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[quote=Anonymous]I am concerned about something that I know I cannot bring up in the AEM forum because I would be attacked relentlessly. But it's a very real thing, I think.

APS has built into its curriculum units on teaching empathy and about mental health. But I am really concerned that however well intentioned, some of these lessons are giving ideas to impressionable young teenagers.

Cases in point:

-- Frequently touted surveys that show kids in the middle schools are feeling highly anxious to the point of having trouble functioning. This may actually be true, but it may also be true that this "anxiety" is merely stress. Mislabeling it anxiety or having the kids think its anxiety leads to kids who are already trying on various identities as teenagers deciding they're anxious/depressed whatever as if it's a status thing. It's hard to separate the legitimate cases from those that are something else (or nothing at all). My own kid announced she was anxious but then what I figured out after listening to her (and sending her to a therapist at her request) was no, she's not anxious at all (farthest thing from it, actually), just merely under stress due to pressure to get good grades, practice her music and do her chores. But she was literally telling us because she has anxiety we need to drop these expectations.

-- A friend's child was assigned the topic of "self-harm" for a health class and English project. Child had never heard of self-harm before. You want to guess what happened? Child experimented with self-harm and then went in and told the counselor that she had tried (very superficially) to cut herself. She isn't actually experiencing mentally ill -- I think she wanted to see a reaction first-hand. Anyway it seems to be an isolated incident, but you'd better believe the school put this idea into her head.

-- We also had a phase where a whole bunch of kids decided they were gay/trans/pan sexual after a steady stream of messages about sexual identity. I realize saying this will be controversial, but it's true -- there was some power of suggestion here. All I know is in my middle school no one walked around talking earnestly and constantly about their sexual identity. Those conversations happened later -- high school or college.

Is this worth having a broader policy discussion about? Because I do understand the value in teaching kids to empathize, but I'm not sure we fully appreciate the risks, particularly with lessons dealing with issues like self-harm, anorexia, drug use, etc.

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