2021 was traumatic, even deadly for many children in America.

There was the pandemic, climate disasters and gun violence.

The New York Times reported 1500 gun deaths among children like Elijah Munson.

Hello, I'm Bonnie Boswell.

Today we start a three part series on childhood trauma.

Here's a clip from an interview Bill Moyers did with my late brother, Carl Bell.

Carl was a psychiatrist and a national expert on trauma and children.

Everybody else getting killed.

That bullet waiting for me.

I see children like that all the time.

Tell me about them.

Children exposed to violence frequently figure the best defense, a good offense, better to be a predator than to be prey.

My guest today is Dr. Denise Shervington.

She's the chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Charles Drew University here in Los Angeles.

Denise, I have to know, when you listen to that young girl talk, what goes through your mind if they don't have enough buffers, enough protective factors that they could develop a mental health disorder?

Now, Denise, you've also worked with children who've been traumatized by climate disasters like Katrina based on the post-disaster conditions and the community trauma that resulted high levels much higher levels of PTSD and depression than in the normal population.

So we started this campaign.

The hashtag is said, not bad, that when kids are misbehaving, oftentimes it's because they're hurting.

I think the idea of sad but not bad is a clear message about what's happening with many children who are going through trauma.

Carl says some of these kids can become protectors, though, like Batman.

We'll learn more about that.

On the next edition, of Bonnie Boswell reports for KCET, I'm Bonnie Boswell.