Schenectady, NY: When kids act out, teachers ask, "What has happened to you?"

Nov 13, 2017, Albany Times Union: Schenectady schools consider childhood trauma—Effort to improve school climate shifts focus from discipline http://www.timesunion.com/7dayarchive/article/Teachers-consider-childhood-trauma-12354161.php Over a year ago, Schenectady schoolteachers and administrators began trying something new. When a student acted out, instead of asking "What is wrong with you?" they started asking "What has happened to you?" As soon as educators started to consider that trauma — a parent's death, a father in prison, physical or sexual abuse, homelessness, a parent with mental illness or addiction — may have something to do with a child's behavior, their response to that behavior changed. Instead of seeking to punish, they sought to understand, and according to Schenectady Schools Superintendent Larry Spring, that caused disciplinary referrals and incidents to shrink by half from September 2016 to September 2017. … Nearly one-third of children in New York have experienced at least one traumatic event, known in research circles as an adverse childhood experience (ACE), according to a 2016 national survey of children's health conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. That's compared to one-quarter of children nationwide. …