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Podcasts Take Two
How traumatic stress from home enters the classroom
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Mar 23, 2016
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How traumatic stress from home enters the classroom
When children feel helpless from stress at home and community violence, education becomes secondary over the need to feel safe.
Kimberly Cervantes is one of five students in Compton suing the school district, alleging school administrators refused to provide help to address trauma physical and emotional trauma they'd suffered and that hurt their education.
Kimberly Cervantes is one of five students in Compton suing the school district, alleging school administrators refused to provide help to address trauma physical and emotional trauma they'd suffered and that hurt their education.
(
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC
)

When children feel helpless from stress at home and community violence, education becomes secondary over the need to feel safe.

Research shows that traumatic experiences lead some children to repeat a grade, miss school, have behavioral problems and be suspended — all of which can contribute to higher dropout rates.

This issue is at the heart of an ongoing lawsuit against Compton Unified School District that says the district did not do enough to assist students experiencing complex traumatic events.

To learn more about how children process stress and trauma, Take Two's A. Martinez speaks with Susan Ko, clinical psychologist and co-managing Director of the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress​.