The document discusses declining student resiliency in colleges. Students today have not learned to solve their own problems or experience failure without adult intervention. Faculty are expected to lower standards and handhold more. Students are afraid of failure and need certainty. Failure has become seen as catastrophic. The document argues students need opportunities to experience struggle and failure to build resilience and a growth mindset.

2. Declining Student Resiliency
“We have raised a generation of young people who
have not been given the opportunity to learn how to
solve their own problems, to get into trouble and find
their own way out, to experience failure and realize
they can survive it, to learn how to respond [to
challenges] without adult intervention.

3. Faculty are expected to do more handholding,
lower academic standards, and not challenge
students too much.
Students are afraid to fail; they don’t take risks;
they need to be certain about things.
Failure is seen as catastrophic and
unacceptable.
Students email about trivial things and expect
prompt replies.

4. Failure and struggle need to be normalized.
Students are uncomfortable not being right.
Growth is achieved by striking the right balance
between support and challenge.
We need to reset the balance point. We have
become a “helicopter institution.”
Peter Gray, “Declining Student Resilience: A
Serious Problem for Colleges”. Psychology
Today. 9/22/15

5. “Gritty people have a growth
mindset; when bad things happen,
they don’t give up.”
- Angela Duckworth

6. “passion and perseverance
toward long-term goals”

7. Understand your child's emotions.
Help them reach their potential.

8. Inner strength can
be developed. It can
be nurtured by
everyday words and
actions.

9. WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO DEVELOP
RESILIENCE

10. 1. Every child and
teenager will face
challenges in life.

11. 2. We can’t protect
our children from
everything as they
get older.

12. 3. Positive words
and actions help
build resilience.

13. 4. Teaching certain
skills will help
children deal with
life’s challenges

14. 5. Goal-setting,
persistence, and
managing emotions
help kids in later life.

15. Resilience
helps kids to
‘bounce
back’

16. Resilience also helps children
to understand that sometimes,
things won’t work out as
planned. But it’s still possible
to cope and move on.

17. Resilience helps
children be more
confident in their
approach to school
and life.

18. What can I
do to help
build my
child’s
resilience?

19. Children learn from the positive
interactions they have with their
parents or caregivers.

20. This can include teaching
problem-solving skills, and
showing how to embrace and
learn from mistakes.

21. It’s also about having an optimistic
outlook.

22. This can include teaching
problem-solving skills, and
showing how to embrace and
learn from mistakes.

23. 9 Activities to Build Grit &
Resilience in Children

24. 1. Help Your Child
Find Purpose

25. Discuss their goals and purpose in
life. Then, talk about the steps that
would be required for them to reach
their goal.

26. Encourage them to create a dream
board to help visualize their purpose
and goals.

27. 2. Encourage Your
Child to Conduct
“Grit Interviews”

28. Interview grandparents, neighbors, or
other acquaintances who have
worked hard toward a long-term
goal.

29. 3. Share Stories of
Resilient Famous
People

30. Study famous people (and their
failures) like Michael Jordan or J.K.
Rowling.

31. Show them that perseverance
through failure can lead to great
success.

32. 4. Teach About Grit
Through Nature

33. Example: Read the poem “The Rose
that Grew From Concrete”

35. Then, discuss what represents the
“concrete” in their life. What are the
obstacles? And how they can “break
through concrete”.

37. 5. Teach About Grit
Through Literature

39. Classic stories of perseverance: like
“The Little Engine that Could” or Dr.
Seuss’ “Oh, the Places You’ll Go.”

41. Connect the lessons to their own life.
Talk about their challenges and
response to failures, and how to live
with grit.

42. 6. Ask, “What’s the
Hard Part?”

43. Ask what they could do to fix or
overcome “the hard part”.

45. IT ALWAYS SEEMS
IMPOSSIBLE UNTIL
IT’S DONE.
Nelson Mandela

46. 7. Follow the “Hard
Thing Rule”

48. 8. Try the “Grit Pie”
Exercise

51. The pie represents an obstacle. Each slice
symbolizes a cause. Analyze each slice:
whether their thoughts about the
problem are permanent or temporary,
and whether they blame themselves or
others.

52. IT IS HARD TO FAIL, BUT IT IS
WORSE NEVER TO HAVE TRIED TO
SUCCEED.
Theodore Roosevelt

53. 9. Share Your
Passions

54. Show them your excitement about
activities outside of work, and devote
time to developing these passions.

57. Here are 5 ways teachers can
promote mental health and
resilience in students and
classrooms:

58. 1. Build Positive Relationships

59. 2. Teach Social Emotional Skills

60. 3. Foster Positive Emotions

61. 4. Identify Student Strengths

62. 5. Build A Sense Of Meaning And
Purpose

64. Classroom Activity

65. Resilience Quotes: Discussion
Starters

70. What is resilience?
What are your favorite quotes
about resilience from the list?
Why?
Describe a person you know or
have learned about who
overcame an obstacle or
challenge in his or her life?
What do you most admire about
that person? Why?
How does the ability to be
resilient affect the quality of our
lives?

71. What are the positives and
negatives of being resilient?
When is it important to feel
vulnerable, afraid, and
reach out to others for
support?

72. What skills do to you
possess that help you be
resilient? (bravery,
determination, flexibility,
grit, initiative, perseverance,
self-confidence)
What skills would you like to
improve?
How do people learn to
develop resilience?

73. Resilience in Action

74. In what ways could your
resilience positively help other
people?

75. What problems in the world,
such as those related to poverty
and abuse, would resilience help
contribute to healing and well-
being?

76. ANOTHER ACTIVITY:
have children develop
their own quote that
might inspire others

77. ANOTHER ACTIVITY:
Quotes can become
artwork to be posted
at home or school.

78. Emotional Resilience