Runaway Train Analysis

Once I had read, Runaway Train, for class and after discussing it I learned there was a lot of events in this story that really made me realize how important it is to identify children’s triggers, how children deal with bullying and how children handle their own emotions. What stood out to me most among these topics that I noticed were discussed throughout this story was how different situations for children can trigger them to act out and not handle their own behavior or emotions. So far in our class we have discussed all these topics and have related them all back to behavior and emotions. An accurate example from the story that shows this occurring is between the character Trent and his own school going against him. Direct evidence from the story that explains where Trent is triggered and sent into fight or flight mode is, “ At the older man’s touch, Trent’s face
When all of this is occurring the whole school is watching him and Trent is embarrassed and scared. What Trent had here was a psychotic episode where he appeared to be separate from real reality. Like I said before the touch from the security guard I think reminded Trent of some sort of physical abuse he experienced in the past. Right from the reading on page 75 it says, “This type of flashback is a common feature of people suffering from emotional disturbance as the result of trauma or abuse, and a non-drug induced psychotic episode is a clear sign of an underlying and serious emotional disturbance”(75). Here they are discussing the flashback that Trent had experienced and how this is a sign he is emotionally disturbed. I believe that reading stories like this and recognizing emotional disturbance, and triggers that could be present among students just comes to show that educating yourself on emotions and triggers is good for myself as a future teacher and others who plan to work with