More to Know: Resilience and the Terrible Challenge of Poverty
Our public schools are facing a terrible challenge. According to the National Center for Education Statistics and reported by the Southern Education Foundation (Suitts, 2015), the majority of this country’s public school children (51%) are now from households rocked by poverty—and poverty creates stress. Hence the ever-deepening interest in childhood resilience. “Children who develop effective coping mechanisms for responding to stress and positively adapt in the face of adversity are said to be resilient—an important concept in child development and mental health theory and research.” Dr. Steve Southwick, professor of psychiatry, and Dr. Linda Mayes, Arnold Gesell professor in the Child Study Center, both of Yale Medical School and leading authorities on resilience, remind us that “helping children develop resilience-boosting skills is critical—especially when families are confronted with economic, social, and health issues.” To that end, one of the most reliable predictors of resilience is the strong network of social support that children create and maintain when they possess the social competence to do so. One way to help children develop the skills they need to navigate relationships at home and beyond is through literacy-based practices and materials. The bedtime story is a time-honored way to strengthen and enhance a loving relationship between a young child and parent or caregiver. It’s easy to see how engagement with books and other print or digital literary resources might work to help children build the social skills they need to successfully navigate our dynamic and fast-changing social world. “As scientists learn more about the complex interplay of genetics, development, cognition, environment, and neurobiology,” it will be possible to develop an array of interventions, including those that are literacy-based, to enhance resilience to stress (Tominey et al., 2011). In general, family engagement plays a pivotal role in supporting all children. Dr. Karen Mapp 2017), the leading proponent of family and community engagement, writes, “When parents are engaged and involved, their children succeed.” Specifically: • Their grades go up. • They attend school more regularly. • They are more likely to enroll in higher-level programs.
• They are more likely to graduate and go on to attend college. • They are more excited and positive about school and learning. • They have fewer discipline issues inside and outside of class.
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CHAPTER 3: EQUITY
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