“What do you think it is that makes these kids resilient?”

September 19, 2005

Today I was asked: “What do you think it is that makes these kids resilient?” I know it seems illogical when they grow up in an environment and what they see is all they know. Christina’s mom is doing drugs at her house, she is sending her away to her grandmother’s house so she can party with her friends. Christina wants nothing to do with drugs, she doesn’t want to screw up her life like her mom did. And yet you’d think that she would be more inclined to be doing drugs after the exposure and access to them. What is it that makes her not? I hear anger and frustration in her voice. In her egocentric, adolescent mind, her mother’s choices are impacting her quality of life and in her eyes this is wrong. Is it the anger and bitterness that keeps them from making it part of their lives? Where do their aspirations come from? Maybe this question will get answered.