Building Resilient Young Men

Each year, before our Year 10 students depart on their 21-Day Journey they attend several year level talks to prepare them for the experience. One of those talks focuses upon the why of venture, and we use the phrase, “an experience designed to further build grit, resilience and character” to partly explain why we ask an entire Year 10 cohort, to cope outdoors in the Flinders Ranges, for three weeks.

Now that the Year 10 students have returned, should the parents be expecting their sons to have transformed into the most mature, resilient, appreciative, and positive young men on the planet? Probably not. But they should expect to see some significant changes on their return, such as a greater appreciation for family and the comforts they are used to enjoying. However, at home and at school, the challenge is to maintain and build upon these positive changes. Too quickly, boys can slip back into their world of relative comfort and privilege and begin to take that for granted, once again. Building resilience and strength of character takes time – years not weeks; “Resilience is not something an individual ‘has’, it is a skill set and a developmental process that people acquire over time.” (Cicchetti, 2010). Although the 21-Day Journey may boost that process, schools and parents are the key influencers.

Dr Ann Masten, author of ‘Ordinary Magic’, defines resilience as “The capacity of a system to withstand or recover from significant disturbances that threaten its adaptive function, viability, or development”. She says that resilience is a quality that you learn as a child. It’s not extraordinary courage that grows resilience, it’s just ordinary moments that build up the emotional intelligence that fosters resilience. Children can overcome challenges if they have this ordinary magic in their life. Teachers don’t need to make dramatic changes for their students. Parents don’t need to either. They just need to provide the ‘ordinary magic’, that helps people adapt to their circumstances.

Masten’s findings show that children can become better at overcoming challenges and bouncing back from adversity, if they have this ordinary magic in their life. She identified eight main “Basic Adaptive Systems” (also known as common resilience factors) as part of the magic:

1. Close relationships
2. Faith and spirituality
3. Intelligence (Social/Emotional/ Academic) *
4. Cultural identity, belonging and practices
5. Self-control (Self-Regulation)
6. Effective schools and education systems *
7. Motivation and reward systems
8. Effective community

“Resilience does not require anything special or unusual, it requires the operation of these basic human adaptive systems”.

Masten studied children across a whole range of contexts, ranging from natural disaster, to war, to poverty. Of all those vulnerable children — exposed to poverty, biological risks, and family instability, and reared by parents with little education or serious mental health problems — many remained invincible and developed into competent and autonomous young adults who ‘worked well, played well, loved well and expected well’ (Garmezy, 1976). Masten’s work has been a lifelong search for the roots of their resilience, for the sources of their strength. As well as the adaptive systems, she found the following factors were also important for building resilience:

1. Ensure the level of exposure to adversity is at a manageable level.
2. Boost resources – within the individual (teach coping strategies, boost IQ) and outside of the individual (financial support and social support).
3. Restore the basic elements if possible (the MOST protective basic element is a loving nurturing family. Other basics are food, shelter, hygiene, healthcare).
4. Parents and teachers encourage children to – pay attention, solve their problems if possible and control their behavior.

All four of these ‘resilience factors’ are inherent in the 21-Day Journey experience.

1. Venture increases the level of exposure to adversity, but to a level which is manageable
2. A boost of resources to cope well – excellent equipment, facilities, staff, expertise, planning, preparation, education, health and safety, etc.
3. The basic elements are reinforced by the experience – greater recognition and appreciation of a loving nurturing family.
4. Parents, teachers and instructors encourage boys to pay attention, solve problems and self-regulate and control their own behaviour.

However, Masten’s findings relate mostly to especially vulnerable children in severely challenging environments and circumstances. For St Peter’s College students, I suggest these factors should be adjusted, for the type and level of adversity they typically face.

We teach our students a lot about resilience at St Peters College. Wellbeing lessons include modules on Resilience and Growth mindset, whilst our school programs, values and philosophies all aim to develop good character and greater resilience. However, as stressed above, parents are obviously key, and I hope that this dive into some theories of resilience, provides some helpful insight into developing even more resilient young men.

If enough parents are interested, we would like to run a parent forum on this topic in Term 4. Please contact me via sinman@stpeters.sa.edu.au if you would like to attend such a session, and indicate which time – pre or post school (7.15am or 5.15pm) – would suit you best.

Sean Inman
Head of Wellbeing Programs

Bibliography
Ann Masten – Inside Resilient Children – YouTube
Masten A. S, (2015) Ordinary magic, Resilience in Development
Werner, E.E. & Smith, R.S. (1982). Vulnerable but invincible: A study of resilient children.
Garmezy, N. (1976) Vulnerable and Invulnerable Children: Theory, Research and Intervention.