Five things you need to know to foster resilience in young people

Back-to-school is here, but it’s far from a regular school year. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge us, and children and youth are returning to school at a time of heightened tension, fear and confusion. 

It’s times like these when resilience is even more critical so that we can recover from difficulties or challenges (to learn more about resilience, check out our blog post). But when it comes to kids, it’s important to know that resilience isn’t something that they’re born with — it must be created, nurtured and continually built upon. So what can you do to help your young person achieve healthy resilience as they return to school in these unprecedented times? 

Here are five things you need to know to foster resilience in young people:

  1. Resilience is built on individual characteristics. Every child is unique and has different genes, temperament and personality. Not to mention, everyone grows up in different environments with different families, communities and societies. With all these differences, it only makes sense that young people will understand and create resilience in different ways. We love Beyond Blue’s Airplane Concept to describe resilience. Different planes will respond to poor weather conditions in different ways, in the same way different children respond to the same challenges in different ways. Finding and nurturing what works for your young person to build resilience is an important first step. 

  2. There are five key areas that build resilience. By following these five areas, you can offer your young person the best chance to build resilience in a healthy way: 

    -Build, strengthen and promote supportive relationships;

    -Focus on autonomy and responsibility;

    -Focus on managing emotions;

    -Create opportunities for personal challenge; and, 

    -Educate people about resilience.

    Need more information on these five areas? We’re here to help. 

  3. You can develop essential skills, habits and attitudes for building resilience at home. This can be done by helping your young person to:

    -Build good relationships with others, including adults and peers;

    -Build their independence;

    -Learn to identify, express and manage their emotions; and,

    -Build their confidence by taking on personal challenges.

  4. Educating those around you helps build resilience. One of the key ways to build resilience in youth is to ensure that those around them understand resilience, demonstrate it in their lives and can offer supportive strategies during difficult times. Consider educating parents, caregivers, professionals and anyone else in your young person’s support network who can model and teach healthy resilience strategies. 

  5. Some Other Solutions is here to help. We offer a variety of child and youth programs and services to empower young people to develop resilience, self-confidence and positive mental wellness to meet life’s challenges. Learn more now.

By building resilience in children and youth, we can work together to empower change and transform adversity.

For more information, visit our website or call our 24/7 crisis line: 780.743.4357(HELP).


Some Other Solutions