Emotional needs of our students

[Anonymous]

A spinoff from the suicide thread.

Some questions that may help start this.

Our kids are students with lots of demands. How are they handling those demands?

Who should be helping them learn to manage this for themselves and when does it start?

Is FCPS really a pressure cooker across the board or is the world our kids growing up in that much harder regardless of where they attend?

[Anonymous]

It seems to me that teachers and schools now have all the responsibility and none of the authority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A spinoff from the suicide thread.

Some questions that may help start this.

Our kids are students with lots of demands. How are they handling those demands?

Who should be helping them learn to manage this for themselves and when does it start?

Is FCPS really a pressure cooker across the board or is the world our kids growing up in that much harder regardless of where they attend?

Getting rid of TJ and the message the existence of that school sends would be a good start.

[Anonymous]

Of course family should be the first line for creating a sense of worth and belonging in these kids, but what happens when the home is the source of intense pressure? These kids need a place to turn. If they turn to anyone it is more likely to be a peer than an adult. (teacher, parent). But some obviously feel they have no one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A spinoff from the suicide thread.

Some questions that may help start this.

Our kids are students with lots of demands. How are they handling those demands?

Who should be helping them learn to manage this for themselves and when does it start?

Is FCPS really a pressure cooker across the board or is the world our kids growing up in that much harder regardless of where they attend?

Getting rid of TJ and the message the existence of that school sends would be a good start.

While getting rid of TJ, get rid of UVA as well since you clearly do not want good educational institutions. Why stop there, get rid of all top public high schools in the area and the country as well. Happy now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems to me that teachers and schools now have all the responsibility and none of the authority.

Agree.

The schools can only do so much.

[Anonymous]

So throw up your mighty hands and walk away. Nice. Shut down unflattering discussion. Mission accomplished. And you pretend to care. Who do you think you're fooling? Certainly not your students, must you be told?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So throw up your mighty hands and walk away. Nice. Shut down unflattering discussion. Mission accomplished. And you pretend to care. Who do you think you're fooling? Certainly not your students, must you be told?

????
Your melodrama, both here and on the other thread, are so off-putting that no one wants to engage with you.

[Anonymous]

In 2004, I graduated from one of the top high schools in the country. There was a huge drug and alcohol problem that parents and teachers turned a blind eye to. What many parents don't realize is the amount of pressure they put on their children.

I had a brand new teacher my junior year of high school. We were discussing his grading in one class and he said something along the lines of "I give Cs for average work". The entire class went crazy. So the teacher continued and asked what happens if we get a B. Most kids said they got grounded or had privileges taken away.

We were expected to excel in sports and music while maintaining as many AP classes as possible and volunteering in our "spare time".

When college acceptance letters came out, it was massive competition amongst the parents with who kid got into what school.

Parents don't want to believe that they play a huge part in the pressure put on these kids. Instead, they make themselves believe it is all for their good and the future, but they never consider just how much these kids struggle with the here and now.

I lost 3 friends to suicide in my 4 years of high school. Not one parent believed their friends when we approached them about the incredible stress they were under and how we saw it changing them.

[Anonymous]

Some parents build their identities through the children's accomplishments. Some parents don't want their children in general ed. classes because they don't want their kids with social misfits or kids who aren't driven and could take the edge off their own kids' drive.

We have turned parenting into its own career and we've opened it up to the scrutiny of others. And the criteria for a successful assessment from society is a child in an accelerated academic program/school/career. It's sick.

[Anonymous]

It's not just the parents or just the school staff.
It's *both*. Hightime to re-evaluate our priorities and stop glorifying the craziness. As PP said, it's indeed "sick".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So throw up your mighty hands and walk away. Nice. Shut down unflattering discussion. Mission accomplished. And you pretend to care. Who do you think you're fooling? Certainly not your students, must you be told?

I am not a teacher.

I am a parent.

It starts at home. Then with friends.

By the time they get to high school the foundation has been built.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So throw up your mighty hands and walk away. Nice. Shut down unflattering discussion. Mission accomplished. And you pretend to care. Who do you think you're fooling? Certainly not your students, must you be told?

????
Your melodrama, both here and on the other thread, are so off-putting that no one wants to engage with you.

Frankly, I do. Sometimes I think there are just a ton of bliss-ninnies on this board who get all up in arms when the hard stuff is brought up. We don't mind if you want to live in la-la-land and leave the tough work others; insisting we be bliss-ninnies with you? No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 2004, I graduated from one of the top high schools in the country. There was a huge drug and alcohol problem that parents and teachers turned a blind eye to. What many parents don't realize is the amount of pressure they put on their children.

I had a brand new teacher my junior year of high school. We were discussing his grading in one class and he said something along the lines of "I give Cs for average work". The entire class went crazy. So the teacher continued and asked what happens if we get a B. Most kids said they got grounded or had privileges taken away.

We were expected to excel in sports and music while maintaining as many AP classes as possible and volunteering in our "spare time".

When college acceptance letters came out, it was massive competition amongst the parents with who kid got into what school.

Parents don't want to believe that they play a huge part in the pressure put on these kids. Instead, they make themselves believe it is all for their good and the future, but they never consider just how much these kids struggle with the here and now.

I lost 3 friends to suicide in my 4 years of high school. Not one parent believed their friends when we approached them about the incredible stress they were under and how we saw it changing them.

This is what I hear from kids as well. So what happens when a school administration isn't strong enough to tell the parents to back off, is the kids are worse-off. Add to that, the fact the schools want to keep their ranking so they raise the bar continuously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So throw up your mighty hands and walk away. Nice. Shut down unflattering discussion. Mission accomplished. And you pretend to care. Who do you think you're fooling? Certainly not your students, must you be told?

I am not a teacher.

I am a parent.

It starts at home. Then with friends.

By the time they get to high school the foundation has been built.

At which school are you a parent?