The approach to the new millennium we suggest is to forget warring with your circumstances or even your habits and focus instead on your heart.

Naturally, you should make peaceful changes in your situation if you can, but you probably already know that change of this kind doesn't eradicate unhappiness. Use this new era to begin again, to start with a fresh mind and a kind heart. Turn loose all old grievances, grudges, misunderstandings and hurt feelings.

Turn instead to the One who is always with you. Ask for help and receive it. As a powerful aid, turn also to this new hope in the world. Feel the hope and act on it. Truly forgive; truly put the old behind you; truly start over.

The ultimate goal of our human experience, the Buddha teaches, is the liberation of all beings from suffering.

Suffering appears externally, as in the forms of poverty, starvation, disease and violence. It also arises internally, as in the forms of anger, fear, self-hatred and addictive behaviors.

The practice of meditation, instructs the Buddha, will take us to the heart of whom we're and to the true nature of life itself. It's this understanding that then initiates our liberation from suffering.

In the 12 years that lawyer Doug Booth has been involved with Buddhist meditation, he has become both a devoted practitioner and a dedicated teacher.

In our recent conversation, he recalled teaching at the Mountain Cloud Zen Center, situated behind Santa Fes Quail Run. He remembers leaving after his classes and seeing the mercury vapor lights of the Santa Fe prison glowing brightly on Highway 14.

Night after night, this eerie sight focused his attention on the disparity between the lives of those in prison and the lives of those in his meditation community. The sangha [community] attracted mostly middle-to upper-class folks, says Booth and I felt like we were keeping it [the practice and benefits of meditation] to ourselves. I thought it would be useful and more appropriate to bring it out to places where there really is severe suffering, such as the prison. That was about 4 years ago.

No matter what time of the day you read these words, they're appropriate. Morning is merely the dawning of a new day,
a new year or a new life!

She sat staring into the night. Her eyes couldn’t see a thing, yet they strained to find what she wanted in the blackness before her. Suddenly, there it was, the first glimmer of romance for a lonely, lonely soul. This was the dawning of a new day for a love-starved life.

He sat staring at a pile of unpaid bills yet before him were some new options he hadn’t had before. After a "night" of financial hell, it felt good to see some good job opportunities peeking their heads up over the horizon.

After a night of darkness and confusion, it feels good to get even a glimmer of understanding to help guide our way. After months in the hospital, it feels good to hear those words, "You can go home tomorrow."

From the beginning of time, everyone has experienced a longing for the night to be over and for the day to begin. Kids would love to start Christmas morning at 2:00 a.m. – just so they can get to those long-awaited moments of ‘opening presents’.

The dawning of a new generation awakens all kinds of excitement in a lackluster couple. A new grandchild can be the spark of life in one that has been saddled with troubles and tiredness! New energy surges in them. They're soon talking ‘a-mile-a-minute’ while pictures of their precious grand-baby are being passed around.

Yes, for them it's a good morning!

Fostering Hope
Stanley J. Gross, Ed.D.

Before there's change, there's hope for change. Hope taps into yearnings to alter our lives, to realize our dreams, end our despair, assure our luck, achieve our desires, validate our ambitions or confirm our trust.

The meaning of hope can, for some, also be stretched to include wishful thinking, greedy obsessions, lust, gullibility, blind faith, false promises, or ignorance of unwanted consequences. Hope, when expressed in these extremes, can hurt others when it disregards realities, overlooks pain and sacrifice, or blocks flexibility.

The importance of hope in our lives is that it's one key to personal change. We rarely seek change without some expectation of a positive outcome.

More About Hope

• Hope is a positive forecast, an opening to the future. Hope is the oil that greases the skids of change by posing the possibility that we can improve on our lives. Hope is an attitude, belief, mood, or strategy in which we overestimate the future, affecting our judgments about uncertain situations so that we anticipate movement in a positive direction.

What Fosters Hope?

Action is the handmaiden of hope. Just as hope can lead to action, action can lead to hope. Realizing hope requires that we move from thinking and observing to acting. Nurturing hope is a way of reducing the risks involved, so that anxiety doesn't inhibit action.

