How Incarcerated Teens Learn Resilience

There’s a good article in a 2016 issue of The Atlantic titled, “How Kids Learn Resilience,” by Paul Tough (the irony!). Mr. Tough discusses the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on adolescent development. Not surprisingly, children who experience numerous ACEs tend to perform poorly in school, suffer from a myriad of health issues, and are more likely to be incarcerated later in life. 

The entire article takes about 25 minutes to read, but here’s the main point. Researchers have identified four key beliefs that, when embraced by students, seem to contribute most significantly to their tendency to persevere in the classroom: 

1. I belong in this academic community.

2. My ability and competence grow with my effort.

3. I can succeed at this.

4. This work has value for me.

Burruss Correctional Training Center recently held a graduation ceremony for horticulture, welding, and GED students; Grace and I were able to attend. The GED salutatorian, Teyric (who is also a horticulture student), is 17 years old. He is a skinny, shy, intelligent, African American kid who minds his own business and does his assignments dutifully. For the 100 Things I Know assignment, he wrote “100. I know I have a good horticulture teacher who cares about me.” Safe to say he got an A on that assignment. 

Teyric’s mother was able to attend the graduation ceremony. This is what Teyric said during his speech, in front of his peers, his teachers, and his mother. 

“Growing up, the only reason teachers knew my name was because they had to mark me absent. Change doesn’t happen in a day, a month, or even a year, but you have to start somewhere. We have the ability to be lawyers, entrepreneurs, activists, business owners. Failure is acceptable, but quitting is never an option. To all my teachers, thank you for seeing the good in us that we sometimes don’t see in ourselves.” 

We don’t know Teyric’s full story, but I can guarantee you he’s experienced his share of Adverse Childhood Experiences; 40-60% of incarcerated people in America have experienced a traumatic brain injury in their lives. For the general population, that figure is only 9%. The scars I see on the people we minister to are not always from criminal behavior; they’re oftentimes from childhood. We can’t change what happened in the past, but we can give someone who is incarcerated, who is living out their lowest moment, a chance to have a better future which will, in turn, lead to better futures for all of us. 

It starts with purposeful programs led by dynamic instructors, people like Fred Eason, Omar Howard, Grace Hall, and John Richardson. People who bring a Christ-focused curriculum to the classroom each week and show students that they belong, that they can work hard, that they will succeed, that their work has value. 

These instructors need your support – your prayers and your financial gifts. Chaplain John mentors about 180 youth inside and outside prison each week, and Chaplain Omar serves the entire population at the Atlanta Transitional Center. Grace has sent out literacy packages to over 1,000 Little Readers children this year. Fred meets with juvenile and adult art students every Thursday, patiently teaching them how to paint and overcome the mental, physical, and emotional pains of incarceration. I teach young men the wonders of nature, the beauty given to us by the Great Creator. 

With your help, we’re making a difference; you can hear it in Teyric’s words and others. One horticulture student recently wrote this poem: 

“Raised by my mother my father was a jail birdMy gut told me I wasn’t going to fall behind these walls I feel for itPut my fear in the Lord He will correct your waysAnother day I wake up make my bed all I’m doing is flipping another pageWe’re 17 they got us like gorillas and lions locked inside one big cageFighting for position or who’s better we eating all the same traysWake up put the same clothes on even on the same time frameWe’re just like plants some grow some don’tIt's up to you if you let the devil take you I know I won’t.” 

It has been said that people don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care. And friends, our teachers, staff, and volunteers at HeartBound Ministries, we care. And we thank YOU for caring too. 

Please consider supporting our programs by making a donation at www.givebutter.com/HeartBound. Nearly 70% of our donations come from individuals just like you.  Ministry thrives on your generosity. 

Thank you and God bless, 

Spencer Shelton