How Children Succeed. Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character

"This is a beautifully written book. It’s a joy to read because Paul Tough is such a masterful storyteller, and it makes a powerful point. He focuses on what economists call ‘non-cognitive skills’. These are skills beyond just IQ or academic achievement. They’re things like self-discipline and tenacity, emotional empathy and things that help you thrive in a collaborative, modern, professional environment. These kinds of skills, Tough argues in the book, are a very important part of success, which is consistent with what a lot of conservatives argue when they talk about the importance of personal responsibility and discipline and patience. So it’s interesting that there’s a nod to a lot of what conservatives are saying. “Our failure to support parents is really damaging our entire society and economy” But the book shows that these skills don’t come from a vacuum. They come from access to opportunities to build and practice and develop these skills, and these opportunities are distributed very unequally. He argues that if we want more kids to have the kind of so-called personal responsibility that does indeed contribute to success, we need to broaden access to the opportunities that help build these skills and develop these kinds of children. Right now we provide K12 public education. We view that as our attempt to level the playing field in terms of skill development. But when you add up the hours, that’s just 10% of childhood! We need to go far beyond traditional K12 schooling to help more kids feel that they are set up for success. We would begin with early education so that lower-income kids don’t enter kindergarten already way behind their higher-income peers. If you’re already behind, your identity doesn’t necessarily gravitate towards taking school seriously, or toward feeling confident about your own worth. Other kinds of resources would be extra-curricular activities like art and science after school and over summer breaks, tutoring to make sure kids don’t fall behind if they’re struggling with Algebra 1 at a critical juncture in their development, and mental health resources to help children deal with trauma. All these things are really common for affluent kids. But if you’re a lower-income family, it’s hard to access mental health specialists who will accept Medicaid because Medicaid is very stingy compared to Medicare . Things like college counseling, career development services and apprenticeships: there are a whole range of programs that would help kids stay on track and feel they are invested in their personal and professional growth because they think success is a possibility for them and want to make the most of it."