Our hearts are heavy with yet another horrific school shooting — this time, in our home state. We struggle to make sense of such gut-wrenching violence.
While we know little about Nikolas Cruz, we do know the seeds of violence often begin in early childhood. That knowledge doesn’t excuse his actions, but may help to explain them.
While the brain is not fully developed until age 25, 90 percent is developed by age 5. The experiences in the first years of life shape the neuropathways of the brain, positively or negatively, laying the groundwork for responses to all future situations.
The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that regulates behavior, emotions and social control. It regulates impulses, concentration and learning; enables understanding consequences; suppresses urges or inappropriate behaviors; manages anger; and de-escalates reactions in stressful situations. It’s clear Nikolas Cruz lacked these critical functions.
Each early experience informs and reinforces previous experiences. Trusting relationships build neuronal pathways for good mental health and healthy social emotional development. Conversely, early exposure to child abuse or neglect, family turmoil, neighborhood violence, extreme poverty, absence of essential developmental experiences, and other chronic stressors can change the neurobiology of the developing brain. It’s clear Nikolas Cruz had extensive turmoil in his life.
This illuminates the importance of ensuring every child has a stable relationship with a nurturing caregiver during this early window, because it is the greatest opportunity for “hard wiring” the brain’s neuro pathways for a foundation of lifelong mental health. Conversely, extensive research shows that the more adverse childhood experiences, the higher the risk for future mental health and social problems.
We are just learning about Nikolas Cruz’s early childhood. From what has been reported, he was adopted at age 2. He was diagnosed with delays at age 4. His adoptive father died when he was 6. He struggled in school and had multiple expulsions.
Nikolas Cruz appears in court for a status hearing before Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer on Feb, 19 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
He struggled at home, as evidenced by his mother’s 39 calls to the sheriff to intervene. He was diagnosed with autism. He was diagnosed with depression.
One of the most alarming predictors of violence was his history of animal killing. One study showed 70 percent of the most violent prisoners had serious and repeated animal abuse in their histories.
Cruz didn’t even make us guess; he posted that he “wanted to be a professional school shooter.”
Our society must begin to realize that how we treat our children in the impressionable early years shapes the hard wiring of their brains, impacts their mental health and our collective future.
The good news is if we treat emerging mental health issues early, when most effective and less costly, we can mitigate unhealthy patterns of development and subsequent mental health problems.
However, there is a huge disconnect between what we know, and what we do in policy and practice. Florida spends an astonishing amount of money on prisons and deep-end services, and far too little on “upstream” prevention, substance abuse treatment and mental health interventions that would stop the flow.
We need to create the political will to invest in early childhood mental health to mitigate the toxic impact of early adversity and trauma.
The time is long overdue for fundamental shifts in policy. The potential for achieving substantially greater outcomes is enormous.
Dr. Mimi Graham is the director of the FSU Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy. Reach her at mgraham@fsu.edu.
Published in the Tallahassee Democrat, Feb. 23, 2018.
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2018/02/23/opinion-high-chair-electric-chair-preventing-tragedies-starts-early-childhood/366666002/