Though becoming more hopeful is easier said than done, people have been able to raise dim hopes in the following ways:

• Goals energize hope: A goal is a purpose, motive or reason for the use of time or for the justification of an activity. The simplest way to foster hope is to examine the goals that emerge from our desires and ambitions. The more these goals are:

• concrete (rather than vague)

• achievable (rather than lofty)

• challenging (rather than easy)

• appealing (rather than dreary)

Developing a Sense of the Possible

Alan M Blankstein & Eleanor Guetzloe

from Alan: I remember lying in my bed in Queens, New York, one Sunday afternoon, feeling depressed about the stark contrast between the sunny day outside and my inner sense of dark despair. Why bother going out? I wondered. I don’t know anyone here and feel worthless anyway!

My new placement in this group home for boys provided a clear and tangible reflection of an internal sense of being unwanted and unable to control my own destiny. Once again, familial rejection and its inherent commentary on my personal worth found form in a new neighborhood, a new set of strangers and a new life in New York.

from Eleanor:

This spring hasn't been a good time for me to co-edit an issue on hope. The year began with a series of difficult events. Our older son had a heart attack on New Year’s Eve. I underwent 3 eye operations that left me temporarily legally blind and a much worse typist than usual and the sudden appearance of a skin cancer required immediate surgery. As we send this issue to press, my husband has just survived a life-threatening case of staphylococcus pneumonia. I'm reminded of the punch line to a very old joke, "Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"

In each of the personal examples cited above, we had ample opportunity to feel overwhelmed and in fact, did - for a time. What enabled us - and so many other individuals - to cope with potentially crushing life experiences?

A sense of hope was certainly among the most important factors.

The Meaning of Hope

What is hope, exactly? How do we learn to hope? How can we foster, enhance and sustain a sense of hope when our lives seem to be out of control?

How can we provide a road map for others who may be lost in a morass of emotional and psychological despair? Can we teach hope to children and youth?

What we have learned from people like Victor Frankl, who survived years in Auschwitz during the holocaust and Nelson Mandela, who became South Africa’s president after 27 years of imprisonment, is that even the most traumatic life events can be interpreted in ways that sustain life, rather than threaten it.

Seligman (1991) refers to this interpretation of events as "explanatory style."

The concept of hope is powerful, timeless and life-sustaining. When General Eisenhower visited troops as they were preparing to invade Normandy - facing unfavorable weather and uncertain fates - he reminded them that they had the very best leaders and equipment (Ambrose, 1983).

The best thing he could do for his men was to maintain a sense of optimism.

In a discussion of personality factors of dying patients, medical doctor Arnold Hutschnecker (1981) noted that cancer patients tended to be passive people who:

• (a) couldn't express hostility 
• (b) suffered depression and hopelessness

He suggested that hope sustains life, while hopelessness causes death. Similarly, Erich Fromm (1968) has stated that "psychologically speaking, destructiveness is the alternative to hope" (p. 22). Fromm has suggested that violent acts are a common outcome of a sense of hopelessness and that a "hardened heart" (or lack of willingness to hope) is an outgrowth of protecting oneself from being hurt.

Both Fromm and Hutschnecker distinguish between active and passive forms of hope. The former is described by Hutschnecker as "an inner mental force that triggers the human will into action" (p. 16); both see the passive form as a guise of positivism or adventurism whose underpinnings are actually an inert dreaminess, sense of impotence, or depression.

Martin Seligman (1991, 1995) suggests that hope is tied to an optimistic explanatory style: the tendency or ability to explain misfortune in temporary and specific terms. Jonas Salk has referred to optimism as "psychological immunization" (cited in Seliginan, 1995, p. 5). Snyder (1994) identifies the two components of hope as the will or energy to reach one’s goals (willpower) and the ability to generate routes to achieving them (waypower).

Michael Fullan defines hope as "irrational optimism," because it requires more than logic alone (personal communication with Alan, April 22, 1998).

For the purpose of this discussion, we'll define hope as a sustaining life-force that provides meaning, reason and direction for one’s existence.

Having hope is an essential part of one’s social, emotional and spiritual sustenance. It gives us strength to live and continually move forward, even when conditions seem hopeless. A key factor in working successfully with young people is the development of a sense of the possible, as well as the faith, courage and means to pursue it.

A Look at the Research

In comparison to the enormous body of literature about problems associated with the lack or loss of hope, there's a relative paucity of research on the topic of hope itself.

