Empowering Resiliency in Elementary School Students

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Empowering Resiliency inElementary School
Students

• Project by
• Katie Dorsey
• Marla Hiers
• Cookie Garrett
• Anne Larrimore

Valdosta State University
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Did you know

• VIOLENCE DIVORCE STATISTICS
• 3 million children witness violence in their
  homes each year.
• Children who witness violence tend to develop
  social, emotional, psychological, and/or
  behavioral problems.
• Domestic violence affects every member of the
  family.
• Children of divorced families face fear, sadness,
  loss, loneliness, rejection, and anger.
• The average time needed for children to become
  adjusted to the effects of divorce is 2-3 years.
• RETENTION INCARCERATED PARENT STATISTICS
• Students that are held back before 8th grade are
  2.56 times as likely to drop out of school before
  reaching the 12th grade as those who had not.
• It is estimated that as many as 15 of American
  students are held back each year and 30-50 of
  students in the US are retained at least once
  before 9th grade.
• Those students at highest risk for retention are
  male African American or Hispanic have a late
  birthday, delayed development and/or attention
  problems live in poverty, live in a
  single-parent household, parents have low
  educational attainment, or change schools
  frequently.
• In 1999, an estimated 721,500 State and Federal
  prisoners were parents to 1,498,800 children
  under age 18.

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Did you know

• ALCOHOL ABUSE STATISTICS
• Children of addicted parents are the highest risk
  group of children to become substance abusers due
  to both genetic and environmental factors.
• More than 28 million Americans are children of
  alcoholics. 11 million are under the age of 18.
• Family problems that occur because of alcoholism
  are emotional/physical violence, isolation,
  stress, and an unstable home environment.
• 76 of child welfare professionals cite substance
  abuse as the number one cause of child
  mistreatment since 1986.
• Children of alcoholics have higher elevated rates
  of ADHD and ODD.
• 75.7 of child welfare professionals say that
  children of addicted parents are more likely to
  enter foster care.

• HOMELESSNESS POVERTY STATISTICS
• Georgia has a poverty rate of 13.7, making it
  one of the largest areas of severe poverty in the
  United States.
• The most critical levels of poverty in Georgia
  occurs in the southwestern corner, and it
  stretches across Georgia in a northeastern
  direction until it hits the Atlantic Ocean at
  Burke County.
• 36 counties in Georgia have reached critical
  levels of poverty. Also, out of Georgias 20
  major cities, nine of them have critical poverty
  rates.
• 21,000 people are homeless in Georgia on any
  given night. More than ½ were unsheltered and the
  other 43 were in emergency housing or housing
  for victims of domestic violence.
• The DOE reported during the 2007/2008 school
  year, there were 15, 700 homeless children which
  was an increase of 1,683 children from the
  previous school year.

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What is Resiliency?

• Resilience is the ability to thrive, mature, and
  increase competence in the face of adverse
  circumstances. These circumstances may include
  biological abnormalities or environmental
  obstacles. Further, the adverse circumstances may
  be chronic, consistent, severe, or infrequent. To
  thrive, mature, and increase competence, a person
  must draw upon all of his or her resources
  biological, psychological, and environmental.
• -Ohio State University Bulletin
• Biological resources Proper nutrition, health,
  safety, and wellbeing
• Psychological resources Positive mental health
  characteristics, stable emotions, positive coping
  skills
• Environmental resources Sense of safety at home
  and at school, positive learning environments,
  supportive individuals
• How can a school counselor influence these areas?

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Resiliency (Contd)

• Children who are resilient are more likely to
  complete school, develop stable families, enjoy
  life, secure employment, and gain support from
  others. (Reed-Victor, 2003)
• Resilient children are able to cope effectively
  with difficulties in addition to using individual
  strength as a basis for achievement.
• How can school counselors help children
  capitalize on their strengths?
• LONGITUDINAL RESEARCH KAUAI STUDY 1995

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Who is AtRisk?

• Individuals who do not have appropriate support
  systems in place to assist them in becoming
  strong and independent persons across multiple
  levels (Erford, Newsome, Rock, 2006)
• Too difficult to categorize
• Take steps to ensure that you do not label a
  student as at risk
• Risk Factors
• Children of parents who abuse alcohol and other
  substances
• Family Situations
• Cultural Differences
• Age difference
• Retention
• Community
• Poverty
• Homeless
• Children who witness domestic violence
• Systems punish rather than rehabilitate

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Protective Factors

• Aggressive students
• Strong sense of self, strong relationship with at
  least one parent, supported by members of social
  network (Morrison, Robertson, and Harding, 1998)
• Retention
• Extracurricular activities and the opportunity to
  participate (Randolph, Fraser, Orthner, 2004)
• Poverty
• Positive sense of self, few stressors, abstain
  from delinquent activities, positive peer
  relationships, high functioning support systems
  (Anthony, 2008).
• Homeless
• Outgoing, active, helpful, productive, curious,
  and intelligent (Reed-Victor Stronge, 2002).
• Schools
• Smaller school size, qualified and supportive
  teachers, challenging curriculum, high
  expectations, variety of evaluation methods
  (Stuht, 2008 and Bernard, 1993)

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Characteristics of Effective Programs

• Talent Development
• Focus on students strengths
• Concentrate on key developmental hurdles
• Keep students from falling behind
• Effective Strategies
• Using up to date, empirically based strategies
• Coping strategies, anger management

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Studies on Programs

• Bounce Back Program
• Increased student knowledge and usage of coping
  skills, social skills, greater teacher, peer,
  and parent support.
• In school program that emphasized teacher and
  parent role in supporting students.
• Be a Star Program
• Community Based After-School Program
• Decision making strategies, interpersonal skills,
  self esteem building, and developing favorable
  attitudes towards self and others as well as
  providing support for parents

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Mentoring and In-Service

• Peer and/or adult mentoring shown to effect
  students performance and attitude positively.
• Browns Personal Experience
• In-service- Teachers attitudes found to affect
  students attitudes, therefore teacher education
  about resiliency is very important.

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Interventions as Counselors

• Proactive Interventions
• Student Assembly
• Classroom guidance
• Parent/Teacher In service
• Responsive Interventions
• Small Groups
• Individual Counseling

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Characteristic of Effective Interventions

• Organized
• Star Points
• Gain and Sustain Attention
• Tone of Voice
• Mystery
• Humor
• Personal account
• Media
• Proper Developmental level
• Relevant Information

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Examples of Interventions

• Student Assembly
• Drama Club performs a skit/short play about
  positive self esteem
• Classroom Guidance
• Respecting Other Cultures
• Small Group
• Deployment Group
• Students with parents that are deployed

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Conclusion

• Empowering resilience at any developmental level
  for all students has the same goal to strengthen
  and build upon individual strengths and
  abilities. As school counselors we must continue
  to strive to not only reach out to students who
  are at-risk, but make a commitment in
  incorporating resiliency awareness in the
  comprehensive developmental school counseling
  program.

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Resources

• Resilient Kids
• http//www.embracethefuture.org.au/kids/index.htm
• NEA Health Information Network
• http//www.neahin.org/resources/docs/Resilience-Ac
  tivity20Book.pdf
• International Resilience Project
• http//www.resilienceproject.org/
• Resiliency Quiz
• http//www.resiliencyquiz.com/
• Resiliency in the Classroom
• http//www.projectresilience.com/article17.htm
• Resiliency in Action
• http//www.resiliency.com/htm/resiliencyquiz.htm