Sharing

By Richard Reeve

Much of the cutting edge brain science is sending a clear message:  brain damage is caused by adolescent drug use. This new study, focusing on the effects of ecstasy and cocaine use in adolescents continues to reinforce the message that drug use during the teenage years causes damage to the developing brain.

“The results highlight that the so-called “reinforcing effects” are greater in adult mice treated with ecstasy or cocaine during adolescence than in adolescent mice not exposed to these drugs. “Adolescence is a critical stage in development, during which time drug consumption affects plastic cerebral processes in ways that cause changes that persist right through to adulthood”, adds the scientist.” Read the full article at Shrink Rap

At first this seems like an expected finding.  But if we consider how our culture has treated teen drug use over the past fifty years, brain damage has never been one of the main reasons presented to youth to avoid drug use.  It’s important that the relevance of these findings be recognized not only because of the  seriousness of what they present, but because they are presenting a new concern relating to adolescent development.

By Richard Reeve

How Schools Can Hurt and How They Can Help…

A NATSAP Conference presentation by Hannah Mariotti and Sarah Wagner from Shortridge Academy in New Hampshire focused on the findings of neuroscience concerning trauma and explored how the general framework in American education can often times create a traumatic environment.

Not only the experiences of violence, bullying and abuse were explored, but also the often times reinforced negative experiences in the classrooms across America. The emphasis on order, conformity and compliance, teacher-centric practices, the predominance of memorization and recall exercises, peer competition, a prevailing belief that ability is fixed, narrow standards of performance expectations, intolerance of differences, tracking, labeling, standardized testing, large classes and large schools, and lack of teacher support were all cited as elements in the educational system that create traumatic stress.

Do we know what trauma looks like in the classroom? A need exists to educate teachers to be on the lookout for and know when to intervene when the symptoms of trauma and the experience of the fight, flight, or freeze response loop, begin to manifest. These can include hyperarousal, dissociation and numbness. It was noted that trauma impacts the students ability to learn, reduces memory volume, and decreases problem solving skills.

A number of solutions that can be implemented by therapeutic programs to promote healing were explored. It was suggested that the impact of the any event or environment depends on the child’s hope and resilience, their capacity to transcend. Primary in the healing process is the educators presence and relationship. It’s the caring person, someone whose crazy about the kid that can move the student into a safe and new beginning. Along with nurturing relationships to extend hope, opportunities for play that foster creativity and imagination were also emphasized.

A fascinating new study examines the link between school burnout in teens and parental job burnout:

“School burnout is a chronic school-related stress syndrome that is manifested in fatigue, experiences of cynicism about school and a sense of inadequacy as a student.”

and

“The results showed that experiences of burnout were shared in families. “Experiences of burnout were shared most particularly between adolescents and parents of the same gender, i.e. between daughters and mothers and between sons and fathers. The parent of the same gender seems to serve as a role model for the development of burnout,” says Professor Katariina Salmela-Aro who led the research. Read more at Shrink Rap

A model that traces behavioral issues effecting family systems is not new to those working in therapeutic boarding schools.  Addiction and alcoholism are both often defined as family diseases.

A poignant question was put forward in a Telegraph article on the same subject, speculating on the potential impact of the prolonged global recession and the stress it is causing on families and young people.