For many years, authorities have suggested that a positive mind-set is powerful medicine in the battle against serious disease. A growing body of statistical evidence supports this assumption. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, recently completed a follow-up survey on patients who had been classified 30 years earlier as optimists or pessimists ("Look at the Bright Side," 2000).

The researchers compared the patients’ expected and actual survival rates and found that the optimistic group’s survival rate was significantly better than expected. They also found a 19% increase in risk of death among the pessimistic group.

Seligman (1991) has offered several reasons for the apparent link between explanatory style and the immune system, basing his thoughts on studies of both animals and humans.

First, preventing feelings of helplessness apparently helps to maintain immune systems.

Second, optimists are more likely to take action that prevents illness (to stick to health regimens & seek medical advice when illness strikes).

Third, optimists are more likely to avoid bad events, which can often lead to illness.

Finally, optimists tend to have more social supports - deep friendships and love - that are important for physical health.

Based on such findings, the Mayo Clinic researchers have suggested that certain clinical interventions might make patients more optimistic, thus improving their responses to medical treatment.

From Hopelessness to Hope

Long before becoming this issue’s guest editor, I became interested in the effects of hope as an outcome of studying suicidal behavior. I'd been asked to write a book about youth suicide (Guetzloe, 1989). Given the stakes involved, I agonized over the need for accuracy.

Hopelessness was among the most important factors associated with suicidal behavior in young people. According to Frederick (1985), suicidal youngsters suffer from haplessness (suffering from problems that weren't of their own doing), helplessness (having no control over the outcomes) & hopelessness (thinking that things will never get any better - & that suicide is the only answer).

Several other researchers had documented a significant relationship between hopelessness & suicide (Beck. Steer, Kovacs, & Garrison, 1985; Dyer & Kreitman, 1984; Kazdin, French, Unis, Esveldt-Dawson, & Sherick, 1983).

In an attempt to make positive suggestions for primary prevention, I had listed all the risk factors known to be associated with youth suicide & suggested potential skill development to address each. i.e., if a student suffers from unrealistic expectations or over-programming, then goal-setting, self-evaluation & self-monitoring would be valuable individual study topics.

If social isolation is a problem, then training in assertiveness, communication & social skills would be advisable. Problems of stress could be addressed by teaching self-control, coping skills, problem solving, time management & relaxation exercises (Guetzloe, 1989, p. 175).

I had trouble, however, with hope. Hope was known to be a factor in resilience, the focus of a relatively new & very exciting field of research, but well-designed studies on the nature, origins, or development of a sense of hope didn't exist. The following section presents the best of what we know.

Practical Strategies for Teaching Hope

We believe that children can be taught to hope in the same ways that we teach anything in the home, school & community. The instructional methods used must be both humane & effective & include

• establishing high, but attainable goals, direct instruction, errorless training & constructive evaluation, based on unwavering support for & belief in all students

• modeling optimistic behavior

• exposing youth to media & materials that inspire & create "a sense of the possible"

• reinforcing effort, perseverance & optimistic statements - using the language of hope (e.g., "I can," "I will," "I am capable")

Specific strategies include the following:

• Providing a positive school & classroom climate. All students learn better & more in a motivating environment - one that meets their physical, psychological, social & educational needs.

In such an environment, punishment will be avoided & positive experiences will be readily available. Risk taking, a necessary component in attempting difficult tasks, will be encouraged, in the presence of an "emotional safety net."

• Ensuring physical & psychological safety. It's absolutely essential that students feel physically & psychologically safe in the school - from intruders, from the faculty & staff & from one another. They must not be subjected to harsh punishment, ridicule, or humiliation. School must be welcoming.

• Providing appropriate faculty & staff. Teachers of hope must be optimistic themselves. They'll model high expectations, faith, courage, creativity & tenacity for achieving their goals. Most importantly, they must believe in their students!

Providing other positive models in the classroom. In addition to the teacher, other positive and appropriate models can be invited to school to share their experiences. It's particularly important to select models from the same cultural backgrounds as those of the students with whom they will speak (people who have "been there"). Mentors may also be used and must be responsible individuals who will:

• (a) take this obligation seriously
• (b) be present at the appointed times
• (c) agree to serve as a mentor over an extended period -often for more than a year.

