Issue Position: Addressing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Our Schools

Issue Position

We've all heard the stories in the media -- the gunshots, the men and women and children slain in our streets, gun battles over street turf conflicts and the prevalent gang violence rampant in our communities. But behind these one-day headlines are the stories of the children who may suffer for a lifetime from the pain of seeing and experiencing these violent acts firsthand.

On a battlefield overseas, they would at least be treated for the posttraumatic stress. But the victims of our war on drugs at home often suffer in silence, with our schools and communities not yet equipped to address or even fully understand their trauma.

PTSD -- A Remarkable Hurdle for Our Troubled Youth
As a youth mentor at the Lincoln Child Center in Oakland, I know how vital it is to engage and provide support for at-risk children and teens. Without significant investment in the healthy well-being and education of our children, we risk leaving a generation of urban youth suffering from PTSD behind.

The National Center for PTSD found that 35% of urban youth exposed to community violence have posttraumatic stress. Research shows that PTSD significantly disrupts the development of children and has significant implications for mental, physical and emotional health. While being a victim or witness to violence certainly inflicts trauma, studies find that even hearing about community violence increases psychological issues in young children, adolescents and teens. Many youth I meet have told me that they either know someone directly cut down by gun violence or have heard about violence befalling someone they know in the community.

At my campaign's first Children's Future Forum on June 4, where over 100 community leaders, education advocates, parents, teachers and youth from the East Bay community joined school board members from Oakland, Berkeley and West Contra Costa in a thought-provoking panel discussion, Berkeley High School Principal Pasquale Scuderi most notably remarked that he sees students in the halls with PTSD and principals end up "being the least meaningful threat that these kids have seen all day."

Sadly, PTSD is often misdiagnosed or ignored completely. Only 1 to 2 percent of children with PTSD receive professional help. Kids are often angry, defiant and uninterested in daily activities. Untreated youth are more likely to be unmotivated and pessimistic about their futures; they often lose hope altogether. PTSD results in additional stress and leaves kids vulnerable to further trauma, preventing engagement with community, family and friends.

Mental Health and Academic Setbacks
The symptoms of PTSD can prevent success in school and often result in lower grades, frequent absences, punishment and expulsion. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, roughly 50% of students age 14 and older who live with a mental illness drop out of high school. Additional research shows that childhood trauma and community violence can even lower IQ -- further setting these kids back from healthy physical, emotional and intellectual development.

Children in every classroom are burdened by these devastating conditions. Teachers need resources and support to understand and help recognize PTSD and other mental health issues in the classroom. These students require aid and engagement, but unaddressed, they can disrupt the learning environment and lower academic achievement for an entire class. Worst of all, they often fall through the cracks and drop out of school completely after missing and failing classes.

That's why as a school board member I authored a plan to make our schools "full service community schools" in which they are equipped with physical and mental health services and social service programs that can be used to help students and their families deal with PTSD. I have been working with education leaders in Sacramento to expand the full service community schools concept to schools throughout our state.

Increasing School Attendance and Engagement
This year, I led the first ever district-wide effort to reduce suspensions among the 30,000 students in California's West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD). We set a goal of reducing suspension by 25%. Last week, I learned that we exceeded our goal and reduced suspensions by 27% district-wide. We used restorative justice and conflict resolution programs to teach students to be accountable for their actions.

I give thanks to my board committee co-chair Elaine Merriweather, other board colleagues, Superintendent Bruce Harter, Associate Superintendent Wendell Greer, principals, teachers, staff, students and parents for working together in support of this effort.

CEO Youth, a local after-school program designed to teach entrepreneurial skills and job training, is one model example that I've led to successfully engage troubled youth to be leaders in their community and teach valuable, practical skills. CEO Youth has a track record for increasing school attendance and getting kids off the street, while showing students the value of goal setting and writing their own futures.

Making Children and Families a Priority
I've worked at the intersection of education, job training, youth mentorship and crime for nearly 20 years -- because if it weren't for caring adults and great teachers in my own life, who knows where I'd be today.

I'm running for State Assembly because children and families throughout California need an advocate in Sacramento, and I'm the only candidate in this race with a proven track record of working on proven solutions and bringing the community together to address our community's challenges.

As a community, it is our responsibility to make sure children have a shot of making it in this world. And we can agree that a high-quality public education is one of the best chances they get to succeed and, for some, to enter the middle class.

As a former school board member and city council member in Richmond, I worked directly with education leaders, parents and teachers every day in addressing some of the most challenging issues in our schools. I know the answers aren't always easy -- but we must work together to ensure the future of our kids is the primary focus. I'm convinced that if we get it right for our kids, then we'll get it right for our state and our country -- and that means making sure our kids are healthy and receive the best education possible.

No longer can we wait for these problems to be solved. We need to create a greater culture of understanding and to coalesce support for smart ideas to improve our neighborhoods and help our hardworking teachers, parents and community leaders to recognize that these kids are suffering.

Our Second Children's Future Forum
I want you to join me. Our next Children's Future Forum will focus on PTSD and mental health issues. Please RSVP for the event here.

Today is National PTSD Awareness Day, so please take some time to think about your community and how you can help. Please share this blog on Facebook and Twitter and join my campaign so that we can spread awareness of youth PTSD and discuss actionable solutions to ensure the health and happiness of our children.

Source