We Can Prevent ACEs

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
5 Apr 201804:33
EducationalLearning
32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThe video script narrates a personal story of overcoming adversity in a community plagued by unemployment and a lack of resources. Despite the risk of experiencing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), the narrator credits the support of community members, like Mr. Martino, for providing stability and guidance. The script highlights the positive impact of local initiatives, such as career workshops, flexible work arrangements, and parenting classes, which have collectively contributed to preventing ACEs. The importance of economic support, social norms, quality care, enhanced parenting skills, and timely interventions are emphasized as strategies to stop ACEs. The narrator, now a mentor, shares their journey of building healthy relationships and making good choices, advocating for safe, stable, and nurturing environments essential for every child's potential.

Takeaways
  • 🏘️ The community has improved from a troubled past with high unemployment and lack of resources to a great community now.
  • 👶 Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events in childhood that can increase the risk for future problems but are preventable.
  • 🤗 Support from caring individuals can make a significant difference in a child's life, preventing them from becoming another ACEs statistic.
  • 👦 Providing adult role models and mentorship, like helping with homework and spending time together, can positively influence a child's development.
  • 🛠️ Local business owners and community members can help by offering employment opportunities and work experience, which can stabilize families.
  • 💼 Economic stability from steady jobs can reduce stress and improve family dynamics, contributing to a healthier home environment.
  • 👩‍👧‍👦 Community workshops and support can assist parents in developing positive parenting skills, beneficial for children of all ages.
  • 🏫 Schools play a crucial role in preventing ACEs by offering after-school activities and tutoring, which can keep kids engaged and out of trouble.
  • 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Community-supported programs like summer camps provide affordable childcare and opportunities for learning life skills.
  • 📚 Early intervention and enhancement of parenting skills are essential in promoting healthy child development and preventing ACEs.
  • 👫 Strengthening economic support, changing social norms, providing quality care, and intervening to lessen harms are known strategies to prevent ACEs.
  • 🍦 Building safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments is key to preventing child abuse and neglect, ensuring children reach their full potential.
Q & A

  • What does ACEs stand for?

    -ACEs stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences, which are traumatic events in childhood such as abuse and neglect that can increase the risk for future problems.

  • What is one way the community helped prevent ACEs by providing support to families?

    -The community helped prevent ACEs by offering free childcare at the clinic, allowing parents like Mariana to attend classes on handling the challenges of single parenting.

  • How did Mr. Martino contribute to the community's efforts to prevent ACEs?

    -Mr. Martino contributed by providing local kids with opportunities to help at his store after school, which served as a positive environment and a source of adult supervision. He also helped the narrator's dad find a job as a mechanic.

  • What positive impact did the narrator's father's new job have on the family?

    -The father's new job as a mechanic provided a steady paycheck, which reduced financial stress and allowed him to be more pleasant and supportive towards his family.

  • What is the significance of Riverside Middle's sponsored summer camp?

    -The sponsored summer camp at Riverside Middle is significant because it offers affordable, quality childcare and tutoring, as well as life skills education, contributing to the prevention of ACEs.

  • Who was Miss Greer and what role did she play in the narrator's life?

    -Miss Greer was a counselor at Riverside Middle who was a good listener and helped the narrator and his brother get involved in after-school activities, providing them with mentorship and keeping them out of trouble.

  • What are the five known strategies to help stop ACEs before they start?

    -The five known strategies are: strengthening economic support for families, changing social norms to support parents and positive parenting, providing quality care and education early in life, enhancing parenting skills to promote healthy child development, and intervening to lessen harms and prevent future risk.

  • How did the community's efforts influence the narrator's life trajectory?

    -The community's efforts, including the support from individuals like Mr. Martino and programs like the sponsored summer camp, helped the narrator avoid the negative outcomes associated with ACEs and become a mentor to other kids.

  • What is the role of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships in preventing child abuse and neglect?

    -Safe, stable, and nurturing relationships are essential to prevent child abuse and neglect as they provide children with a secure environment that fosters healthy development and allows them to reach their full potential.