If living models aren't available, videos, excerpts from television programs, filmstrips, records and pictures that portray hope can be substituted.

"Setting children up" for success. When teachers begin to plan for a special event, a "setup" for practicing hope could begin with a discussion about the possibility of the event and how fun it would be if the class could do it.

Eventually, a student will ask, "Can we do this? Can we go?" Rather than just saying "yes," the answer can be, "We don’t know yet, but we hope so."

Teachers would, of course, ensure in advance that the event will be approved. Students are then involved in the hope that it'll occur, the planning and implementation of the activity and the feelings of personal success when it comes to be.

Using the "language of hope." First, teachers can simply plan to use words of hope more often in the classroom. Stories selected for reading aloud to students can include such messages as

• (a) being hopeful
• (b) striving to meet goals
• (c) attempting difficult tasks
• (d) achieving goals or overcoming setbacks (e.g., "The Little Engine That Could")

Songs can focus on hope and other positive messages (e.g., "High Hopes," "Always," or "A Cockeyed Optimist"). Another strategy for teaching the language of hope, as well as other skills necessary to foster a sense of optimism (e.g., optimistic self-talk), is role playing in the classroom, involving students, teachers, instructional assistants and trained volunteers.

Using positive materials. Instructional materials that show the heroic or virtuous side of human beings and society should be selected. Special assignments can challenge students to find:

• (a) stories that exemplify triumph over misfortune 
• (b) poems, songs and jokes that aren't only positive and funny, but are also suitable for sharing at school.

Modifying explanatory style. Seligman (1991, 1995) has developed specific techniques for teaching optimism to young people. His program for fostering and practicing optimistic explanatory styles has been successfully included in many K-12 school programs.

Including special topics in the curriculum. Units, modules and activities that address specific issues of interest or concern to individual students or the whole group can be integrated into existing course or content areas.

Examples include:

• assertiveness training
• juvenile law
• grooming and dress
• outlets for creativity (art, music, writing, dance & drama)
• prescriptive physical education (e.g., weight loss, weight gain, or bodybuilding programs)
• life sports (golf, tennis, handball, running & use of leisure time) (Guetzloe, 1989).

Providing integrated and meaningful experiences. Experiences that help to foster hope include helping others, meeting community leaders and other important individuals, participating in positive events in the school and community and receiving favorable publicity in the media.

Children (and adults) need to know what they might be able to ccomplish in order to establish appropriately high but achievable goals for themselves. Being exposed to the community in a positive way and receiving positive recognition for their involvement enhances their dignity and promotes self-esteem.

Providing opportunities for altruistic experiences. Curwin (1992, 1993) lists guidelines for creating helping opportunities for the school and classroom (e.g., tutoring younger students, raising money for school programs or a charity and assisting students with disabilities). Woerhle (1993) suggests school-coordinated activities for specific age groups that are developmentally appropriate and successful - from preschool (e.g., feeding birds) to 12th grade (participating in Habitat for Humanity efforts).

Believe That You Can Make a Difference!

Finally, Seligman (1995) suggests that one single, crucial, transforming event can markedly change a young person’s thinking about who he is and what he is worth. The moral of this discussion is obvious: Such an event could occur on any day and at any time, in the home or school.

Many of the authors in this issue have experienced such transforming events and share their stories in the hope of helping others. The first section, Elements of Hope, provides insights on why youth lose hope and how hope can be developed thru accurate optimism, resilience and self-efficacy.

The authors in the second section, Creating Communities of Hope, focus on ways to develop environments in which hope can thrive. The final section, Building a Bridge to Hope, includes a wide array of strategies for helping children and youth become more hopeful.

Maintaining a sense of hope when surrounded by discouraging circumstances isn't easy, as Jonathan Kozol (2000) describes:

A child is telling you about the bus ride that she takes to see her father, far from New York City, in one of the huge state prisons. She speaks of the mixture of emotion she feels - for him, herself, her mother. Then Shentasha, who is sitting there beside you, lowers her defenses and describes the ride that she takes to see her father as well. Then another child adds her contribution and an older boy adds his; you realize with dismay that this is the one thing all the children at this table have in common.

