Part 3 | Educational Leadership Series – The Way Bahamas
When Keri walked into class that Monday morning, she didn’t bring just her backpack—she carried the weight of her world. The arguments at home from the night before, the anxiety of an empty refrigerator, the constant fear that she might fall behind again. To the casual observer, she was another distracted student. But to an ACE-informed educator, Keri’s behavior isn’t a discipline problem—it’s a distress signal.
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, a leading voice in the field of childhood trauma, has shown how repeated stress in early life—what she calls Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)—can literally rewire the brain and body. Her research reveals that children exposed to chronic adversity (such as abuse, neglect, food insecurity, or household dysfunction) experience heightened levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Over time, this affects memory, attention, and emotional regulation—the very tools a child needs to succeed in school.
In The Bahamas, where many families continue to navigate post-pandemic strain, unemployment, and social instability, these realities are not abstract. They’re playing out in classrooms every day. A student may act out, withdraw, or struggle to focus—not because she doesn’t care, but because her brain is in survival mode.
