Open Discussion Forum

  • 1.  Effect chronic stress has on children at school - and why policymakers should care

    Posted 06-28-2019 11:10 AM

    African American children growing up poor are at greater risk of disrupted physiological functioning and depressed academic achievement, report says: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/05/22/report-effect-chronic-stress-has-children-school-why-policymakers-should-care/

    What are the systems and institutions that perpetuate this cycle of poverty? How do we disrupt them? What roles do schools, school systems, and the child care industry play in addressing this issue?

    Yesterday I had the honor of listening to Nikole Hannah Jones speak on some of these issues and I'm so anxious to hear what you think!



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    Tonya Satchell
    Columbia MD
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  • 2.  RE: Effect chronic stress has on children at school - and why policymakers should care

    Posted 06-29-2019 05:14 AM
    Thank you for this post. I'm advocating for teacher education institutions to include topics of this nature into the teacher credentialing process. Teaching the whole child while teaching subject matter is a must!

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    Stephanie Ries
    SOAR Education Consulting Services LLC
    Why waddle with ducks when you can Soar with an Eagle?
    Indianapolis IN
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  • 3.  RE: Effect chronic stress has on children at school - and why policymakers should care

    Posted 06-29-2019 10:29 AM
    Hi Stephanie,
    I agree that one way to address this is to ensure that such topics are a part of teacher preparation programs and that folks are not timid about talking about these issues and addressing them head on. We can't be afraid to talk about these issues in a frank, productive, and action-oriented way. 

    Do you think teaching the "whole child" can address systems and institutions that perpetuate this cycle of poverty?

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    Tonya Satchell
    Columbia MD
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  • 4.  RE: Effect chronic stress has on children at school - and why policymakers should care

    Posted 06-29-2019 06:54 AM
    This is important work



    Sent via the Samsung GALAXY S® 5, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone




  • 5.  RE: Effect chronic stress has on children at school - and why policymakers should care

    Posted 06-29-2019 07:15 AM
    Tonya:
    Thank you for asking these questions.  Perhaps one small part of an answer is allowing and encouraging children to ask questions, question our authority, and to learn to work together with their peers to achieve a goal.  The combination can help them in future efforts to ask the deep questions about their world, have the courage to speak up and act up, and to work with others to make change.  Our daily lives in the classroom would be easier if the children were compliant but compliance doesn't create change.  Compliance is overrated.

    I think  you're asking how we raise children who will work against White Supremacy.  One part of the answer is that first we have to educate ourselves--especially white educators, including myself--about the history and the infrastructure of racism in our country and look hard at our own biases.  That education is ongoing; it's never over.  Thank you for bring some resources and attention to this.

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    Aren Stone
    Child Development Specialist
    The Early Years Project
    Cambridge, MA
    she/her
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  • 6.  RE: Effect chronic stress has on children at school - and why policymakers should care

    Posted 06-29-2019 10:21 AM
    Hi Aren, 
    Thank you for your frank thoughts.  I do agree that we should encourage children to ask questions and speak up and perhaps some of the work around trauma-informed care may help address how individual teachers and schools can support children. But on a more systemic level, I'm not sure that's the way to address institutional racism and the structures (including white supremacy) that keep Black and Brown people poor. I don't propose to have the answers, I just want us all to think about how to address the systems while also addressing the needs of individual children.

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    Tonya Satchell
    Columbia MD
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  • 7.  RE: Effect chronic stress has on children at school - and why policymakers should care

    Posted 06-30-2019 09:13 AM

    Tonya:
    Thank you for your reply.  I agree that raising children to question authority isn't the only way to address these things--it's just one piece of a very complex response.  Thank you for raising important topics.



    Tonya wrote:   But on a more systemic level, I'm not sure that's the way to address institutional racism and the structures (including white supremacy) that keep Black and Brown people poor.



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    Aren Stone
    Child Development Specialist
    The Early Years Project
    Cambridge, MA
    she/her
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