To the Editor:
Re “Teen Anguish in the Pandemic,” by Emily Esfahani Smith (Sunday Review, May 9):
As clinicians and educators, we have witnessed the escalating rates of anxiety and depression among high-achieving youths. America’s decades-long trends of harsher competition, globalization, social media comparisons, endless striving on behalf of an uncertain future and scarce admissions to brand-name colleges have created a culture of fear and anxiety.
The resultant “all or nothing” thinking about the path to the “good life” leaves little room for youths to learn from mistakes while building resilience. Instead, a vicious feedback loop arises, equating an A-minus with failure.
Parents and youths must let go of unrealistic expectations. High-achieving schools and colleges must also reconsider their roles. They can modify their admissions, curriculums, and methods of teaching and evaluating student performance. Many educators are promoting resilience through social-emotional education, helping youths gain the skills to thrive.
Anthony L. Rostain
B. Janet Hibbs
The writers are the co-authors of “The Stressed Years of Their Lives: Helping Your Kid Survive and Thrive During Their College Years.” Dr. Rostain is chair of psychiatry and behavioral health at Cooper University Health Care. Dr. Hibbs is a family psychologist.
To the Editor:
Emily Esfahani Smith serves troubled teens from achievement-oriented backgrounds well by presenting recent research showing that intensification of academic-related anxiety is taking a serious toll on them. If, as Ms. Esfahani Smith recommends, parents can ease these teenagers’ anxiety by reminding them that their lives will not be decided by college admissions, and by encouraging them to achieve other life-fulfilling outcomes (happiness, health, love), there may be no better way for parents to do both than by suggesting their teenager take a gap year between high school and college.
Teenagers don’t just need to hear the broader perspectives from parents. To gain them, they need to live them, breaking away from the predetermined track by taking a year devoted to such pursuits, especially through service that engenders connectedness to others.
As a college professor and former teenager who left college because of academic-related anxiety, I have repeatedly seen how the young people who get the most out of college, personally and academically, are those who first take a year to develop themselves.
Paul Siegel
New York
To the Editor:
While I agree that parents can play a role in increasing their teenagers’ stress levels by overemphasizing grades and narrowly defining success, schools can play just as much of a role in increasing stress levels.
For example, many students today have access to their grades 24/7 because schools use platforms that allow students to check or calculate their grades at any time. As a parent of two teenagers, I have seen firsthand how this fuels their anxieties about their academic achievement.
Second, I’ve noticed that most assignments they submit are assessed with a numerical value. While I understand the need to assess at some point, I feel that assessing students daily with some form of a recorded “grade” is counterproductive. As my older daughter has aptly said, “There’s no time for learning.”
I feel that there are many parents, myself included, who do not emphasize grades and who do not narrowly define success. And yet, these parents’ teenagers are also struggling. A more mindful approach to administering and recording assessments could alleviate some stress for students, parents and teachers.
Amanda Knott Wiederhold
Beverly, Mass.
Source: Read Full Article
Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | How to Help Stressed-Out Teenagers
Opinion | How to Help Stressed-Out Teenagers
To the Editor:
Re “Teen Anguish in the Pandemic,” by Emily Esfahani Smith (Sunday Review, May 9):
As clinicians and educators, we have witnessed the escalating rates of anxiety and depression among high-achieving youths. America’s decades-long trends of harsher competition, globalization, social media comparisons, endless striving on behalf of an uncertain future and scarce admissions to brand-name colleges have created a culture of fear and anxiety.
The resultant “all or nothing” thinking about the path to the “good life” leaves little room for youths to learn from mistakes while building resilience. Instead, a vicious feedback loop arises, equating an A-minus with failure.
Parents and youths must let go of unrealistic expectations. High-achieving schools and colleges must also reconsider their roles. They can modify their admissions, curriculums, and methods of teaching and evaluating student performance. Many educators are promoting resilience through social-emotional education, helping youths gain the skills to thrive.
Anthony L. Rostain
B. Janet Hibbs
The writers are the co-authors of “The Stressed Years of Their Lives: Helping Your Kid Survive and Thrive During Their College Years.” Dr. Rostain is chair of psychiatry and behavioral health at Cooper University Health Care. Dr. Hibbs is a family psychologist.
To the Editor:
Emily Esfahani Smith serves troubled teens from achievement-oriented backgrounds well by presenting recent research showing that intensification of academic-related anxiety is taking a serious toll on them. If, as Ms. Esfahani Smith recommends, parents can ease these teenagers’ anxiety by reminding them that their lives will not be decided by college admissions, and by encouraging them to achieve other life-fulfilling outcomes (happiness, health, love), there may be no better way for parents to do both than by suggesting their teenager take a gap year between high school and college.
Teenagers don’t just need to hear the broader perspectives from parents. To gain them, they need to live them, breaking away from the predetermined track by taking a year devoted to such pursuits, especially through service that engenders connectedness to others.
As a college professor and former teenager who left college because of academic-related anxiety, I have repeatedly seen how the young people who get the most out of college, personally and academically, are those who first take a year to develop themselves.
Paul Siegel
New York
To the Editor:
While I agree that parents can play a role in increasing their teenagers’ stress levels by overemphasizing grades and narrowly defining success, schools can play just as much of a role in increasing stress levels.
For example, many students today have access to their grades 24/7 because schools use platforms that allow students to check or calculate their grades at any time. As a parent of two teenagers, I have seen firsthand how this fuels their anxieties about their academic achievement.
Second, I’ve noticed that most assignments they submit are assessed with a numerical value. While I understand the need to assess at some point, I feel that assessing students daily with some form of a recorded “grade” is counterproductive. As my older daughter has aptly said, “There’s no time for learning.”
I feel that there are many parents, myself included, who do not emphasize grades and who do not narrowly define success. And yet, these parents’ teenagers are also struggling. A more mindful approach to administering and recording assessments could alleviate some stress for students, parents and teachers.
Amanda Knott Wiederhold
Beverly, Mass.
Source: Read Full Article