Victor Rios TED Talk: Help for Kids the System Ignores

What if one were born without straps on one’s boots—how can one pull oneself up by the bootstraps? As a child VR experienced and overcame pushout and university probation. The talk focuses defining students by what they contribute, not what they lack — especially those with difficult upbringings, says educator Victor Rios. Interweaved with his personal tale of perseverance as an inner-city youth, Rios identifies three straightforward strategies to shift attitudes in education and calls for fellow educators to see “at-risk” students as “at-promise” individuals brimming with resilience, character and grit.