Chapter 1: How to Fail (And How Not To)
- Question 1: Elizabeth Dozier
- Do you agree with Dozier's assessment of her student's needs -- that while academic deficits are distressing -- there is a deeper set of problems? Like Dozier, did you initially dismiss questions like: "What families do kids come from? and "What effect does poverty have on children? Or are you already working on learning as much about these as possible?
- What effect does poverty have on children?
- Inner City Youth Suffering from PTSD (Article and Video)
- "Hood Disease" Is Everything Wrong With How We Talk About Inner-City Youth The news: Do you live in the inner city? Is your life defined by high stress, malnourishment and random acts of violence?
- If you answered "yes," you may be suffering from a dangerous new affliction: "Hood Disease" — or as it's known when applied to white people and war veterans, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
- Transcript of Interview with Dr. Nadine Burke Harris Taken from a September, 2013, interview on This American Life.
- Question 3: Dr. Nadine Burke Harris
- What do you think of Burke Harris' idea that many of the issues faced by children in poverty are not really issues to be addressed by economists and sociologists but rather by scientists who can analyze and address the realm of human biology? (pg.9)
- "The Relationship of Adverse Childhood Experiences to Adult Health: Turning Gold into Lead" Author: Vincent Felitte, the head of the department of preventative medicine at Kaiser Permanente, the giant health maintenance organization based in California.
- The Relationship of Adverse Childhood Experiences to Adult Health Status A Collaborative Effort of Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control
- Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers YouTube Video of neuroscientist, Robert Sapolsky, explaining that humans' stress-response system, like that of all mammals, evolved to react to brief and acute stresses.
- Question 4: Children and Stress (pg. 17)
- What is your response to the scientists who say that improving Executive Function is a vehicle for narrowing the achievement gap between poor kids and middle-class kids?
- Simon An online version of the memory game.
- Question 5: Executive Function
- Researchers have discovered that executive functions are not only highly predictive of future success, but also quite malleable. What are some ways in which we can improve a child's environment that will lead to better executive functioning so we can increase his/her prospects for success?
- What is Executive Function? Some strategies to help children struggling with executive function.
- Question 6: Mush
- Take some time to reflect on Tough's question (pg. 27): "When does the innocent boy become the culpable man?"
- "More Cuddles, Less Stress" Article by Michael Meaney
- Lick Your Rats Some mother rats spend a lot of time licking, grooming, and nursing their pups. Others seem to ignore their pups. Highly nurtured rat pups tend to grow up to be calm adults, while rat pups who receive little nurturing tend to grow up to be anxious.
- In Their Nurture Can epigenetics underlie the enduring effects of a mother’s love? Lizzie Buchen investigates the criticisms of a landmark study and the controversial field to which it gave birth.
- Question 7: Mentoring & Executive Function
- What are some effective mentoring models/programs that support children and young adolescents in developing the skills necessary to handle stress and manage strong emotions? In what way(s) can a good mentor help a child overcome a history of trauma and poor attachment?
- Question 8: The Teenage Years
- "Teenagers have the ability--or at least the potential--to rethink and remake their lives in a way that younger children do not." After reading stories about Mush, Kewauna, Jacqui, and Keitha--what was the difference for each of them? What do you believe is/are the factor(s) that enable some teenagers to turn themselves away from near-certain failure and steer a course toward success?
- Author Paul Tough on his book HOW CHILDREN SUCCEED