The Limits Of Grit Essay

Here we refer to where Ethan Ris quoted NBC News Anchor, Brian Williams, to have said as he interviewed low-income students about Grit at KIPP charter school: “The kids here at KIPP already get it.” (Ethan Ris., - Brian Williams…) Yes, being low-income students it is likely they have already been enduring hardship as a way of life. The Grit traits are in them because from the beginning they have had to ‘make do’ with minimum. As Melissa Dahl quoted Duckworth to have said, “Kids need to develop character, and they need our support in doing so.” (Melissa Dahl. – Duckworth.) This not only reinstates the fact that Grit is indeed an object of character, but it also points back to the earlier statement that Grit should

Bullying, often labeled as just a part of growing up, is a major problem in America’s schools today. Although it is such a hot topic in our country right now, it is also a long ignored problem that only seems to worsen. The complication with bullying is that no one quite understands it, and it is not taken seriously. The definition of bullying is an overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people. In more simple terms, bullying is not a onetime incident; it is repetitive and happens among individuals when there is an imbalance of power. Statistically, every one in six children are bullied, and this cannot continue to take place. Every child has the right to feel safe and have the pursuit of being happy in which bullying completely takes those rights away.

As more and more children go to school, the rates of bullying go up as time goes by. there are many times at which students suffer all the bullying that occurs within their lives. As more schools become aware of the magnitude of the bullying occurring right under their noses, there are rules created to aid the victim. There are various types of bullying and these are created to do one thing, instill superiority among the “stronger” and place a feeling of inferiority. Bullies are the ones who are detrimental to a child’s development.

Duckworth explains people with grit are those who confront failure and don’t give up easily. She did research on the U.S Army to determine their grit. She realize, if the soldiers had a though of mind of grit they showed good results in their military performance on summer camp. Also, there was a fascinating research she had with taxi drivers relating to grit. Commonly, one would think that taxi drivers make more money in a rainy day. But what she found out was that taxi drivers work less hours in rainy days because they would make the sufficient money they needed for the day. In similarity, she compare this research to talent and grit. One with talent will spent less time on something so they stop immediately once they have proficient. In the other hand, someone with grit will spend longer time and get more out of it.

“Bullying can threaten students’ physical and emotional safety at school and can negatively impact their ability to learn. The best way to address bullying is to stop it before it starts”( Prevention at school). My critical literacy book is about bullying at school. Bullying happens at all age levels and can happen anywhere. For educators the least we can do is make school a safe bully free zone for the students.

The significance of grit is discussed in a 2013 article published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. To introduce this article the author prompts Angela Lee Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania, who has been studying grit for the past 11 years, to define “resilience in learning.” This opens up discussion about how differently words such as grit or resilience can be interpreted, and identifies some distinct similarities within individual definitions. Resilience can refer to an overall positivity in a person, as the ability to “bounce back” from a failure or disappointment, or can even be attributed to children who thrive despite an at-risk environment. In the end, regardless of personal definitions, resilience is associated with individuals who succeed.

Bullying is defined as “verbal, physical, or psychological abuse or teasing accompanied by real or perceived imbalance of power” and is usually targets what children perceive as different (Olweus, 1993). Bullying is prevalent across the nation. It has devastating effects on students each day. Bullying is a problem for all students, regardless of race, gender or class. The National Education Association reports that 160,000 children are absent intentionally from school each day because they fear being bullied whether it is an attack or just intimidation by other students. This accounts for 15% of all school absenteeism (Hunter, 2012). Dan Olweus (1993) from the National School Safety Center tells us that bullying includes three parts: (1)

What is Grit? Grit is passion. Grit is perseverance. Grit is what everyone including teachers and students should possess. Along with passion and perseverance, to me, in order for one to possess grit in their life, they must be determined and focused no matter what obstacle life may throw at them. Life is hard, but; resilience is key in order to stay determined and focused in the worst of times.

Children who are bullied may have short term effects on them. They often do not like to go to school, have problems making friends, and in extreme cases develop depression can lead to suicide. Bullying can have lasting effects on a victim. Fortunately, most who are bullied receive support from others tend not to have any lasting effect.

During the process of having grit, the individual is determined to stick to a plan and execute it, only as long as the individual continues to have passion and perseverance. One does not consider that during this process, the individual who defines as low-income, for the sole purposes of this research, can come across potential barriers that can arise during the time the process of acquiring grit. For example, a low-income student from the Los Angeles metropolitan area who resides in South Los Angeles (an area known for its high poverty level) , will suffer from educational attainment and lack of proper education due to the area the individual resides in. Lack of resources for this individual may consist of lack of college readiness courses throughout their HS, lack of family stability (a common factor found in First Gen students), and lack of proper basic knowledge needed in order to succeed graduating from HS. Therefore, the possibility of a low-income student acquiring grit is very little due to the barriers the individual or their families face.

The main idea of this article is that grit isn’t about the willingness to work hard, it’s about setting a specific long term goal and doing whatever it takes until the goal has been reached. One example that supports this main idea is West Point’s military academy, they took a survey to see who really had grit and those soldiers are the ones who stayed and could withstand longer than a summer of training. It wasn’t just about being physically fit. Another example that supports this main idea is Isaac Newton, it took years of work before he understood what gravity was. What made him have grit was that he had a goal and he did whatever he needed to do to understand what gravity was. These examples both illustrate that grit isn’t about the hard

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives many different definitions defining the word “grit”. A definition that caught my attention was “unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger” .It gave me a personal reference as to reaching a goal, you have to be faced with challenges that you’ll need to conquer with grit being included. In Angela Lee Duckworth’s TED Talk, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” she claims that having students being pushed to the max is the only way to see the full extent of grit, and I agree with Duckworth. I was able to demonstrate grit on becoming a better basketball play after not making the team my sophomore year of high school. Ever since I was disappointed in my results of not making the team, I had told myself this wasn’t going to mean I was done playing basketball .I gave myself perseverance in knowing I could make it next year with motivation.

Grit is a predictor of academic and personal success. It is the strength of a character or one's ability to overcome failure and still continue to work toward an accomplishment. People with grit are not always the people the smartest by natural ability, but their work ethic to overcome obstacles allows them to achieve success. Grit is a very valuable characteristic, as it gives someone an advantage to beat the inevitable obstacles they will face. However, grit is much easier adopted when an individual has a growth mindset.

Many people do not realize how serious bullying has become. If you look at statistics suicides due to bullying have increased over just a few short years. This has become a very big problem for not only the victim but the bully as well as it affect both of them. School bullying is mentally destructive to not only the victims, but bullies because of the harmful words, harassment, and physical violence involved as well as the consequences for the bully.

I am inspired by the idea of grit that was introduced by an American academic psychologist and popular science author, Angela Lee Duckworth. Angela’s research has evolved around discovering why some individuals accomplish more than other individuals despite having the same talent, intelligence, and resources. She went to graduate school to become psychologist, and that was when she discovered that one characteristic that emerged as a significant predictor of success is grit.