The Importance of Trauma-Informed Learning in High Schools

By: Graysen Jain

Photo Credit: Carlos Aguilar

From the ages of 0-17, children can experience an adverse childhood experience, or ACE. Three in four high school students have faced at least one ACE, while one in five experienced at least four. An ACE revolves around the environment in which the child lives, mainly concerning the acts and behavior of family members or parents, but can extend to a school environment, too. ACEs can negatively affect children even in adulthood, and are often left unaddressed in schools. Especially after COVID-19, rates of trauma exposure rose in children. To help prevent and possibly lessen the impact of ACEs on children, trauma-informed teaching can help address this problem. In addition to Trauma Informed Practices, or TIP, these methods can have a positive effect on children with ACEs. Methods such as support, being aware of triggers, showing compassion instead of judgement, growth mindsets, and restorative practices are all possible TIPs that could help students. Educators employing these tactics are trying to identify signs of trauma in students and use these strategies to help them, promoting trust, safety, and strong relationships. 

How Exactly Can TIPs Help?

To achieve this goal, staff would ultimately have to be trained in TIPs, which can be done through a variety of ways. Using existing support structures to empower students along with building educators' social and emotional competence can help. Studies have shown that with more well-informed staff, there were improved behaviors and attitudes towards trauma-informed practices. With school-wide practices, understanding of trauma increased, empathy increased, and teachers experienced better interactions with students. Along with these practices, such as TIPs and trauma-informed teaching, using school counselors or other professionals to assess the mental health of students can help support educators. As of date, there is no standardized trauma-informed professional development for schools and educational settings.

To implement all of these strategies effectively, a proposed timeline and system redesign starts off with the education of teachers and educators, along with the implementation of professionals such as school counselors and therapists. The next step is to start integrating trauma teaching and methods into daily lesson plans. If not daily lesson plans, start with monthly sessions with students to work on trauma identification and strategy development for individual students. Although individual student plans may be hard to maintain, it is important to invest funding into trauma care and education for students. In the long run, it would be extremely beneficial for students to receive these types of education. ACEs can have detrimental effects such as health problems, trouble and difficulty forming relationships, and long-term effects such as PTSD. Creating these stable, strong relationships that students can trust and confide in is important. Oftentimes, there is no trusted adult whom a child feels comfortable telling at school. Preventing higher chances of disease and decreasing the rate of suicide attempts is extremely important. Although a school environment and trauma teaching may not be able to prevent ACEs fully, if schools can, TIP could reduce suicide attempts by 89% and substance misuse by 66%. 

Ultimately, the goal with these programs is to provide students with resources to help them with trauma and improve their mental health, possibly preventing ACEs before they occur. Using TIPs and other methods, along with educator help, can vastly improve children’s experience, allowing children to advance through the education system smoothly and effectively. With the implementation of programs such as Mindfulness Labs, educators do not have to be as intensely trained, and can use the tool to help them develop lesson plans to support students with trauma and ACEs. With the help Mindfulness Labs offers, instead of a systematic redesign, schools can just implement it into teaching policies and educate their teachers on how to use the tool effectively. These solutions offer many ways to solve this problem, but ultimately, trauma-informed learning is the best way to help improve the educational prowess of students with trauma.

Keywords: trauma, mental health, social emotional learning, student mental health, adverse childhood experiences

References:

“About Adverse Childhood Experiences | Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).” CDC, 2 March 2026, https://www.cdc.gov/aces/about/index.html#cdc_behavioral_basics_over-what-are-adverse-childhood-experiences. Accessed 14 June 2026.

“Leading Trauma-Informed Education Practice as an Instructional Model for Teaching and Learning.” Frontiers, 23 June 2022, https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.911328/full. Accessed 15 June 2026.

“Trauma-Informed Practices | NEA.” National Education Association, https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/trauma-informed-practices. Accessed 15 June 2026.

Health, Social Emotional, and Resilience in School Environments (RISE). “Adverse Childhood Experiences (Aces).” Thriving Schools | A Partnership for Healthy Students, Staff & Teachers, 12 Dec. 2023, thrivingschools.kaiserpermanente.org/mental-health/aces/.

Koslouski, Jessica B. “Developing Empathy and Support for Students with the ‘Most Challenging Behaviors:’ Mixed-Methods Outcomes of Professional Development in Trauma-Informed Teaching Practices.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 15 June 2026, www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.1005887/full.

The Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Mental Health, and School Outcomes in Adolescents - Denicola - 2025 - Psychology in the Schools - Wiley Online Library, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pits.23498. Accessed 15 June 2026.

Stokes, Helen. “Leading Trauma-Informed Education Practice as an Instructional Model for Teaching and Learning.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 15 June 2026, www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.911328/full.

“Trauma-Informed Teaching: Education: Research Starters: EBSCO Research.” EBSCO, www.ebsco.com/research-starters/education/trauma-informed-teaching. Accessed 15 June 2026.