I had the pleasure of being on a video call this week with
Jeff Duncan-Adrade (here). The talk inspired me to THINK differently and
research some of his work. One of the
things that amazed me was when he quoted research that stated that urban youths
were two times as likely to have post-traumatic stress disorder than soldiers
coming back from combat. That PTSD was
not only caused by the violence in the streets but also from toxic stressors such
as not knowing if your basic needs were going to be met.
He then discussed research (40
minute mark) that scientist did on a group of women who were raising
extremely disabled children. They wanted
to see how the stress impacted these women’s lives. What the research found out is that even
though they were chronologically in the 40’s, biologically the inside of their
body was that of a sixty-year-old. That
this amount of toxic stress had literally shortened their lives.
No real surprise, however what researchers then stumbled
upon won them a Nobel Prize. They
decided to get these group of women together by first providing care for their
children so that they could meet without any stress. They provided the women some food, but most
importantly the ability to talk with other women who could share similar stories
and empathize with each other. This
ability for the women to meet released an enzyme in their body which not only
stopped the increased aging process but moved these women back closer to their
chronological age.
What are the implications of this research? Our kids need to be allowed to have a voice
in school. They need to talk about
things that are bothering them, toxic stressors in their lives. These conversations need to be met with
empathy not sympathy. He suggests a
homework assignment that discusses the stressors on one side of the T chart and
on the other side assets to cope with these stressors. As educators we must be on the asset side of
the ledger even though Jeff would content that sometimes we are on the left
side.
I will leave you one
of his thoughts that resonated with me. In our society today, people who work
hard to escape poverty are success stories.
We need to change the narrative to salute those who try to end poverty.
As always feel free to give me feedback
Imagine if every health class unit on dangers of heroin/cocaine/marijuana(??)/opioids were replaced with a unit on how capitalist government, biased police force, income inequality, a broken prison system, and an over-stretched, deficient health care system trap communities into lives dependent on those same drugs and addiction.
ReplyDeleteImagine if every health unit on nutrition and ‘food groups’ were replaced with a unit on predictors of food insecurity, food deserts, and urban farming solutions.
Imagine if instead of telling children and young adults to “say no to drugs” (which ignores the fact that many of their friends and family may be tied up in them to know fault of their own) we have them adult mentors, after school programs, tutoring/college prep and mental health counseling.
Imagine if instead of pontificating about healthy food choices we actually gave some: with free healthy lunches and schoolyard-grown community gardens.
Imagine if instead of shaming a child’s situation we helped them change it. And (more to the point of the homework exercise you mention), imagine if instead of presuming a child’s situation...we made it safe for them to share it.
Thanks for the response, what I love about the last paragraph is that all of us can do that right now. If we allow people to be vulnerable then we are moving in the right direction and being an asset to fight toxic stressors instead of another toxic stressor. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
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