DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET 3. Implementing the Trauma-Informed Classroom Fifteen years ago, schools would tell me in all seriousness that they had no traumatized students. Although it is widely known that military veterans frequently suf- fer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), many educators and other adults are unaware of a similar form of traumatic stress in children. Maybe because we all sincerely want childhood to be secure and joyful, we find it difficult to acknowledge that little children can be traumatized. No school would fail to provide essential emergency medical care for a child hurt on the playground, but acknowledging wounds that are invisible is still challenging for many adults. Adults often say, “Oh, he’ll outgrow these behaviors,” or “It’s just a phase.” Regrettably, children who have been traumatized are often misidentified as strong willed and defiant! Trauma- informed educators fully realize that children who are unable to exercise self-regulation are fearful, not simply disobedient (Bailey 2011). Today educators and schools are beginning to acknowledge that attachment or event-based trauma is a barrier to learning. Even Educa- tion Week, a leading education tabloid, has begun to address the link between trauma and children’s poor academic achievement (Sparks 2012). Adopting a trauma-informed, alternative disciplinary protocol represents COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL 29