Trauma and Reading - Influences to Consider

Sometimes I wonder if students can learn to love reading in school. If the seed can be planted for students to become lifelong readers beyond utopic thinking. Or are there experiences that simply harm students and impact their ability to get a leg up on their reading?

Every student is subject to a context, or multiple contexts, in which they learn to read.? In these contexts, there are influences that, generally, students cannot control.

I don’t need to detail what research, textbooks, and volumes of professional texts have already determined. We know the myriad of influences that shape readers before school begins and during their school careers.? They include:

· ? ? ? Exposure to print at home

· ? ? ? Spoken home languages

· ? ? ? Value of reading at home and in the classroom

· ? ? ? Prioritization and definition of student achievement

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I can’t help but feel from time to time that if all the puzzle pieces are lined up, that is proper influences align for a child, reading will be magical.? As we all know, that’s just not the case.? Even if the pieces were all lined up, what happens when trauma becomes an influence?

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For the sake of this discussion, there are two areas I’d like to explore that influence readers. These include traumatic experiences and brands.

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Trauma and social-emotional learning have been hot topics before COVID-19 and especially after. Both have influences on reading for better and for worse. Psychologists are reporting that 70% of the US population has experienced some form of trauma. Where once trauma was considered rare, it’s now becoming the norm, meaning we need to be aware of how trauma can unfold and its manifestation through shame.

A student’s trauma and correspondence can profoundly impact a student’s reading readiness before the primary years and the ability to read through the independent reading years. What constitutes trauma not only across a broader spectrum than it was say a decade ago? More, trauma is different for every person. Where one child struggles to read because of divorce another child struggles to read in an environment of domestic abuse. This is not to say divorce or domestic abuse are equivalents, it’s a matter of how student process their context and the support or tools they have to demonstrate resilience and overcome their trauma to live better lives, which may or may not include reading.

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What’s seldom discussed is trauma in schools.? This is a much deeper conversation than to have in this space, but learning is often treated as if trauma doesn’t or can’t happen at school. It most certainly can. Shame is an outcome of trauma, which means there are experiences students can declare as traumatic.? Again, it’s not that trauma compares or equates to violent or abusive forms of trauma, but it’s there.

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Students who see themselves as non-readers compared to their more capable or engaged peers, experience some level of trauma be it loss or self-deprecation. Students who continually fail to achieve standards, who fail to achieve appropriate levels, or who repeatedly do not meet standards on assessment are likely to experience trauma. Then there is any anger, resentment, or “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed” we direct towards students and how they negatively direct our expression inward. If/when/should we get mad at a student for their failure to progress or our way of holding students accountable is more than demanding, students could interpret the classroom or learning-to-read experience as traumatizing. Believe me, I don’t like to look at myself in this mirror, but times have changed and how we approach our students with their social-emotional learning in mind makes a considerable difference.

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Believe it or not, there is a subtle form of trauma for children. By definition, it could be considered neglect. But in today’s social context, it’s perfectly acceptable.? That’s social media and a person’s brand.

Name a platform and you’ll likely see parents posting pictures, videos, and captions about themselves, their children, or the families creating this brand. This brand could be considered an attempt to create positive images and display how wonderful life is. The problem is, that positive images and brand development, come at a cost.? In this case, it is time spent away from children, to create that image.? Time spent reading with students is outsourced to digital media entertainment. Basic needs or requests are met with silence so that all important Instagram stories, Facebook update, or tweet can make their way into the overflowing sea of information.

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When our attention is turned to our devices and brands, our children are impacted. For example, I was that parent. For me and the context of the times, I was an e-mail junkie. I couldn’t get enough. It was an addiction for me.? Too often, I’d forgone something like reading with her because I anticipated each message to alleviate my FOMO.? With the acceleration of (then) Twitter and Facebook, I devoted hours to staying in the know, further abstaining from my fatherly responsibilities.

Our social media decisions have adverse effects on our children. Whether a lack of oral expression is displaced by messaging or creating the 180-character or less posting, students are more at risk of coming to school with underdeveloped oral lexicons. Exposure to print comes via fonts on LCD screens rather than a cherished childhood read-aloud like Peter Rabbit. Reading might be valued at home, but only if the child is self-motivated. Otherwise, adults are “reading” on the phone, which as best might be a news report, but is more often posts and memes found from endless scrolling. The result is neglect, which is traumatic.

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I have no place to make these claims.? As I stated, I was that parent. The regrets, the time, and opportunity lost are not something I can reverse or redo. Fortunately, my daughter has become a reader, and my students are successful.? However, each time I pick up my phone in my classroom is another missed opportunity. Maturing readers deserve better.?

Though they cannot control their context or the trauma the experience and the impact on them, we can control how we influence our readers and engage them to create positive reading experiences and in turn, overcome challenges they face day in day, in addition to reading, or incorporating reading into their lives.