HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE LEARN THEIR WORTH
hear others and ourselves. Yet the inner voice waits to speak to us in the pauses between words. If we do not hasten to fill the quiet, a moment of sanctuary and communion arises in the exchange. In The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt identifies a sacredness in shared meaningmaking rituals that“ increase cohesion and trust... [ and ] also reduce anomie and loneliness.” Dignity both seeks and creates the contemplation from which a moral and ethical identity can emerge.
Dignity comes from discovering and following one’ s inner wisdom— and sometimes human beings must experience solitariness in that process. Frequently, the adolescent search for dignity demands wrestling with non-conformity and FOMO, with all the trepidation of not belonging. Good reasons exist for the dread of ostracism; in evolutionary terms, survival has been at risk for individuals who were cut off from community. Magnetic imaging shows that social pain activates the same brain regions as physical pain, a neural warning system that alerts us to a threat to our well-being and the need for social connection. As we support students in their pursuit of dignity, it helps to remember how much bravery must be summoned in a teen when they test out, often painfully, the parameters of their own integrity among their peers.
When we sense the value and respect conferred by the gaze of another person,
“ As we support students in their pursuit of dignity, it helps to remember how much bravery must be summoned in a teen when they test out, often painfully, the parameters of their own integrity among their peers.”
that connection holds the power to steady us— so we can recognize the potential to be our best, most authentic selves. Dr. Gabor Maté, known for his work on childhood development, trauma, and addiction has observed,“ For each of us, coming into being meant being found by someone who echoed our emotions, who mirrored us and thus confirmed our existence and vitality.” Being well heard allows us to integrate our own inherent dignity into a self-concept.
In this time of infinite distraction, we must recommit together to the practice of dignity. In her poem,“ The World Has Need of You,” Ellen Bass has written:“ It’ s a hard time to be human. We know too much / and too little.” Our nervous systems are saturated from the overexposure of scrolling through vitriolic language, political violence, wars,
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CSEE Connections Winter 2025 Page 9