Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Kids Roots and Wings [Paperback]

Kenneth R. Ginsburg MD MSEd FAAP (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2011

Families, schools, and communities can prepare children and teens to THRIVE through both good and challenging times. Building Resilience in Children and Teens offers strategies to help kids from 18 months to 18 years build seven crucial “Cs” — competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control — so they can excel in life and bounce back from challenges. The book describes how to raise authentically successful children who will be happy, hardworking, compassionate, creative, and innovative. Dr. Ginsburg reminds parents that our goal is to think in the present and prepare for the future, to remember that our real goal is to raise children to be successful 35-year-olds. It’s about more than immediate smiles or even good grades; it’s about raising kids to be emotionally and socially intelligent, to be able to recover from disappointment and forge ahead throughout their lives. The stable connection between caring adults and children is the key to the security that allows kids to creatively master challenges and reach their highest potential. This book offers concrete strategies to solidify those vital family connections.

Resilience is also about confronting the overwhelming stress kids face today. This invaluable guide offers coping strategies for facing the stresses of academic performance, high achievement standards, media messages, peer pressure, and family tension. Young people too commonly survive stress by indulging in unhealthy behaviors or by giving up completely The suggested solutions offered here are aimed at building a repertoire of positive coping strategies. Kids who have these healthy strategies in place may be less likely to turn to those quick, easy, but dangerous fixes that adults fear. The book includes a guide for teens to create their own customized positive coping strategies.

The second edition of this award-winning book continues to focus on parents, but now also offers wisdom about how schools and communities can best support families. It is updated throughout and entirely new chapters offer strategies on how best to: support military families, confront the negative portrayal of teens, prevent perfectionism and support authentic success. Finally, the book now guides parents how to recharge and rebound when their own resilience reaches its limits.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The 2011 Book of the Year;  Gold Award for Parenting,  ForeWord Reviews

The 2011 Awards for Parenting Books, The Silver Award,  eLit Awards

About the Author

Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD, MSEd, FAAP is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and practices adolescent medicine at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He is the author or coauthor of several books including Letting Go with Love and Confidence: Raising Responsible, Resilient, Self-Sufficient Teens. He has also worked closely with The United States Military, Boys and Girls Club of America, and Covenant House to build resilience in children, teens, and families.  He lives in Philadelphia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 358 pages
• Publisher: American Academy Of Pediatrics; Second Edition, Second edition edition (April 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581105517
• ISBN-13: 978-1581105513
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ken Ginsburg is a pediatrician specializing in Adolescent Medicine at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He also is Director of Health Services at Covenant House Pennsylvania, where he serves Philadelphia's homeless and marginalized youth.

As an adolescent doctor, the early years of his career focused on teens' problem behaviors. It became clear that "picking up the pieces" was not the right approach. Rather, the solution had to be in raising children prepared to thrive and equipped to make wise decisions. Recognizing this, the focus of his work shifted to supporting parents.

He strives to translate the best of what is known from research and practice into practical approaches parents, professionals and communities can use to build resilience in children and teens. Two core principles guide his approach. First, it is the healthy connection - the unwavering strong relationship - between parent and child that is the essential element that prepares a young person to thrive. Second, most behaviors we fear in adolescents are misguided attempts to cope with stress. Therefore, if we are to reduce the risk in our children's lives, we need to equip them, starting in early childhood, to address life's challenges in healthy ways.

Dr. Ginsburg lectures widely to national and international parent and professional audiences. He is working with The Boys and Girls Club of America to incorporate resilience-building strategies into their programming. He is also honored to be working on behalf of those who serve our nation, preparing military parents and professionals to incorporate stress reduction and resilience building strategies into the lives of our nearly 2 million military-affiliated children. His greatest privilege is to be a husband and the father of two teenaged daughters.

For more information, see www.fosteringresilience.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST have book for anyone parenting a teen! If you buy only one book on parenting -- BUY THIS BOOK! October 6, 2006

By Jane Lerner

Format:Paperback

As a single parent of a fourteen year-old daughter and a seventeen year-old son, I see the tremendous stress that my children and their friends struggle with on a daily basis. They are striving to be strong and independent while trying to balance the pressure to get good grades, deal with peer pressure and friends who are exploring risky behaviors, handle family tensions, and just figuring out to grow up to be the adults they want to be. This MUST HAVE book for all parents provides a realistic and easily understandable method of reconnecting with our teens, and gives us the tools we need to teach them not only how to handle the stresses they face now, but how to grow into resilient adults who will be prepared to face the challenges ahead. In fact, so much of the advice in this book is about raising children of any age to become strong and resilient, that I wish that I had read this book 10 years ago, although as a parent of teens I am finding it incredibly helpful in our everyday lives right now. This book also includes a special section at the end - one for pre-teens and one for teens that they can read themselves, and worksheets they can use to build their own stress reduction plan. My kids actually read this section, and described it as "cool", but I like it because it reinforces the strategies modeled in the book. If you buy only one book on parenting -- BUY THIS BOOK!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This book has saved my sanity! June 18, 2007

By Susan Stein

Format:Paperback

I have read Dr. Ginsburg's book "Building Resilience in Children and Teens" cover to cover and still refer to it constantly. He has a way of writing that gives us (parents) a sense of confidence in what we are doing right and elaborates on concrete ways to do it better. This book has completely changed the way my teen and I communicate. I now find myself in a better position to relate to my teen's point of view, and am able to talk with her in a way that she will relate to. I think many parents feel that the teen years are a time to clamp down on kids in order to keep them from problem behaviors. Dr. Ginsburg's book has shown me how to handle letting teens make their own mistakes while guiding them in the right direction. It is so very hard to watch your child mess up, but when you see how essential that mess is to their development, it becomes a little easier to watch and learn instead of worry and lecture. I have learned these years are a time to listen and support instead of trying to mold our kids into who we think they should be. This realization has opened new lines of communication, which is the foundation for everything to come. This book is the best 15 bucks (or less) you will ever spend!

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I recommend this to parents of my adolescent patients January 10, 2007

By Susan Sugerman

Format:Paperback

As an physician who takes care of adolescents exclusively, I am grateful for the resource that this book provides both to me and to my patients' families. Ginsburg's approach to understanding children and teens is fresh, realistic, and honest. He teaches how to understand kids and how to communicate effectively with them. He offers guidance on how to help children to help themselves, which is ultimately the skill they need to be well-adjusted, successful adults. Whether you are a parent or a professional, the insight provided by Dr. Ginsburg will change how you approach young people in positive, constructive ways. I keep copies in all of my exam rooms and in my waiting room, and I recommend it strongly to all my patients' parents. For my friends and colleagues, it makes an original and much appreciated gift!