For anyone working with children, the need to be able to spot the symptoms of trauma and then provide the opportunity for sufferers to receive the right level of support, is essential.

As with adults, any child exposed to a traumatic event such as witnessing or being involved in a major accident (road traffic accident) or incident (robbery) are likely to suffer the symptoms of psychological trauma injury and PTSD. 

Children can also be traumatised by learning about incidents that have traumatised their parents (See What is trauma)

In addition to the unforeseen and often life-changing traumatic incidents, children can also be exposed to regular and repeated traumatic events in their normal, everyday social and educational lives. These events can have a devastating affect on the children involved.

Typically, children can be exposed to trauma in the shape of: 

	Bullying
	Physical abuse
	Sexual abuse (1 in 3 girls and 1 in 6 boys have experienced some form of sexual abuse by the time they reach the age of 16yrs.)
	Rape (25% of all rape victims are children)
	Emotional Abuse
	Stress
	Domestic violence

Children who are taken into care can also exhibit symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

There were 58,100 children in care/looked after by local authorities on 31 March 2000, the latest year for which figures are available. 

Children in the UK are suffering from an unprecedented level of behavioural problems. 

Between 1997 and 2001 the number of prescriptions for Ritalin, given to children to help them calm down and concentrate on schoolwork soared from 921,000 to 2,085,000.

In 2001 the number of children expelled from school, for bad behaviour was more than 9,000, an increase of 11 per cent on the previous year.

Untreated, trauma injury in children can last a lifetime affecting their ability to trust, make relationships and ultimately lead healthy, successful adult lives.

Each year, at least 16 children kill themselves in the UK because they are being bullied at school, 19,000 children attempt suicide and around 2 million visit their GP suffering from emotional and psychological problems.

Failure by a school to implement an effective, active, anti-bullying policy is a breach of duty of care.

In addition to providing support for the victims of bullying, the Red Poppy Company can also help schools and any organisations that work with groups of children, deal with bullies themselves, as those children who bully are often the victims of violence themselves, using bullying as a way of dealing with their own problems.

In 90% of incidents involving domestic violence, the children are in the same or next room (Hughes, 1992)

Approximately 75% of mothers who suffer domestic violence say their children have witnessed the violence, 33% have seen their mother’s beaten up and 10% had witnessed sexual violence. (National Children’s Home research1994)

In 25% of domestic violence cases, the male partner had also been violent to the children (NCH 1994).

Children who are involved in domestic violence often suffer with adjustment difficulties, including stuttering, sadness, withdrawal and fear. More observable behavioural effects include aggression, disobedience and destructiveness. 

	Repetitive play related to the trauma
	Loss of newly acquired developmental skills
	Regressive behaviour, including thumb sucking, bed wetting, baby talk
	Separation Anxiety, clinginess and generally fearful
	Not wishing to sleep alone
	Anxiety about how parents are coping with the trauma (David Kinchin PTSD The Invisible Injury 2001)

The current cost of child abuse to statutory and voluntary organisations is £1 billion a year. Most of this is spent dealing with the aftermath of abuse rather than its prevention.

The Red Poppy Company can help organisations working with children provide the right level of support needed to manage the effects of trauma. Services particularly relevant to people working with children include: 

	Critical Incident Response
	Trauma Awareness Training
	Trauma Assessment and diagnosis
	Producing Trauma/Stress Policies
	Providing Specialist Trauma Treatment
	Rewind as a treatment for trauma is suitable and effective with children.
	Health "Safety training", Trauma/Stress
	Psychological Risk Assessment

For more detailed information on these services go to the Our Services page