We talk about ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) at school. We take bullying head on. But there's one especially treacherous ACE that afflicts as many as 1 in 3 teens from which we shy almost completely - teen dating violence and sexual abuse.
Abuse survivor-turned-activist and national touring expert Ashley Bendiksen has made it her mission to bring these widespread and uncomfortable issues out of the darkness in order to shine her light on a welcome alternative - teaching kids how to establish and maintain healthy relationships.
The relevance for public education is immense because, as Bendiksen points out, traumatized kids have a much harder time learning. It's next to impossible to focus on completing assignments or taking tests when students face abuse in their home or key relationships. But few teachers and administrators have been trained how to address such sensitive topics.
This is where Bendiksen comes in with her clarion call. She travels the country sharing her own powerful story of survival, and the expertise she has since developed around domestic and sexual violence, adolescent mental health, resilience and healing after abuse. Further, she points out the profound influence educators can have on young lives when they transcend the academic and begin to venture into the social and emotional minefields many of their students are forced to navigate.
Some of the solutions Bendiksen outlines as a response to this complex and traumatic state of affairs sound surprisingly simple - simple enough that you may wonder why all educators aren't provided with these tools from the outset of their careers.
You can find out more about Ashley Bendiksen, her library of resources and her speaking engagements at ashleybendiksen.com.
"Outliers in Education" is a project of CEE, The Center for Educational Effectiveness. Find out more at effectiveness.org.
Produced by Jamie Howell at Howell at the Moon Productions.