Work with primary school-aged children in a socially disadvantaged area led to an interest in the factors which determined resilience in children. An extensive literature review aimed to identify behaviours characteristic of resilient children, and to isolate from those behaviours some which might be taught to vulnerable children. The critical elements from this review seemed to be coping skills, problem solving skills, social skills, emotional regulation skills, mastery and empathy. Two programs were developed to teach vulnerable children to behave more like resilient ones. 'Good Kids' focussed on emotion regulation skills, and taught children how to identify their emotions, how to recognize what caused various emotions, and ways of coping with a range of emotional states. 'Better Kids' focussed on skills for problem solving, managing interpersonal problems, and 'mind-reading'. Mind-reading was developed from the theory of mind literature and the principles of nonverbal communication. There was no formal selection process carried out, and any children seen to be 'doing it hard' were accepted into programs as long as places were available. In practice, this meant children were referred who were acting out or who appeared to have an internalizing disorder. Most of the acting out children were boys, and most of the internalizing children were girls. Behavioural data on the children were collected from teachers and parents prior to commencement of the programs, and repeated at their conclusion. Children in the program also completed questionnaires on their behaviours, moods and attitudes at the beginning and end of the programs. De-identified data were analysed after the programs were completed. All children made measurable behavioural gains, but a gender/program interaction was seen such that boys (or acting out children) made greater gains on the 'Good Kids' program, while girls (or children with internalizing disorders) made greater gains on the 'Better Kids' program.