and macro levels. 

This is just the beginning of what I hope will be an exciting and fulfilling journey.  I am hoping to both share and learn from others, to foster important interesting discussions, and offer support.  As I start down this path, I wonder what type of information do people wish they were given to prepare for their role as caretaker or teacher?  What questions do you have about the impact of early childhood trauma from the gene level to organic development?  What types of resources would be helpful to you for supporting and planning for these youth? How can I help?