The Family Stories That Bind Us

            I thought the article “The Family Stories That Bind Us” was extremely interesting and offered great insight. The study showed that the students involved in the research who knew more about their family background and history tended to do better when facing challenges. As Dr. Duke stated, “the ones who knew more about their families proved to be more resilient, meaning they could moderate the effects of stress.” After observing these students after a major trauma such as 9/11, the important role of having a family narrative became very evident. The students that felt like they belonged to a family larger than their own, and had what Dr. Duke and Dr. Fivush call a strong “ inter-generational self” proved to handle a situation involving others much more easily.
            After reading this article, it would make sense to develop a family history project that aimed to promote the exploration of one’s background. Being that my content area is mathematics, I could have the students talk with relatives and compare the differences in prices of anything from groceries to gas, etc. from when they were in middle/high school till now. Seeing the shift through each generation and tying in relative wages would allow the student to make connections on how hard their family has worked to reach their current level. Maybe even exploring as far back as immigrant ancestors and learning about their journey to this country in search of different dreams with however much money they had in their pocket would encourage them to explore their own dreams and financial success and gain respect and understanding of where they come from.