  • How does the community's approach to preventing ACEs reflect the importance of collective action?

    -The community's approach reflects the importance of collective action by involving various stakeholders, such as local business owners, schools, and healthcare providers, in implementing strategies to prevent ACEs and support families.

  • What is the significance of the banana split at the end of the script?

    -The banana split at the end of the script symbolizes a sense of normalcy, camaraderie, and the small joys in life that can contribute to a child's well-being, especially when combined with the larger efforts to prevent ACEs.

Outlines
00:00
🏘️ Neighborhood Challenges and ACEs Prevention

The speaker introduces their neighborhood, which despite being a great community now, has faced issues such as high unemployment and a lack of resources for families. They discuss adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their potential long-term negative effects, emphasizing that these can be prevented. The speaker shares their personal story of being at risk for ACEs but being supported by incredible people in the community, such as Jackson, Mr. Martino, and others, who provided adult supervision, mentorship, and employment opportunities, thus preventing the speaker from becoming another statistic.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Community Support and Family Stability

The speaker highlights the impact of community support on family stability. Mr. Martino and other local business owners organized career workshops, which helped the speaker's father find a job as a mechanic. This not only provided a steady income but also improved the father's mood and family dynamics. The speaker's mother found a job that allowed her to work from home, which increased her time with the family. Mariana, a single parent, attended a class on single parenting challenges, with the clinic offering free childcare for her daughter, Ella, during the class.

📚 Educational Support and Positive Parenting

The speaker talks about the importance of educational support and positive parenting in preventing ACEs. Mariana's class helps parents develop positive parenting skills for children of all ages. Riverside Middle, the speaker's school, offers a sponsored summer camp that provides affordable childcare, tutoring, and life skills education. The school also had a counselor, Miss Greer, who was instrumental in involving the speaker and their brother in after-school activities, which served as a protective factor against trouble.

🛡️ Strategies for Preventing ACEs

The speaker outlines five known strategies to prevent ACEs before they occur: strengthening economic support for families, changing social norms to support parents and positive parenting, providing quality care and education early in life, enhancing parenting skills to promote healthy child development, and intervening to lessen harms and prevent future risk. The speaker encourages the implementation of these strategies in one's own community.

🤗 Personal Growth and Community Mentorship

The speaker reflects on their life journey, emphasizing how the support and preventive strategies in their community helped them overcome the odds associated with ACEs. They highlight the importance of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments for children's development. The speaker now serves as a mentor to other kids in need, ensuring they don't become an ACEs statistic. The paragraph concludes with a light-hearted suggestion of enjoying a banana split, symbolizing the positive and joyful aspects of community life.

