SANTA FE, N.M. — Research shows when children have a high number of adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, they’re likely to struggle more as adults. Solutions to childhood trauma will be addressed at the second annual Northern New Mexico Kids Count Conference in Santa Fe next week.

New Mexico children suffer one of the highest rates of childhood poverty and trauma, according to the state's Kids Count organization. Conference speaker Marilyn Bruguier Zimmerman, co-principal investigator and senior director of policy programs at the National Native Children's Trauma Center, said if the state hopes to make changes, addressing ACEs must be a priority.

"Because very often, people - to cope with their symptoms - will engage in behaviors like smoking cigarettes, using drugs to numb ourselves, using alcohol,” Bruguier Zimmerman said. “ACEs increases the likelihood of suicidality."

In addition to the keynote address, Bruguier Zimmerman also will lead a session called "The Impact of Historical and Contemporary Trauma on American Indian Children, Youth and Adults." Families, service providers, advocates and policymakers statewide are encouraged to attend the conference on Tuesday, November 5, at Santa Fe Community College.

Bruguier Zimmerman studies the impact of colonization on American Indian and Alaska tribes' well-being, including historical grief over the loss of language, culture, land and spirituality. Despite challenges in New Mexico, she noted communities often have the tools to improve children's well-being. She said most kids bounce back from traumatic events - but their resiliency can be exhausted.

“Resiliency erodes,” she said. “For example, maybe the child lost their mother when they were in sixth grade, but they do well; and then they were sexually assaulted in 8th grade, and they're still doing well. But when they're a sophomore in high school, they get kicked off a basketball team and then suddenly, they're having suicidal thoughts."

The prolonged impact of adverse childhood experiences was first recognized in the early 1990s. ACEs can be triggered by parental divorce or imprisonment, poverty, witnessing violence, or living with someone with an untreated mental illness. The accumulation of ACEs can increase the chances for adult alcoholism, drug abuse and multiple chronic diseases.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month and a recent study showed teens bullied in high school tend to become pessimistic about life prospects.

The study, published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence found students who experienced relational bullying were more likely to develop depressive symptoms and over time became more pessimistic about both academics and career prospects beyond high school. Relational bullying includes things like starting rumors, being deliberately ignored and exclusion from group activities.

Hannah L. Schacter, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said a student's perception of social inadequacy can spread into other parts of life.

"You're receiving a message from your peers that you are someone who doesn't deserve positive treatment, and that may then generalize to these other life domains," Schacter explained. "Now you expect that you're not going to be able to do well academically, or perhaps you won't be able to achieve what you wanted in terms of your work or kind of life plans."

Maryland requires county boards of education to track and report on bullying. This year's report showed there were more than 7,800 incidences of bullying reported during the 2022-23 school year, an increase of 25% over the year prior.

Researchers found students who experienced overt victimization such as direct verbal or physical attacks did not report lower future expectations. Earlier research showed relational victimization had negative effects on elementary students' academic performance and standardized test scores over time. Schacter argued schools need to see the effects of bullying not just as a challenging social issue but also an educational priority.

"As there's been increased recognition of how it can negatively impact teens, more and more schools have, at the very least, adopted anti bullying policies," Schacter acknowledged. "Unfortunately, it's very time intensive, and can be quite costly to implement evidence based large scale school interventions for bullying."

Maryland's State Department of Education adopted a model policy to address bullying, harassment and intimidation in 2009 and has updated it in the years since. Last year the department began offering an online introduction to bullying prevention for educators.


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October is National Bullying Prevention Month and a new study showed teens bullied in high school tend to become pessimistic about their future.

Researchers found adolescents who experienced relational bullying were more likely to develop depressive symptoms and over time became more pessimistic about academics and career prospects beyond high school. Relational bullying includes things like starting rumors, being deliberately ignored and exclusion from group activities.

Hannah L. Schacter, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said a student's perception of social inadequacy can spread into other parts of life.

"You're receiving a message from your peers that you are someone who doesn't deserve positive treatment, and that may then generalize to these other life domains," Schacter explained. "Now you expect that you're not going to be able to do well academically, or perhaps you won't be able to achieve what you wanted in terms of your work or kind of life plans."

The study began with more than 300 9th graders at 38 different high schools across Michigan. Students completed online surveys multiple times per year over three years.

Researchers found students who experienced overt victimization such as direct verbal or physical attacks did not report lower future expectations. Prior research established relational victimization affected elementary students' academic performance and standardized test scores over time. Schacter argued schools need to see the effects of bullying not just as a challenging social issue but also as an educational priority.

"As there's been increased recognition of how it can negatively impact teens, more and more schools have, at the very least, adopted anti-bullying policies," Schacter acknowledged. "Unfortunately, it's very time intensive, and can be quite costly to implement evidence-based large-scale school interventions for bullying."

She added it is important to have strong communication between researchers, policymakers and administrators to address bullying so it is not too burdensome for schools and is backed by what researchers have learned.

The biannual Pro-Kid Scorecard from the Children Now Action Fund was released today.

In it, 12 state Assembly members and seven state Senators earned a 100% rating.

Kelly Hardy, senior managing director of health and research at the nonprofit Children Now Action Fund, said the scoring reflects more than how lawmakers vote.

"They voted the right way on health and child welfare, child care, education," Hardy outlined. "They also supported kids in the budget, which is not always an easy thing to do when we've got budget deficits."

The lowest scores hovered around 48%, awarded to lawmakers who voted against certain bills but also voted for proposals like forced outing policies for LGBTQ+ students in schools.

Hardy noted the report is intended to inform voters as they head to the ballot box next month.

"Kids may not vote but we want to elect legislators who do their best to support kids," Hardy explained.

California ranks 35th in the nation for child well-being, according to the latest Annie E. Casey Foundation report and is just above the national average for per-pupil spending on K-12 education.