What are ACEs?

tmpuppress
8 hours ago
2 min read

ACEs are adverse childhood experiences. These are things that happen to us as children, which can impact us both as children and in our future as adults. These stressful experiences can influence both our mental and physical health.

John Legend, working with California Surgeon General Dr. Burke Harris, posted a video about ACEs on X (formerly Twitter). You can view it here: https://twitter.com/johnlegend/status/1392911272652378113. The website https://numberstory.org/ is a great place to learn more about ACEs and also find resources to help.

Two-thirds of us (and our children) have experienced at least one ACE. There are additional experiences that can also impact us such as discrimination, racism, poverty, and separation from a caregiver due to immigration or foster care, for example. This does not need to determine our quality of life or our outcomes. Learning more about the toxic stress these experiences can cause and getting help for this stress can change the course of events, whether you are an adult or a child who had these experiences. If you are a parent, getting support for yourself will benefit your children.

At Thurgood Marshall, we continue to see the impacts of various types of ACEs on our students. This can cause students to withdraw, to struggle with self-regulation resulting in behavioral outbursts, and to become easily overwhelmed by life’s challenges. It can also cause somatic issues such as headaches and stomachaches. Even very young children can be impacted by stress.

At the Blue-Ribbon Schools Conference in Washington DC last week, we heard from Dr. Christopher Willard, a clinical psychologist and educational consultant with a specialty in mindfulness. He talked about ACEs, but he also shared about PCEs—Positive Childhood Experiences. Researchers have found no matter how much adversity adults experienced in their childhood, we are less likely to suffer the consequences of ACEs if we have also had many positive childhood experiences. To raise healthy children, who will later become healthy adults, it is really important for our children to have these positive experiences. So, what are the things that support children in this way?

Feeling able to talk to your family about feelings;
Feeling your family stands by you during difficult times;
Enjoying participating in community traditions;
Feeling a sense of belonging in high school;
Feeling supported by friends;
Having at least two non-parent adults who took genuine interest in you; and
Feeling safe and protected by an adult in your home.

The great news about this is that in spite of difficulties your children may have experienced, there are ways you can help them to overcome these challenges and support them to become healthy adults. You can find resources for support at https://numberstory.org/heal-myself/. You can also reach out to Ms. Matsui, our school counselor, for local resources. Additionally, King County’s Crisis Connections is available 24 hours to help connect you to many kinds of resources. You can call 866-427-4747 or visit https://www.crisisconnections.org/get-help/ to learn more.