All children face adversities in life. A child’s individual and family histories and the resources that are available in the community can “tip the scale” to increase the chances of positive outcomes and encourage the development of resilience.
Review the article Supportive Relationships and Active Skill-Building Strength the Foundations of Resilience. Then watch these videos from Harvard University’s Center for the Developing Child to learn more about resilience in children and their communities:
• What is Resilience? (2015 video, 2 minutes in length, captioned)
• How Resilience is Built (2015 video, 2 minutes in length, captioned)
• The Science of Resilience (2015 video, 2 minutes in length, captioned)
Then write 2 pages
1. Based on what you learned from the videos and readings explain what the fulcrum represents and how it helps us to understand resilience in children who have experienced toxic stress or trauma.
2. What are some individual (child) and family factors that help determine whether the child moves toward positive outcomes or negative outcomes after facing adversity or trauma?
3. What are some resources that communities and societies need to help improve the resilience of children?
4. What programs or services would you propose in your own community to help build resilience among children? Explain why you believe these services are needed and how they would help.