Today’s children are unable to develop normal coping strategies because they are growing up bubble-wrapped in an overprotective society.
That is the observation of family therapist and a world-renowned researcher on resilience, Dr. Michael Ungar, who is one of two key-note speakers at this years School District 42 virtual convention.
Dr. Ungar’s talk, Nurturing Young People’s Resilience: How Risk and Responsibility Help Kids Thrive, will address problems children could develop from living in an overprotective society – including anxiety disorders, an inflated sense of entitlement, or what he describes as “misguided efforts to find their own rites of passage into adulthood, often with catastrophic results”. His talk will also focus on “the risk-taker’s advantage” to help children lead independent lives.
The other speaker, child psychologist Dr. Jody Carrington, will be speaking on building resilience through relationships.
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Even though Carrington is a child psychologist by trade, her biography contends, she rarely treats kids – rather the adults who surround them, especially, she said, when children have experienced trauma. Her talks are specifically geared towards educators, parents, first responders, and foster parents.
School district staff are invited to hear Dr. Ungar’s presentation between 8:30-11:15 a.m. on Wednesday, May 12. Dr. Carrington will be presenting from noon to 2:45 p.m..
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A virtual vendor fair will begin at 11:30 a.m. with Western Campus United Library Services.
Parents and guardians are invited by the District PAC to an hour-long talk by Dr. Ungar between 7 and 8 p.m., that will be broadcast virtually on Zoom and over the DPAC YouTube page.
Even though the event is free, registration is required.
Parents and caregivers can register at //bit.ly/3gJcQBN and teachers can register on the staff learning site.
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