Grey Bruce Kids Fall 2021

Over this past year-and-a-half, our world has faced
unprecedented hardship. COVID-19 changed everything;
the very nature of how we behave as social creatures has been
indelibly affected. The pandemic continues to cause additional
stressors, and it is imperative that we adapt to this new reality
with flexible thinking patterns. It is an evolving global world.
The pandemic has caused a crisis of physical, public and mental
health, including rising addiction and personal hardships of
many types. There has been unprecedented stress put upon our
children, from shifting formats of learning, to unprecedented
amounts of screen time, and the removal of friends, school and
social supports.
Anxiety in families and individuals is at an all-time crisis point.
For some kids school, socialization and extra-curriculars are a
relief from the stressors at home. Some kids have had to deal
with chronic adult issues and domestic crisis, while others have
had to navigate increased substance use at home and intensified
abuses.
COVID-19 forced us to make sudden and dramatic changes to
our lives, which has seen us pivot quickly, with no certainty for
how long or to what end. So now what? How do we ‘get back
to normal’ when no one knows what that will look like? When
transitioning back to ‘normal’ life after such a traumatic event
we need to redefine what ‘normal’ even is. And what can we do
to help support our children?
Trauma is a fact of life. However, so is resilience.
RESILIENCE
Resilience is the capacity that we all possess to rebound from
stress, feelings of fear, helplessness and being overwhelmed.
We actually build the capacity and increase our resilience as we
encounter the stressors and traumas of life.
Trauma can result from many extraordinary events such as
violence or child abuse, and also from everyday events like
medical procedures and accidents. Changes in family structure
can cause children to develop negative feelings, withdraw, and
develop anxiety or behavioural problems such as aggression.
The way trauma is responded to is either by building increased
capacity and resilience or being traumatized and displaying
negative psychological, emotional and physical behaviours. By
the nature of trauma, it tends to be an intense experience which
overwhelms the child, often coming out of nowhere, leaving
them altered and disconnected, perhaps from their body, mind
and spirit. Trauma can also be the result of ongoing fear, tension,
and anxiety.
It is the opposite of empowerment. Vulnerability to trauma
differs from child to child depending on a variety of factors,
including age, quality of early bonding and attachment, trauma
history, and genetic pre-disposition. Often, the younger the
child, the more likely they will be overwhelmed by an experience
that might not overwhelm an older child.
The child’s capacity for resilience is a paramount factor in
determining severity symptoms.
TRAUMA AND THE BODY
The physiological connection to trauma – rather than
psychological – is grounded in the fact that, at the base of our
brains, the limbic system is hard-wired for survival. The limbic
system controls our basic survival instincts, which means our
primary responses are instinctual.
When faced with something fearful, there is redirection of blood
flow away from the digestive and skin organs and into the large
motor muscles for flight. There is fast and shallow respiration
and a decrease in the normal output of saliva. Pupils dilate to
increase the ability of the eyes to take in more information.
Blood clotting increases, while verbal ability decreases. Muscles
often become excited, causing the child trouble.
Alternatively, when faced with mortal threat or prolonged stress,
certain muscles may collapse in fear as the body shuts down
in an overwhelmed state. In fact, as trauma also diverts muscle
responsiveness away from certain areas (such as the bladder) to
more necessary areas (legs), this is the reason we pee our pants if
faced with sudden fear.
It’s important to remember we’re all animals. Pay attention to
self-care. Respond to your body through trauma first aid – pay
attention to eating high-quality whole foods and drinking lots of
water. Rest. Sleep. Go outside and breathe in the air. Lie on your
back and look at the stars. Walk. Run. Scream. Connect with
nature and animals.
TRAUMA AND REGRESSION
When traumatized, children are in a state of alarm, or – and
this important to remember – even if they are reminded of the
trauma, they will be less capable of concentrating, will be more
anxious, and will pay more attention to non-verbal cues such as
tone of voice, body posture and facial expressions.
Trauma can cause regression and a loss of learned skills and
information. During COVID-19, children have not had access
to learning on an even scale. The fluctuation between online and
in-person learning, as well as differing levels of parental oversight
for home-schooling, has created an uneven landscape of learning
and social skills.
Teachers and schools need to be mindful of the fact that
the content is of far less importance than the return to a
safe, socialized environment. Children are experiencing
unprecedented amounts of anxiety, and the school environment
needs to help children acclimate by establishing safety and
positive non-anxiety provoking environments and routines.
Children will need more coaching on how to resolve
interpersonal issues and cope with separation anxiety.
Children at school would benefit from increased physical
education, yoga, and exercises involving self-awareness,
emotional intelligence and healthy social relationship activities,
including role-playing.
TRAUMA AND KIDS’ BRAINS
It is crucial to understand that a child’s brain is different from
that of an adult because it is still developing. Children gradually
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