They speak of being searched by prison guards and being stamped with an electric imprint before they can go through the metal gates .... They also speak of the anxiety they feel when they're told it's time to leave and of the sad leave-takings and the grimness of the long ride all the way back to the Bronx.

I try to counter these discouraging reflections. I think of all the good work being done by teachers that I know at this school ... by doctors in the area.. . by Elsie & Katrice & Nancy and the other people at the church. I think of people working hard at all the other churches in the Bronx. I look continually for reasons to be hopeful. I just want them to be genuine. (pp. 153—155)

To those of you who have searched for the light of hope in the midst of darkness and for the children, mothers, fathers and entire communities for whom hope is a precious and often elusive whisper in the wind, we dedicate this issue of Reaching Today’s Youth. May the pages that follow re-ignite and strengthen in you a sense of the possible. 

Alan Meredith Blankstein is founder of the National Educational Service, president of the HOPE (Harnessing Optimism & Potential through Education) Foundation & 1 of 2 senior editors of Reaching Today’s Youth, along with Lyndal M Bullock. Having grown up in a variety of group home & foster care settings in New York City, he has been an ardent advocate for young people as a presenter, author & developer of C-SPAN & PBS-ALSS programs involving leaders in education, business & government.

Eleanor Guetzloe, professor of special education at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, is past president of both the International Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders & Teacher Educators for Children with Behavioral Disorders. Dr. Guetzloe has presented & published extensively on topics related to the education of students with E/BD - particularly suicide & depression, violence & aggression & resilience.

By Colette Bouchez
WebMD Feature

You've seen the antiaging skin care claims, in newspapers, magazines & even online: ominous photos of hypodermic needles posed along side innocuous, even innocent-looking jars of cream.

The message: A new generation of topical cosmetic creams promises the same wrinkle-relaxing, age-defying results as some pricey & maybe even some potentially dangerous medical procedures, including Botox & collagen injections.

But can they? Well if you're skeptical about what you read, you're not alone. Not surprisingly, some doctors also question the claims & the promises.

"The bottom line is that if these creams could accomplish the same thing as a medical procedure, they would be drugs & not cosmetics - & that's what you have to keep in mind when deciding whether to try or buy," says Marsha Gordon, MD, vice chairman of dermatology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

Much of the new antiaging treatment technology focuses on compounds called pentapeptides - small groups of long chain amino acids that function as chemical messengers throughout the body.

Among the most popular creams boasting the new technology include the Regenerist line by Olay, Strivectin-SD by Klein Becker, Wrinkle Relax by DDF & the Principal Secret "Reclaim" line.

And while doctors say there are no published medical studies showing they work, experts involved in product testing say there is ample science behind the pentapeptide technology.

"It had a very strong pedigree going into the process - we weren't just looking for the next hope in the jar, we were really looking at medical science before we started down the path with these products," says Lauren Thaman Hodges, director of Beauty Science for Olay skin care products.

Initially, the research on pentapeptides was done in relation to wound healing. As part of the body's natural response to help skin heal, published studies showed peptides are instrumental in increasing cells in the skin to produce more collagen.

Collagen Is Key

But collagen isn't just for healing boo-boos. It also plays an important role in how skin ages. Gordon explains that collagen is the support structure that gives our skin a firm, young appearance. When levels remain plentiful our skin looks young & fresh.

When levels decline, we lose that support & wrinkles begin to form. While collagen injections can temporarily put back some of what we lose, some researchers believe that topically applying the peptides might have a similar effect - without the needle.

After combining synthetic peptides with a fatty acid - essential to get it into the deeper layers of skin - Hodges says Olay developed the compound "palmitoyl pentapeptide-3." Strivectin-SD uses a similar complex known as "palmitoyl Oligopeptide."

Both companies claim increased collagen production & firmer, more youthful looking skin within four to 12 weeks.

"We don't claim it's better than a medical procedure - we claim that many women aren't ready [for an injection] so until they're ready, or if they never are ready, we're giving them a choice with a skin care technology you can use at home," says Hodges.

According to Strivectin - SD spokesman Dave Owen, when their ads pose the question, "Is this better than Botox," what they're really asking, he says, is: "Is this better than Botox for you?"

"We're just saying that if you're not ready for an injection, then the ingredients in our product can make a difference in how your skin looks - and it's the end result that counts," says Owen.

