Understanding 7Cs of Resilience - What makes children resilient


We all go through ups and downs in life and learn to navigate through tough situations. Resilience can be defined as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress. Resilience involves "bouncing back" from these difficult experiences, it can also involve profound personal growth (APA)


Resilience help children navigate in stressful situations. When children have skill set to confront and work through difficult problems they learn to prepared for similar situation in future and build up on better problem solving and stress management strategies. 

Kenneth Ginsburg in his new book- Building Resilience in Children and Teens talks about 7Cs of resilience that can help children to effectively cope with a crisis:

1. Competence

  • Competence is the ability to handle situation effectively
  • Children need to be recognized when they are doing something right 
  • Give them opportunity to develop new skills
  • Encourage and reinforce them when you see them performing a new skill
2. Confidence
  • Confidence comes from building skills that parents/ caregivers and educators can teach and nurture.
  • Children gain confidence as they demonstrate their competence in real situations.
  • Encouraging a child to ask questions and praise children honestly
3. Connection
  • Being part of a community helps kids know they aren’t alone in their struggle and that they can ask for help and develop creative solutions to problems.
  • It increases a child’s sense of belonging and safety in a wider world.
4. Character
  • Strengthen a child’s sense of character by helping her explore who she is (identity), what her values are, and what wisdom and gifts she has that she can share with others.
5. Contribution
  • Help a child or teen acknowledge that although he may be in a position of receiving more than he is able to give, the world is a better place because he is in it.
  • Explore situations where the young person can truly feel he is contributing, and find ways to bring those situations into his life.
6. Coping
  • Children need to learn mechanisms to manage their stress by learning methods to both engage and disengage at times.
  • A wide range of positive, adaptive coping mechanisms can also help kids steer clear of dangerous quick fixes for stress.
  • Some coping strategies involve: Breaking down difficult and challenging problems into smaller, achievable steps, avoiding things that trigger extreme anxiety, and just letting some things go.

7. Control
  • When children’s decisions affect their lives, they learn that they have control. 
  • They see that they can do what it takes to bounce back after challenges.
  • Children who lack a sense of control feel like their actions don’t matter. They can become passive, pessimistic, or even depressed.
  • Resilient children know they have internal control. They know they can make a difference.
When kids have the skills and the confidence to confront and work through their problems, they learn that they have what it takes to confront difficult issues. The more they bounce back on their own, the more they internalize the message that they are strong and capable. 







Sanjina Bose


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