COMPASSION in education
PAPER TIGERS: One high school’s unlikely success story
by Jean Palamar
DO IT FOR THE LOVE FOUNDATION
“Stressed brains can’t learn.” This was the take away from an educational conference for Principal Jim Sporleder about the consequences of what a rough childhood does to a developing brain. The landmark Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study shows that stressful events during childhood—like divorce, domestic violence, or living with someone with a mental illness—massively increases the risk of problems in adulthood. Problems like addiction, suicide and even heart disease have their roots in childhood experience. Using a combination of vérité and revealing diary cam footage, Paper Tigers is a testament to what the latest developmental science is showing: that just one caring adult can help break the cycle of adversity in a young person’s life.
Paper Tigers follows a year in the life of an alter- native high school that has radically changed its approach to disciplining its students, becoming a promising model for how to break the cycles of poverty, violence and disease that affect families. “Responding to students who have experienced trauma doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s complicated science but the remedy is simple. Just a caring adult,” said James Redford, Director and Producer, Paper Tigers. “Compassion in education can change outcomes for even the most challenging students because it helps us get behind the behavior and beyond discipline as a first and only response. That’s why we produced Paper Tigers. It is the story of a school that is putting compassion into action and getting results.” - Jamie Redford
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Director & Producer-
James Redford
Executive Producer –
Karen Pritzker
“Absolutely riveting, profoundly important.”
David Bornstein
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