How Children Succeed : Grit, Curiosity, And The Hidden Power Of Character

We are agreement that toxic stress can alter a child’s capacity to learn and adapt to stressful situations. In the years since, advances in biology, neuroscience, epigenetics and other fields have shed light on the mechanisms behind this phenomenon. “What the science is telling us now is how experience gets into the brain as it’s developing its basic architecture and how it gets into the cardiovascular system and the immune system,” explains Jack P. Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, where the term toxic stress was coined. “These insights provide an opportunity to think about new ways we might try to reduce the academic achievement gap and health disparities — and not just do the

In the article, “How Kids Learn Resilience,” author Paul Tough introduces a staggering new statistic that 51 percent of public-school students in the United States fall below the federal government’s low-income cutoff (Tough, 2016). This shocking statistic to get our attention and address an even bigger problem involving the challenges of teaching low-income children. Before writing this article, Paul Tough wrote a book called, How Children Succeed. This book was written in 2012 and explored the benefits of teaching children non-cognitive skills. He talks about the success of his book and how schools across the country have been embracing the notion that educators should be teaching grit and self-control. However, while educators agree with

One psychosocial factor is the family’s socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic statuses has been researched to be on of the most influential factors in rather or not a family will succeed or face challenges, it can be a determinant in the development of mental health, physical health, and emotional health. A parent’s educational level, their occupation, and income could place the family in either a beneficial or hindering situation, in return, affecting the way a parent could establish attachment with their child. For example, a single parent raising their child and having to manage two jobs, could result in limited attachment to their parent or primary caregiver. Parental stress and their adverse childhood experiences is another psychosocial factor which can determine a child’s

This paper has presented an argument on how a child’s development is strongly influenced by environmental and cultural influences as well as parenting styles and education. Children begin to learn and experiment with social skills at school, allowing them to learn and understand social skills necessary for later life in life. Children who receive schooling at an early age perform better later in academics. I hope that by teaching in the ways that I described will help me accomplish this. I want my classroom of students to be excited to come to my class everyday to learn something that I hope will impact them for the rest of their lives. I want my classroom to be a very caring environment. I want my students to feel important and smart and to influence them to be the best that they can be. Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from

The impact of poverty on families can affect a child's growth and development. “Poverty and the Effects on parents and Children,” Nagel states, “Families in poverty, when parents are working, are influenced by the kind of occupations in which the parents work. Kohn has found that lower-class parents look at their children's behavior with a focus on its immediate consequences and its external characteristics, whereas middle-class parents explore their children's motives and the attitudes expressed by their behavior.” Growing up with negative and disciplinary parents, it can impact a child's moral and emotional growth through life. Children grow up by the examples and actions of their progenitor, and if they have meager parents then they may grow up to be just like them. “Another study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education found that for every year a child spends in poverty, there is the chance that the child will fall behind grade level by age 18.” Pupils that live in poverty that don't get

Most people subscribe to the belief that Paul Tough refers to the cognitive hypothesis that suggests that success depends primarily on cognitive skills. They argue that intelligence is measured based on IQ tests which include the ability to recognize letters, words, detect patterns, and calculate. They say that the simplest way to acquire and develop skills is through practicing them continuously. Children should also begin practicing as early as possible to nurture skills. However, in the book titled “How Children Succeed,” Tough introduces the character hypothesis which explains that non–cognitive skills such as self-control, curiosity, self-confidence, conscientiousness, and grit are crucial to achieving success than sheer brainpower or cognitive skills (Tough 49). To justify his argument, he uses research findings from psychologists and neuroscientists. They say that character is developed by encountering with failure and overcoming it. The hidden power of character explains why some children perform well while others fail. However, I say that linking grit and character is pervasive and unfair to kids from poor backgrounds; particularly when the author states that academic proficiency is not a determinant of future success. The big point on Tough’s main arguments is that children succeed with character and not test scores.

Cognitive development can be defined as a field of study in neuroscience and psychology revolving around the growth of the brain (Schacter & Woods 2009). This development is the evolution of skills such as, information processing, perceptual skills, conceptual resourcing, language knowledge and other brain development traits (ibid).

