A teacher writes on a chalkboard during a class at the Korean High School in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014. The school in Tokyo’s Kita ward looks much like any such Japanese institution with a large clock sitting atop of gray buildings. Inside, all notices are written in Korean and female students and teachers wear the traditional chima jeogori, a full skirt and short jacket. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg via Getty Images
For children who grow up facing adversity in their home, their path out is often lit by a teacher.
I have spent tens of thousands of hours interviewing and reading the stories of those who grew up facing adversity in their childhood home. So often, the child who grows up to become a resilient adult does so because a school teacher stepped in to help them unlearn a lie or a negative belief that they carried deep inside.
But far too often this happens randomly, almost by accident. The New York City Department of Education and New York City Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence is working to make what is now random, predictable.