Mindmap
Keywords
💡Community
A community refers to a group of people living in the same geographical area or sharing common interests, values, or goals. In the video, the speaker's neighborhood is portrayed as a community that has faced challenges but has also come together to support each other and prevent adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The community's collective actions, such as organizing workshops and providing resources, are central to the video's theme of overcoming difficulties through solidarity.
💡Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
ACEs are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood, such as abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction, which can have negative, lasting effects on health and well-being. The video discusses ACEs as a significant issue that the community has worked to prevent. The speaker's personal story and the community's interventions serve to illustrate the impact of ACEs and the importance of prevention strategies.
💡Unemployment
Unemployment refers to the state of being without a job while actively seeking work. In the video, high unemployment in the community is mentioned as one of the problems that contributed to ACEs. The video highlights how local business owners, including Mr. Martino, helped address this issue by providing job opportunities and workshops, which in turn helped prevent ACEs by offering economic stability to families.
💡Resources for Families
Resources for families encompass the various forms of support and assistance available to help families meet their needs, such as childcare, education, and financial aid. The video emphasizes the importance of these resources in preventing ACEs by showing how the community provided career workshops, free childcare, and job opportunities, which contributed to the well-being of families and children.
💡Role Model
A role model is a person whose behavior, example, or success is emulated by others, especially by younger individuals. In the video, the speaker serves as a role model for a young boy named Jackson, spending time with him, helping with homework, and providing guidance. The presence of positive adult role models in the community is depicted as a crucial element in preventing ACEs and fostering a supportive environment for children.
💡Childcare
Childcare refers to the care and supervision provided to children when their parents or guardians are unavailable. The video mentions free childcare offered by the clinic as a resource that allows parents, like Mariana, to attend classes and develop positive parenting skills. This service is part of the community's strategy to support families and prevent ACEs by ensuring children are safe and supervised.
💡Parenting Skills
Parenting skills are the techniques and abilities that parents use to raise and guide their children. The video discusses a class for single parents, which helps them develop positive parenting skills. These skills are essential in creating a nurturing environment for children and are highlighted as a key strategy in preventing ACEs by promoting healthy child development.
💡Summer Camp
A summer camp is a supervised program for children and adolescents, typically combining learning, recreation, and socialization during the summer months. In the video, a sponsored summer camp at Riverside Middle is mentioned as a community-supported program that provides affordable, quality child care and tutoring, as well as opportunities to learn life skills. This initiative is part of the community's efforts to prevent ACEs by offering children constructive activities and support.
💡Mentorship
Mentorship is a relationship in which a more experienced or knowledgeable person (a mentor) guides and supports a less experienced individual (a mentee). The video features the speaker's experience with mentors, such as Miss Greer and the coaches at after-school activities, and the speaker's current role as a mentor to other kids. Mentorship is portrayed as a valuable support system that can help prevent ACEs by providing guidance and positive influences to children.
💡Prevention Strategies
Prevention strategies are systematic approaches designed to stop or reduce the likelihood of a problem occurring. The video outlines five known strategies to prevent ACEs, including strengthening economic support for families, changing social norms, providing quality care and education, enhancing parenting skills, and intervening to lessen harms. These strategies are exemplified through the community's actions and are central to the video's message of proactive measures against ACEs.
💡Nurturing Relationships
Nurturing relationships are those that provide emotional and psychological support, fostering growth and well-being. The video emphasizes the importance of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments in preventing child abuse and neglect. The speaker's story and the community's efforts to support families and children exemplify the positive impact of nurturing relationships on children's development and the prevention of ACEs.
Highlights

The community had high unemployment, lack of resources for families, and kids without adult supervision, leading to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

ACEs are traumatic events in childhood, like abuse and neglect, that can increase risk for future problems.

The good news is that ACEs and their consequences can be prevented.

The speaker overcame risk factors for ACEs with the help of incredible people in the community.

Jackson, a kid in the community, benefits from having an adult role model to spend time with and help with homework.

Mr. Martino provided after-school help and job opportunities for kids and adults in the community.

The speaker's dad found a stable job as a mechanic through Mr. Martino, improving family dynamics.

Community business owners organized career workshops to help people find work and prevent ACEs.

The speaker's mom found a job that allowed working from home, enabling her to spend more time with her children.

Mariana attended a class on single parenting challenges, with free childcare provided for her daughter.

The class helps parents develop positive parenting skills for children of all ages.

Community resources and support are crucial for preventing ACEs and providing families with what they need.

Riverside Middle School offers a sponsored summer camp providing affordable childcare, tutoring, and life skills training.

Miss Greer, a counselor, helped the speaker and their brother get involved in after-school activities, providing mentorship.

Staying after school for practices kept kids out of trouble and contributed to their development.

Schools taking responsibility for preventing ACEs benefits the entire community.

ACEs can have long-term negative effects on health and well-being, but can be prevented through collective action.

There are five known strategies to stop ACEs before they start, which can be implemented in any community.

These strategies include strengthening economic support, changing social norms, providing quality care and education, enhancing parenting skills, and intervening to lessen harms.

The speaker became a mentor to other kids, helping them overcome challenges and avoid becoming an ACEs statistic.

Safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments are essential to prevent child abuse and neglect, and ensure children reach their full potential.

Transcripts

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Childhood ExperiencesCommunity SupportPrevention StrategiesMentorshipPositive Role ModelsEconomic StabilityParenting SkillsChild CareEducational WorkshopsHealth and Well-beingLocal Business Impact