However, to understand the impact of adversity on young children’s development and learning, our genes supply the basic blueprint for brain development. “Thus, toxic stress in early childhood not only is a risk factor for later risky behavior but also can be a direct source of biological injury or disruption that may have lifelong consequences independent of whatever circumstances might follow later in life (Shonoff and Garner, 2012, page 238). Poverty, neglect, or family stress can make it especially difficult for young children to develop the self-discipline and habits of mind they will need to succeed in the classroom and beyond. Researchers have found that chronic, sustained stress, such as that caused by neglect, abuse, or deprivation,

The ACE Study was designed to answer the question: “If risk factors for disease, disability, and early mortality are not randomly distributed, what early life influences precede the adoption or development of them (preventchildabuse.org)?” Adverse Childhood Experience does not evoke preconceived notions or biases about the perpetrators or victims of child abuse, domestic violence, or persons with mental health or substance abuse issues. The term “adverse” implies stress. However, the biologic stress response is largely responsible for the negative impact of ACEs on brain development. “Experiences” was the term chosen rather than “Environment” because the latter term can imply exposure to environmental toxins. As framed by the study, “Childhood” refers to the first 18 years of life (preventchildabuse.org).

The psychological health of children around the world is detrimental to their abilities to cope, succeed and be able to function normally within social settings. According to Evans and Shamberg ( 2009), “Chronically elevated physiological stress is a plausible model for how poverty could get into the brain and eventually interfere with achievement” (p. 6545- 6549). Children residing in poverty stricken neighborhoods and families tend to experience environmental stressors as well as physical stressors such as educational setbacks, lack of resources and physical demands that are not being met. These stressors can cause a problem in the psychological health of children because of the need to continually adjust to changes and setbacks that stem from poverty.

One of the social issues facing children of poverty is emotional trauma. This sort of trauma has a great impact on a child’s self-efficacy. The emotional climate can often be very stressful and emotionally depriving. The lack of emotional nurturing can lead to feelings of alienation, inadequacy, depression and anxiety. Aggressive or impulsive behavior and social withdrawal can also result. Emotional security and self-esteem

Vulnerability and resilience among children continues to be a popular topic in research of developmental psychology. The two definitions are closely tied together as they are considered both sides to the spectrum. Schaffer (2006) defines vulnerability and resilience “as the susceptibility to develop malfunctioning following exposure to stressful life events, as opposed to the capacity to maintain competent functioning stress”. If stressful life events are the trigger here, why is it that some children are far more vulnerable, yet others are more resilient? The three studies discussed in this paper will attempt to explain why these differences occur and what can we do to enhance protective factors.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives many different definitions defining the word “grit”. A definition that caught my attention was “unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger” .It gave me a personal reference as to reaching a goal, you have to be faced with challenges that you’ll need to conquer with grit being included. In Angela Lee Duckworth’s TED Talk, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” she claims that having students being pushed to the max is the only way to see the full extent of grit, and I agree with Duckworth. I was able to demonstrate grit on becoming a better basketball play after not making the team my sophomore year of high school. Ever since I was disappointed in my results of not making the team, I had told myself this wasn’t going to mean I was done playing basketball .I gave myself perseverance in knowing I could make it next year with motivation.

Next, underlying crisis Vance argues about a dysfunctional family which was also cause of poverty and drug addiction. It had a significant impact on the author’s mind and an education. The poor family environment was never productive for a growth and development of the children. The author reports the impact of ACEs on the psychological growth, education, and health of the children. Because of this trauma children underperform at the school and suffer from relationship problem as the author had in early days of his relationship with his wife because he also a victim of ACE.

According to the article, “Stress and Child Development” (2014) by Ross Thompson, stress is defined as “a complex psychobiological process with biological, emotional, mental, and behavioral consequences, all of which influence one another” (Thompson, 2014, p.46). Thompson’s research provided insight into helping children who suffer from stress, and cope with this stress through neurobiological processes, including two-generation and multi-generation intervention, which includes parents, teachers, relatives and grandparents or anyone who provides care for these children. Thompson’s research found that children who grow up in a loving environment are less stressful, and when confronted with stress, these children cope with stress better than children who live in a non-loving environment. Thompson suggested that stress is brought on when an individual feels threatened or when her or she feels surrounded by, or in immediate danger, thus, emphasizing how a child’s social experiences plays a key role in the development of a child’s neurological systems as well as his or her biological system (Thompson, 2014). Thompson’s research of Hurricane Katrina found that children whose parents could no longer provide care for their children faired much worse than children whose parents provided care, as it relates to stress. Thompson’s study of a Romanian orphanage found that the sooner a child was adopted into a loving environment, the sooner a child learned how to cope and