Resiliency in Elementary School Children

1. Resiliency in Elementary School Children By: Christopher Shriver Dr. Judy Sedgeman West Virginia University PUBH 580

2. What is resiliency • Resiliency is: • “Ability to withstand or recover from difficult conditions” Dr. William Pettit WVU(1) • “the term used to describe a set of qualities that foster a process of successful adaptation and transformation despite risk and adversity.” Bonnie Bernard (2) • I say it is how well we deal with everyday life and bounce back when life is not to favorable

3. Three things effect resiliency in children • The child’s characteristics- how well a child gets along with others and what kind of person they think they are has a great affect on whether they are resilient or not. • The family characteristics-how well a child gets along with their parents and how they view their parents. • The home environment-the people the parents have around their child (3)

4. Differences in High school and Elementary school children resiliency • High school do not want to talk about their problems where as many times elementary students do • Amount of knowledge about the world around them is different for high school compared to elementary school • Understanding what stress is and ways to deal with it is also a difference between high school and elementary school

5. Suburban children and Rural children and their amount of resiliency. research published in Public Health Nursing: “Although research has examined problems of stress and health among rural families, little is known about coping phenomena directly from the perspective of rural children. This study compared two groups of children, one rural and the other suburban, in their reports of daily stressors and coping efforts as actually experienced. Using semi structured diaries over a period of six weeks, 21 rural children and 23 suburban children reported daily sources of stress, coping efforts, and coping resources.”

6. Suburban children and Rural children and their amount of resiliency (cont) • “Rural children were more compliant in completing diaries. They reported more internal, cognitive-intrapsychic source of stress, whereas suburban children listed more external environmental sources. Suburban boys reported submission as the most common coping response, and rural boys listed organized activities and problem-solving approaches.”(4)

7. 10 Tips for parents on how to build a resilient child These are from American Psychological Association: (5) • 1. Make connections-have social outlets for your kids and people other than you to talk with and get someone else’s view point on a subject. • 2. Help your child by having him or her help others- this means get them involved in some sort of age-appropriate community activity such as meals for wheels, food bank, recycling goods.

8. Tips (cont) • 3. Maintain a daily routine- Young children need structure in their lives, so make sure you have routines, also encourage your child to make their own routines. • 4. Take a break- have your child take a break from the news, internet, and have them focus on something else. Be aware of what your child listens to, hears, views and or all the media outlets that child is exposed to at a given time. Try your best to allow creativity time of drawing, writing, reading, exercising, something to get their mind off of what they might be worrying them.

9. Tips (cont) • 5. Teach your child self-care and make yourself the role model. It is amazing how much kids especially young kids follow what you say and do. • 6. Move towards your goals-this means to help your child set reasonable goals for themselves. No matter how big or small once a goal is met move onto another goal, but praise them for what they have already done.

10. Tips (cont) • 7. Nurture a positive self-view: Remind your child of past things and how they can learn from those things; also help your child to trust him or herself in times of need. Along with a positive self view help your child find humor in life and to be able to laugh at themselves when they make a mistake. • 8. Keep things in perspective and maintain a hopeful outlook-keep a positive view on things even when they are bad and times are tough

11. Tips (cont) • 9. Look for opportunities for self-discovery: during tough times is when a person, not just a kid finds out “what they are made of” so not only do you have to find out how to deal with the situation you have to help your child out, but also let them do what they do to deal with pain. • 10. Accept that change is part of living: This is a big factor or one of if not the most important tip is accepting that change will happen, people, friends, objects will come and go, but a person needs to stay grounded and not let the things of the world get to them and worry them to where they can’t function throughout their day

12. Conculsion • A few things to remember: • Help your child at an early age discover themselves in a positive way. • Do your best to be understanding of their stress and everyday stressors that might be in the life. • Try and not to let work or other activities get in the way of raising your kids, so do not bring home your work if at all possible. • Try to find humor and enjoyment in life, build it into yours and yours child’s day. • Be goal oriented and be a good role model to your child. • Finally just enjoy your kids, because before you know it they will be grown up and then a person can just hope and pray that you imparted good values and a positive attitude.

13. Resources • 1. Dr. Pettits power point lecture in our course work for PUBH 580 definition of resilience • 2. http://resilnet.uiuc.edu/library/benard95.html • 3.http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap/article/viewFile/76/104 • 4.http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119277797/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 • 5.http://apahelpcenter.org/featuredtopics/feature.php?ch=2&id=39