Want to Know What Plastic Man and Our Brains Have in Common?

As a kid, I remember a Saturday morning cartoon with superheroes – other than the usual Superman, Batman, and Spiderman.  I can’t remember what it was called, but I remember one of its stars – Plastic Man.  A dude who could bend into all shapes and sizes – able to go under the crack of a door, or make himself taller, if needed.  Maybe they were Marvels?  I can’t remember. 

I just remembered in the cartoon, his friends called him “Stretch”

One thing I have learned, though, is that a marvel of our engineering is our brains, characterized by its astounding adaptability – kind of like Plastic Man. Neuroplasticity is a term that describes the inherent capacity of our brains to evolve and rewire to form new neural connections throughout life. This mechanism offers us much hope, especially when recovering from adverse experiences such as childhood trauma.

So, it is not all doom and gloom.  Excellent professional development, well-trained adults, and utilizing resources and research – which is constantly improving – is essential in our schools.  We know our kids.  Sometimes, we learn and understand what they have been through.  In others, we learn about it while it is happening and then do something about it as best we can.  Too often in my career, I’ve had to take steps to ensure children's immediate safety.  And I’ve learned that it is tough to undo the effects of trauma in school when it is only to happen again when the child returns to it in the evening. 

Try cleaning away mold from a wall while the ceiling is still leaking. Or smoke from the kitchen while the fire burns in the stove. Good luck with that.

This work is sometimes complicated, calling upon our training and experience, understanding, empathy, and compassion.  It takes a lot for a teacher who is spat upon, punched, kicked, bitten, scratched, or threatened to maintain a sense of intentional self, continuously working to care for a much younger attacker.  Then, in the aftermath, turn an awful experience into an opportunity for learning.   In 2023, this is what it looks and sounds like in schools (at times). 

We aren’t just teaching reading, writing, and math. There is much more to it!

I will write about Cornell University’s training and the concepts that have made it successful over the decades across the country and worldwide.  To start, I’d like readers to know that the brains of our children and our brains are just like the body of a Plastic Man.  Sometimes on our own, and at other times through the help of others, we carve new pathways and new understandings, and we get better at things – tough things like stress, anxiety, frustration, anger, sadness, and more. 

The Best Two (2) Minute Understanding of this Topic Here!

A growing body of research now supports interventions that leverage neuroplasticity to help individuals recover from childhood trauma. These approaches often involve the combination of psychotherapy and exercises designed to stimulate the brain's plasticity.  Look at this video, and you will see how Neuroplasticity works.