July 18, 2009
Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D. is a clinician and researcher in children’s mental health and the neurosciences, and an internationally-recognized authority on children in crisis, who has served as a consultant and expert witness on many high-profile incidents involving traumatized children, including the Columbine High School Massacre, the Oaklahoma City bombing, and the Waco seige. He has written extensively on the subject of the brain’s response to trauma and abuse during childhood and its impact on the brain of the adult who that child becomes.
Consider this analysis from Dr. Perry and see the full article by clicking the citation link after the quote:
What we are as adults is the product of the world we experienced as children. The way a society functions is a reflection of the childrearing practices of that society. Today, we reap what we have sown. Despite the well-documented critical nature of early life experiences, we dedicate few resources to this time of life. We do not educate our children about development, parenting or about the impact of neglect and trauma on children. As a society we put more value on requiring hours of formal training to drive a car than we do on any formal training in childrearing.
In order to prevent the development of impaired children, we need to dedicate resources of time, energy and money to the complex problems related to child maltreatment. We need to understand the indelible relationship between early life experiences and cognitive, social, emotional, and physical health. Providing enriching cognitive, emotional, social and physical experiences in childhood could transform our culture. But before our society can choose to provide these experiences, it must be educated about what we now know regarding child development. Education of the public must be coupled with the continuing generation of data regarding the impact of both positive and negative experiences on the development of children. All of this must be paired with the implementation and testing of programs dedicated to enrich the lives of children and families and programs to provide early identification of, and proactive intervention for, at-risk children and families. [emphasis added] Perry, B.D. and Marcellus, J.E. (1997) The Impact of Abuse and Neglect on the Developing Brain. Colleagues for Children. 7: 1-4, Missouri Chapter of the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse.