Trauma Informed Care or Re-victimization?

As I was driving to work this morning, I had a thought; in the last year and a half most of the Professional Development training we have been to has focused around "Trauma Informed Care" and "Adverse Childhood Experiences" or ACE's.  Now, while it is important to understand how trauma effects young children and the lifelong effects this trauma can have, I feel like we are beginning to take it too far.

I am the director of a state-funded preschool program for low-income high-risk families.  Most, if not all of the families in our program have some degree of trauma in their young lives.  When we think about the behaviors we see are we viewing them as typical preschool behaviors, effected by their life experiences or do we just see these children as victims of circumstance.  When I enter a new classroom and am immediately told all the challenging aspects of a child's behavior and none of the amazing things they can do, what should I do with that information. 

While I agree that we should consider the backgrounds our kids come from, we also need to consider what that information means.  Does it mean we treat them differently, or their parents?  Does it mean that if you tell me this child comes from a home with abuse, homelessness or an incarcerated parent that I know that doing steps A, B, and C will fix the issues this child is having class? 

No, there is not one fix for any behavior, typical or not.  Every child is affected by their ACE's differently based on their own personal resiliency and temperament.  What works for one child doesn't work for another, ACE's or not.  So, I wonder, if we are trying to come from a "Strengths-based" approach to learning and teaching, how then does focusing on what is wrong in the child's life help them?

What would happen if we made posters of each child with all the amazing things about them and hung them around the room for everyone to see and remember, even when things get tough.  Is it easier to "handle" a tough situation when you remember that this child is talented, smart, caring and just might need a little extra love?  I think it is.  I think that by connecting to these children on a human level, and putting their past and their circumstances aside it is easier to be compassionate and really get to the heart of the situation.

Just because they're having a bad day doesn't necessarily connect to their past traumas.  Everyone is entitled to have a bad day.  It is our job as Early Childhood Educators to help them thrive, even when thy're just not feeling it that day, that moment.  If I am truly a compassionate human being, like I strive to be, then it shouldn't matter where you came from, what your family is like or what even what just occurred.  Compassion should be unconditional and given equally and fully.  I think taht is the best way to combat the ill effects of ACE's.