Dahill-Fuchel, R., & Dahill-Fuchel, K. (2018, September). Circling Toward Healing and Learning. Retrieved January 17, 2019

Restorative circles can help build relationships and equity in classrooms. A student arrives late to school each morning, downtrodden and listless. A girl can’t concentrate in class. Teachers deal with a boy’s daily emotional outbursts. A pediatrician is puzzled by a young patient’s dwindling appetite. Another child is tormented by anxiety and nightmares. The common denominator for all these kids could be trauma. Poverty, violence, natural disasters or insecure housing may affect a child’s mental health. Growing evidence highlights the effects of toxic stress and long-lasting harm to kids exposed to abuse, neglect and dysfunctional households. In response, trauma-informed clinics and schools, and other culturally aware programs, take a different approach to supporting kids.