Author Archives: Jane Ellen Stevens

Which version is your kid’s school?

August 19, 2016 By in Adverse childhood experiences, Education, School discipline, Solutions 10 Comments

This fabulous video from Atlanta Speech School shows what a trauma-informed/resilience building school looks like — and what a school looks like that hasn’t incorporated these practices.

We’ve done stories about schools that have incorporated practices based on the science of adverse childhood experiences. This science includes who suffers and the consequences (the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study and other epidemiological studies), the effects of toxic stress that these experiences have on a child’s brain and body, how the consequences of these experiences can be passed from generation to generation, and the resilience research that shows our brains are plastic and our bodies want to heal.

Here’s a list:

Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, WA, tries a new approach to school discipline; suspensions drop 85% — This led to the making of the amazing documentary Paper Tigers, which followed six Lincoln High School students for a year.

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Violence is just one part of childhood trauma. So why are we focusing so much on childhood violence?

July 13, 2016 By in ACE Study, Adverse childhood experiences, Child abuse, Child trauma, Solutions, Trauma 20 Comments
Awhack

Whac-A-Mole players (photo by Laura)

Many people and organizations focus on preventing violence with the belief that if our society can stop violence against children, then most childhood trauma will be eradicated.

However, research that has emerged over the last 20 years clearly shows that focusing primarily on violence prevention – physical and sexual abuse, in particular – doesn’t eliminate the trauma that children experience, and won’t even prevent further violence.

“Although violence can beget violence, it’s hardly the only cause of violence,” says Dr. Vincent Felitti, co-principal investigator of the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study), groundbreaking epidemiological research that showed a direct link between 10 types of childhood trauma and the adult onset of chronic disease, mental illness, violence and being a victim of violence, among many other consequences.

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Time and again: This time, Orlando, and again more pertinent questions must be asked

June 14, 2016 By in ACE Study, Adverse childhood experiences, Child trauma, Solutions 21 Comments
Mourners in Orlando. Photo credit: Sam Hodgson for The New York Times

Mourners in Orlando. Photo: Sam Hodgson for The New York Times

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For those of us who know that childhood adversity can lead to chronic disease, mental illness, and violence, among other consequences, the questions about Omar Mateen, the man who killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in an Orlando night club early Sunday morning, aren’t answered yet. In fact, most of the questions that would address the roots of his violent actions — and our successful efforts to prevent other mass shootings — haven’t even been asked.

There are a couple of hints. According to this New York Times article, “Mr. Mateen had a chilling history that included talking about killing people, beating his former wife and voicing hatred of minorities, gays and Jews…”

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“Silent Evidence” worth hearing about

May 30, 2016 By in ACE Study, Adverse childhood experiences, Child trauma 4 Comments

Tennessee Jane Watson’s audio story, Silent Evidence, is about the sexual abuse she experienced when she was a girl, at the hands of an instructor. She’s posted two of three episodes. The first is below. Here’s the description, from her website, SilentEvidenceProject.com:

Sometimes silence protects us. Sometimes silence does us harm. The story of one young woman as she faces her abuser, the criminal justice system and most of all, herself. 

Watson says the real story behind all the headlines about sexual abuse is that most people who have survived sexual abuse never talk about it. On her site, she says that one out of 10 people experience sexual abuse, but the CDC’s Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study), says it’s one out of five.

In Silent Evidence Watson breaks through the barrier of silence with a story focused on the “ramifications of sexual abuse, as they are lived by her and the people closest to her, over the course of a 28-year journey to go public.”

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Troubled moms and dads learn how to parent with ACEs

May 8, 2016 By in ACE Study, Adverse childhood experiences, Child trauma, Community prevention programs, Solutions 7 Comments

Afamilycenter

A father in county jail is ordered to take a parenting class, but isn’t too enthusiastic about it. As part of the class, he learns about the ACE Study, and does his own ACE score.

“Oh my god!” he announces to the class. “I have 7 ACEs.” His mother’s an alcoholic. His dad’s been in and out of jail. He himself started dealing drugs at age 11, and doing drugs at 14.

“I’ve got two kids at home experiencing the same things I did,” he says. The light bulb goes on.

A few days after a woman who’s ordered by the court to take parenting classes learns about her ACE score, she quits smoking.

“I’ve been smoking for years,” she tells the class. “My ACE score was one of the reasons.” She quit, she says, because she decided smoking wasn’t helping her children.

Another parent of three kids was saddened when he did his ACE score.

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Five-minute video primer about Adverse Childhood Experiences Study

April 5, 2016 By in ACE Study, Adverse childhood experiences, Neurobiology, Solutions, Trauma 25 Comments

Many people have been asking for a short video that explains the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, the groundbreaking epidemiological research that revealed the link between childhood trauma and the adult onset of chronic disease, mental illness, violence and being a victim of violence.

KPJR Films, which came out with Paper Tigers last year and Resilience this year, put together this wonderful five-minute overview of the ACE Study. It was edited by Jen Bradwell.

KPJR Films’ executive producer is Karen Pritzker. Its director-producer is James Redford.

“Resilience” premieres at Sundance Film Festival to sold-out houses

January 25, 2016 By in ACE Study, Adverse childhood experiences, Child trauma, Community prevention programs, Epigenetics, Neurobiology, Resilience, Solutions Leave a comment
(l to r) Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, who appears in Resilience; Robert Redford, father of Resilience director James Redford; Clifford Beers Guidance Clinic site coordinator Laura Lawrence, who appears in Resilience; Resilience producer and director James Redford; Resilience co-producer Dana Schwartz

(l to r) Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, who appears in Resilience; Robert Redford, father of Resilience director James Redford; Clifford Beers Guidance Clinic site coordinator Laura Lawrence, who appears in Resilience; Resilience producer and director James Redford; Resilience co-producer Dana Schwartz

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Resilience, a documentary that looks at the birth of the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study and how it spawned a movement across the world, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday. The first two screenings — both on Friday — were sold out.

Not bad for a film whose director, James Redford, wasn’t even planning on submitting it to the festival.

The buzz started before the festival even began. Wired.com listed Resilience as No. 2 in the 25 documentaries not to miss. WhatNotToDoc.com also singled it out. Nonfictionfilm.com did a story about the documentary.

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