And, in fact, these products contain a lot more than just pentapeptides; they include vitamins and herbs with antiaging potential. And at least in the case of Strivectin-SD, the ingredient list was originally developed not for antiaging purposes, but for use as a stretch mark cream. Since stretch marks are the result of split and broken collagen fibers (this occurs when skin stretches rapidly as it does during pregnancy) their researchers theorized that a peptide involved in collagen production and wound healing might also help repair stretch-marked skin.

It wasn't long, however, before the company says women discovered on their own that the compound could also help build collagen reserves anywhere they're needed - including the tiny lines around the eyes, mouth and forehead. And the rest, they say is antiaging history.

Despite the homespun tales of success, without published medical studies the question still remains as to whether or not these pentapeptide compounds can really make the jump from wound healing inside the body to antiaging effects on top of the skin. According to Sumayah Jamal, MD, they probably can - but in a very small proportion.

"I think you'll get some activity with the creams, but not anywhere near what happens during wound healing, " says Jamal, an assistant professor of dermatology at the NYU School of Medicine in New York City.

Gordon remains dubious of the promises. "It is a big jump to say that what happens under the skin is the same thing that happens on top of the skin; I have not seen any conclusive evidence that this jump is possible," she says.

But that doesn't seem to stop the antiaging brigade. Still more attention has been recently focused on yet another entry in the antiaging category - a product known as "Wrinkle Relax." Also a cream, it combines two types of pentapeptide technology - palmitoyl pentapeptide and acetyl hexapeptide, also known as "argireline" - for a compound that may mimic both a collagen shot and a Botox injection simultaneously.

"Botox works by destroying a protein involved in the release of a neurotransmitter that would otherwise keep a muscle tense, allowing a wrinkle to form," Jamal tells WebMD. By stopping the tensing motion and relaxing the muscle, the wrinkle seems to disappear, she says.

The argireline complex attempts to mimic that same Botox action by blocking the action of the protein. It doesn't destroy the protein, like Botox does, says Jamal, but instead simply keeps it from connecting to the cell and turning on the muscle contraction. The palimtoyl peptide, meanwhile, works on producing more collagen. The end result, she says, may be similar to medical procedures, just much less dramatic.

"I think there's question of degree - you have to think of not only the effect, but the magnitude of the effect - plus whether or not any product has enough of the ingredients to actually bring about a change in your skin," Jamal advises.

Again, Gordon is less convinced. "Botox is a compound that clearly inhibits neurotransmitters - but you have to be very precise where you put it; isn't it a little frightening to think that you could get the same effect by smearing a cream all over your face? It really makes you wonder," she says.

Antiaging Skin Care: What to Choose

If you just can't wait until the jury decides, here's a sampling of what's available - and the active ingredients they contain.

• Regenerist by Olay. Key ingredient: palmitoyl pentapeptide-3. Price: $18.00 for 1.7 ounces.
• Strivectin-SD by Klein Becker. Key ingredient: oligopeptide palmitoyl. Price: $135 for 6 ounces.
  
• Principal Secret Reclaim Anti-Aging Night Cream. Key ingredient: argireline (acetyl hexapeptide-3). Price: $40 for 1 ounce.
• Wrinkle Control Intensely Lifting Eye Gel with Revolox. Key Ingredient: acetyl hexapeptide-3. Price: $19.99 for .5 ounce.
• Wrinkle Relax by Doctor's Dermatologic Formula. Key ingredients: acetyl hexapeptide-3, palimtoyl pentatpeptide-3. Price: $75 for .5 ounce.
• Anew Clinical Line & Wrinkle Corrector by Avon. Key Ingredients: powerful exfoliants that include apple root extract, saccharomyces/pichia petone (a yeast complex), pomegranate juice & oxa acid. Price: $32 for 1 ounce.
• Hydroderm. Key ingredient: marine-based collagen. Price: $79 for 1 ounce (a free trial size is available at www.hydroderm.com).

Botox injections cost approximately $400 each, take up to 3 weeks to see final results and must be repeated every 4 to 6 months. Collagen injections cost between $400 and $700 and depending on the formula may require 2 sensitivity tests before using. Results typically last 3 to 5 months but improvement can be seen immediately.

Published June 28, 2004.

Medically Updated July 31, 2006