Shapiro, J. with Friedman, D., Meyer, M., & Loftus, M. (1996, November, 11). Invincible Kids. U.S. News and World Report, pp. 62-71.

Many American children go through difficult times. According to the article, "One in five lives in poverty."

Many children find themselves in single, divorced, and single family homes. In fact, "Child abuse, teen drug use and teen crime are surging."

Suburban kids as well as children from violent neighborhoods will suffer from "parental absence"—which is the lack of a mother or father, or someone who will set rules and limits.

Adds the article, "Scientists say that we should focus on the children who succeed, and not those who fail. Although we should not abandon those who do not succeed, we should learn from those who do well." Research indicates that lessons learned from "invincible kids" can be helpful in teaching us how to help every children.

The Search Institute (A Minneapolis based children’s research group) developed 30 resiliency-building factors. The more of these "assets" that are present in a child’s environment, the more likely a child will overcome school problems, alcohol use, early sexual experimentation, depression, and violent behaviors.

One of the main young people mentioned in the article is Rudy Gonzalez, a young man who is growing up in Houston’s East End barrio. He was considered a child "at risk." It seemed as though he would find himself in prison for senseless acts of violence, such as beating a classmate’s head on the pavement until he started to bleed. He also got in trouble for hitting a teacher.

Although things looked bad, with the help of the Boy Scouts of America program for "at risk" kids, Gonzalez changed his life. He found good roles models; he had never really had positive male influences, because his father was killed when he was six years old in a barroom fight. According to the article, "He choose the Boys Scouts over gang colors or drive by shootings." He even cleaned up the unkempt local barrio cemetery.

When Gonzalez was fourteen years old, he saved a boy who got stuck in mud up to his chin. He was called a hero by his town, and even got to meet President Bush at the White House for his heroic act.

Gonzalez is now in his sophomore year at Texas A&M. He has responded that his new life is "a miracle…probably, God chose me to do this." His high school counselor said the Gonzalez is very likable, and that he is a prodigious net-worker who often came to her office for information on college scholarships. She adds, " ‘When I met him, I wanted to adopt him. There is something special about him.’ "

The University of Colorado’s director Richard Jessor manages a multi-million dollar resiliency project for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. They seek programs, activities, and mentors to help teens get off the streets. Gonzalez had said that " ‘We were just guys in the barrio without anything better to do…We didn’t have the YMCA or Little League, so we hung out, played sports, broke into warehouses and schools."

Often children who have been hurt in childhood have been said to have been "scarred" and not able to succeed, but according to statistics,

Most children of teenage mothers try to avoid becoming pregnant themselves. Even though many people who were abused as children often abuse their own children, most abused children do not become abusers.

So this information shows a more successful outcome for children than at first glance. Just because a child has gone through difficult circumstances does not mean they are not going to become productive adults.

In a study done by Werner on the resiliency of children she concluded that

Some people who have had a tough childhood might actually fare better in life than someone who hasn’t. She also concluded that marriages were stronger and people often had better health. None of the people in her study had been on child support or had gotten into any trouble with the law.

It was also shown that children from abusive childhoods had suffered serve consequences. Some of these included shifts in behavior, and thinking and physiology that trouble them into adulthood.

The author believes that parents are the most important factors for a child’s resiliency. And the socioeconomic level doesn’t matter:

Good parenting can trump bad neighborhoods, and it existed in roughly equal proportions in every neighborhood.

cCYS