“Be More Resilient” Is The Worst Kind of Gaslighting Out There
I was sitting at my desk listening to a ministerial statement by Chan Chun Sing, as he presented how the horrific event on 19 July at River Valley High School unfolded. It is an event that has shaken the country tremendously. As Minister Chan continued on, he addressed the importance of building up further support structures to support the mental health of our students.
Among the important string of measures rolled out, from “deploying more teacher counsellors”, strengthening the “Character and Citizenship Education Curriculum” and teaching both students and teachers to “differentiate normal stress from distress and mental illness”, there was a quick reference to increasing the range of experiences for students to be able to build up their resilience(ChannelNewsAsia, 27 July 2021).
In the context of what had transpired, it made me wonder:
When can we draw the line between an issue of a person’s resilience levels versus acknowledging that the system/culture is the issue itself?
At this juncture, I want to highlight that nothing in Minister Chan’s speech insinuated that the students’ responses were a result of a lack of resilience. It simply made me wonder as an educator, how much we can truly prepare anyone for difficult moments in life by focusing on building…
