Reply to Professor here -- curious to hear parents' perspective on this

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Even before Covid, I noticed an increase in serious mental health challenges among both undergrad and grad students in my classes and in the department as a whole. Based on conversations with colleagues, it seems to be occurring across the university. The university has some pretty good resources in place and the messaging from higher admin emphasizes supporting the students. But what I struggle with is maintaining standards. I have students who basically stop showing up to class, citing anxiety. They do not complete the work and do not do well on tests. In classes with papers instead of tests, they fail to turn the papers in. I have fairly generous makeup policies and let students drop their lowest test in the exam based courses. I try to use a variety of assessments so students' final grades do not depend on one or two very large assignments.

I reach out to the students who are not showing up and not turning in work and try to offer ways to help them get back on track. I also try to connect them to university mental health resources. But in many cases they either don't respond or want to try to make up work when it is way too late to turn things around. Even if I give them the opportunity to make up most of the work, it's just too much for them after getting so behind. Even giving a grade of Incomplete usually just delays the inevitable, as the challenges that were preventing the students from doing the work in the first place are often still in place a few months later. It just seems like a good proportion of these students would be better off withdrawing from courses rather than getting behind, feeling stressed about that, and still not ending up with a good grade in the end.

I personally think the biggest problem is that there is no good mechanism for students to recognize that college isn't working out at this time and to get their money back. The university doesn't allow a tuition refund unless the student drops quite early in the semester, before the student fully realizes they aren't keeping up. So the student feels like they have to stick with it because they have already paid for it, which I understand. It just feels like a problem with no real solution. I can't just pretend that my classes don't require any work for students experiencing mental health difficulties and give them a passing grade they haven't earned. I worry that the "it's ok not to be ok" messaging is leading some of them to believe it's ok to just stop communicating for weeks/months and that somehow it will all work out later. That is not reality in college nor is it the reality in the workplace.

Do you kids' universities have any effective solutions to this problem? I can't see my university changing their policy around tuition refunds but maybe some of us faculty need to start pushing for it somehow. [/quote]

High school teacher here.  I've noticed the same trends among students, but their parents also are different.

These kids have been shielded from failure for years.  There is no sense or urgency and not much personal responsibility because there is no failing in high school: if they don't turn something in or don't study sufficiently, the teachers give second chances or retakes.  If the student doesn't like the grade he/she earns and parents complain, admin will ensure that the teacher raises the grade.  And the parents see the teacher as the one responsible for the child's grades, not the child herself.  Everyone is intelligent and everyone should go to college, and if there are any struggles, accommodations and exceptions must be put into place.

Even ten years ago it was starting to change, but prior to that, things were much different.

This is the environment where your students were cooked and formed.  They are your customers and they assume you will provide the product (grades).  [/quote]

Thank you.  I struggle with how I feel about this, as I have a kid who has anxiety.  However, so many of these kids have never had to deal with the consequences of failure. High schools aren't doing these kids any favors in the long run. They've had no opportunity to learn how to be resilient. COVID certainly hasn't helped, as the strictures on attendance, timeliness and grades were loosened even further. My kid recently hit a bump in the road, and, in the end, it's going to have been a good learning experience; as much anxiety as it caused, DC learned that it wasn't the end of the world, and obstacles can be overcome.

I do think it is something that some (not all) private schools do better --- ramp up the requirements and standards early, so kids can stumble and fail when there are relatively few consequences. Now many kids are learning these lessons in college, or even in the work world, where the record of failure isn't as easy to erase (at a minimum, it's expensive, and not an expense that everyone can afford).

It sounds like OP is striking a balance between being supportive and empathetic and enabling a failure to deal with the root of the problem. Which is really all you can do.  It isn't helpful in the long run to allow these kids to get by without facing their issues and figure out how to overcome them.  [/quote]

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