Building Resiliency
By Dana Ketchersid
Colonial Heights Principal
One of my favorite movie quotes is from Batman Begins. When the young main character, Bruce
Wayne, falls down a well and is terrified by the barrage of bats that surround him, his father comes to
his rescue and asks the young boy, “And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”
This quote reminds me of the importance of hope and the inner strength of the human spirit.
Oftentimes, as educators and parents we overlook the importance of helping our children develop
resiliency. Resiliency helps us harness inner strength in order to rebound from a setback or challenge.
Why is this skill important? Disappointment, failure, frustration, regret or disillusionment is a part of
life. However, learning to cope with these feelings can help us develop into well-adjusted individuals
who can learn to overcome. We all love stories of people who overcame amazing odds or fought back
through adversity. Perhaps you are familiar with this list of names: Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin,
Helen Keller or Ludwig van Beethoven. Each of these individuals had his/her own share of strugglesAlbert Einstein did not speak for the first three years of his life and most of his teachers thought he was
lazy and would not amount to much, yet he became one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century.
Benjamin Franklin had to quit school at age 10 to help support his family. He continued his love of
learning through an insatiable love of reading, created numerous inventions (Franklin stove, lightning
rod, bifocals, to name a few) and is proudly heralded as one of America’s Founding Fathers. A high
fever caused Helen Keller to lose both her sight and hearing before the age of two years. Yet this did not
stop this determined woman from graduating from college and working tirelessly to improve the
education of others who were blind, deaf or mute. Ludwig van Beethoven composed beautiful
symphonies, writing each note, but began losing his hearing at the age of 26. This did not stop him from
writing some of the most beautiful music of all time including the Ninth Symphony, which is generally
regarded as one of the greatest works of music ever written.
What did these individuals all have in common?....a strong desire to persist despite overwhelming odds.
Thus, how do we develop this skill in our own children? First, begin by building strong, positive
relationships. Positive relationships provide our children with support and hope. Secondly, children
should do something that gives them a sense of accomplishment. This may be accomplished in
numerous ways- through a hobby, doing well in school, volunteering, being part of an organization, etc.
The goal is to give kids a focus. Thirdly, talk with them about their hardships and provide strategies to
manage them. Experience is the best teacher and adults can provide counsel from their own
experiences. Children should learn early on that we don’t always control our circumstances, but we can
control our reaction to them. Finally, help our children remain hopeful. We can't change the past, but
we can always look toward the future. Accepting and even anticipating change makes it easier to adapt
and view new challenges with less anxiety. Let’s help our children develop resiliency so they too, can
“learn to pick themselves up.”