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When Numb Becomes Normal: How Schools Carry Trauma, Hold Hope, and Learn to Breathe Again
What happens to a child who grows up in a world where survival replaces joy, silence replaces healing, and numbness becomes the only way to cope?
In When Numb Becomes Normal , Kevin A. Starlings exposes the emotional truth behind the experiences too many young people carry alone. Through powerful narratives, community realities, and deeply personal reflections, this book digs into the silent epidemic of emotional numbness affecting students in under-resourced communities—especially Black and Brown youth navigating trauma, loss, instability, and systems not built with them in mind.
Drawing from years of work in Richmond’s schools and communities, Kevin reveals how chronic grief, violence, poverty, and generational wounds shape the way young people learn, behave, and survive. But this is not a book of despair. It is a call to action.
Through research-informed insight, real student voices, and practical strategies, Kevin offers a blueprint for educators, parents, policymakers, and community leaders who want to break cycles and build environments where young people can feel, heal, and thrive.
This book challenges us to ask the hard
What happens when children stop expecting safety?
How do we support teens who are emotionally shut down?
What does healing look like in schools shaped by trauma?
How do we rebuild systems that have normalized pain?
When Numb Becomes Normal is a groundbreaking work for anyone who has ever loved, taught, supported, or advocated for a child who’s been carrying more than they can say.
Raw. Honest. Urgent. Transformative.
This book is for every person who believes our kids deserve more than survival—they deserve healing, hope, and a future filled with possibility.
In When Numb Becomes Normal , Kevin A. Starlings exposes the emotional truth behind the experiences too many young people carry alone. Through powerful narratives, community realities, and deeply personal reflections, this book digs into the silent epidemic of emotional numbness affecting students in under-resourced communities—especially Black and Brown youth navigating trauma, loss, instability, and systems not built with them in mind.
Drawing from years of work in Richmond’s schools and communities, Kevin reveals how chronic grief, violence, poverty, and generational wounds shape the way young people learn, behave, and survive. But this is not a book of despair. It is a call to action.
Through research-informed insight, real student voices, and practical strategies, Kevin offers a blueprint for educators, parents, policymakers, and community leaders who want to break cycles and build environments where young people can feel, heal, and thrive.
This book challenges us to ask the hard
What happens when children stop expecting safety?
How do we support teens who are emotionally shut down?
What does healing look like in schools shaped by trauma?
How do we rebuild systems that have normalized pain?
When Numb Becomes Normal is a groundbreaking work for anyone who has ever loved, taught, supported, or advocated for a child who’s been carrying more than they can say.
Raw. Honest. Urgent. Transformative.
This book is for every person who believes our kids deserve more than survival—they deserve healing, hope, and a future filled with possibility.
226 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 13, 2026
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