High Resilience In Children

Resilience is defined as the ability to recover quickly from difficulties, a mental toughness, or the ability to "bounce back" after a difficult situation. Resilience in children is learned trait that needs to be fostered by a strong adult figure. It is a trait that has to be not only taught but practiced as well. Many factors can determine a child's ability to recover quickly from a traumatic or difficult situation including having a good intellectual functioning, high self-esteem, strong relationships with parent figures and other adults outside the home, as well as positive connections to organizations. Many time children with a high resiliency attend effective schools, have a strong sense of faith, and are appealing, easy-going, and display
self-confidence. I firmly believe these are all characteristics that are taught and fostered by strong, loving parent figures as well as the community around them such as church leaders, teachers, coaches, and club officials.

Social policy is defined in the book as a government's course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens. The biggest impact I see social policy having on children is in the realm of welfare and helping parents that are currently on welfare. What is the best way to help them and how is it changing the lives of the children in their homes? A good example from the textbook was a program from the 1990s in Minnesota. The design was to move current welfare parents to a paid employment position. The study showed that when the parents' income increased, so did the overall development of the children in these homes. The children benefited both in their academics and their overall behaviors. Personally, I feel that social policy has the power to truly impact and improve the overall development of children. This study is a good indicator of what positive changes can be made just by minimally promoting the welfare of citizens.