April 2019

Storytelling heals. But I grew up split in two. Half of me was a normal child who was praised for writing well. The other half of me lived underground, scarcely breathing and in cold silence.

When groups that lobby for federal prison reform found there was no money in the budget this year for the First Step Act, many gave Congress and the White House a pass. They focused instead on next year’s funding for the new law, which includes more prison education and job-training programs. But on Monday, their good faith was put to the test as President Trump released his budget priorities for 2020. Only $14 million was explicitly listed to finance the act’s programs. It’s unclear if...

Research suggests that about half of the county’s children experience at least one traumatic event before the age of 17. These adverse childhood experiences — known as ACES — include experiencing or witnessing violence; living in poverty; or having a parent go to jail. Even as school districts across the country become more aware of how these traumas can affect learning, there’s been little concrete policy on the state or federal level for how schools should prepare. [For more on this story...

Preschool is already too late, if you ask Ian Rowe. The head of Public Prep charter schools in New York City believes that, when it comes to setting students up for academic success, the key is starting earlier. Much, much earlier. That’s why the network has teamed up with a pair of nonprofits to start getting children ready for school when they’re just toddlers — a full two years before even enrolling in pre-K. The unique partnership sends trained mentors to meet with families in their own...

By P. Berman, K. Hecht & A. Hosack Claire is the only one who cares about me. Larry had a lot of time to himself in prison. One of the things he looked forward to e ach day was the possibility that a letter from Claire would arrive in the mail . While still angry at her, he realized that unlike the rest of the world, she cared that he existed. In her latest letter, Claire told him she had taken Davy to a Head Start picnic. The teachers had created silly contests for the kids to play.

By: Andi Fetzner PsyD The recent appointment of Nadine Burke Harris as California’s first Surgeon General represents exciting opportunities for increased leadership and momentum around issues related to ACEs and toxic stress. But you don’t have to be a surgeon general to be a Resilience Champion. Anyone who is using (or who wants to use) a trauma-informed and resilience-building approach to lead change can make a difference! But what does it mean to be a Resilience Champion? I’m often asked...

This year, the United States will celebrate 29 years of civil-rights progress under the Americans With Disabilities Act. And yet the more than 56 million Americans with physical, sensory, mental, cognitive, or intellectual disabilities — as well as those living with a chronic illness — continue to experience deep and persistent inequality. According to the U.S. Census and the Labor Department, people with disabilities are half as likely to have a bachelor’s degree and twice as likely to be...

New research has found evidence that children and adolescents with higher levels of anxiety may be at a greater risk of developing alcohol problems. Many studies have investigated the relationship between anxiety and alcohol use, but the evidence has been unclear, say researchers at the University of Bristol in the U.K.. Some studies found higher anxiety is linked to greater alcohol use, while others found anxiety is linked to lower alcohol use, or there was no association. For their study,...

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Constitution does not guarantee a “painless death” for condemned murderers, deciding that a Missouri inmate may be executed by a lethal injection despite a rare, severe condition that could cause him to suffocate. By a 5-4 vote, the court rejected Russell Bucklew’s claim it would be cruel and unusual punishment to inject him because it could trigger a hemorrhage and choking. He maintained the state must seek out another method of execution, such as...

T he Asian women were easy targets. They were a group the robbers predicted would not resist: middle-aged, frail, unfamiliar with English, and — crucially — unable to identify the black teenagers who snatched the purses from their arms. It was 2014, and I had just begun analyzing data on racial disparities in policing with the Oakland Police Department when this story made its rounds. This is part of my work at Stanford University, where I study the psychology of racial bias. The police...

A few years ago, Amy Lopes, a veteran fifth-grade teacher in Providence, Rhode Island, learned that teachers at her school could try a mindfulness and yoga training along with their students. Her immediate reaction: “What a bunch of baloney!” “I said, ‘OK, I’ll try it, but it’s not going to work,’ ” recalled Lopes, who teaches at the William D’Abate Elementary School. “But, within a couple weeks, I just let go and became a learner along with my students, and my whole world has changed.” That...

A group of students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado have started a gun violence prevention campaign. Called #MyLastShot, the student-led campaign calls for citizens to put a sticker on their ID or cellphone that asks for photos of their body to publicized in the event they are victims of gun violence. The sticker reads: "In the event that I die from gun violence, please publicize the photo of my death." Nearly 20 years after the deadly shooting at the school that took the...