ACEs

This is an extremely interesting article about a "new approach" to school discipline adopted by a principal in Washington. Having attended in one of those "dumping ground" schools described for a couple of years, this hits home for me. The article also talks about ACE scores (Adverse Childhood Experiences) in relation to the troubled teens at the school, and how "A whopping 70 percent of the 17,000 people in the study had an ACE score of at least one; 87 percent of those had more than one. With an ACE score of 4 or more, things start getting serious. The likelihood of chronic pulmonary lung disease increases 390 percent; hepatitis, 240 percent; depression 460 percent; suicide, 1,220 percent.

The percentages climb to grim and astounding levels as the ACE score climbs – people with an ACE score of 6, for example, have a 4,600 percent increase in the risk of becoming an IV drug user. Grow up with an ACE score of 10, and you’re likely to find yourself homeless, in prison for life, or end up dead by your own hand. People with high ACE scores die, on average, 20 years earlierthan those with low ACE scores."

I found a link later in the article to see what my score is.

I have an ACE score of 9.
(The only reason I didn't go 10 for 10 was because none of mom's boyfriends or husbands beat her up in front of me.)

What I want to know is... why aren't a crack addict hooker on the streets? Or imprisoned? Or... dead?

God, you have been merciful to me, and I am grateful.