Reply to 8 student deaths so far this year at NC State

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "8 student deaths so far this year at NC State"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2023/02/13/8-students-have-died-nc-state-academic-year#.Y-uGmf9zTU0.link

What is happening? Our kids are hurting and this pressure is just too much! [/quote]

So what's changed in the past 20, 30, 40 years that makes suicide more common?[/quote]

Smartphones/social media.[/quote]

Combined with overly controlled/supervised childhoods in the years before we give them phones/social media. So they have a weak self-concept foundation before we throw them into that world. I think the "free range kids" message has it right. I definitely felt like the odd man out when we didn't push DD into doing activities when she was little. DS did a bunch because he wanted to try everything. DD just wanted to play, look for bugs, dig in the dirt, make up stories, etc. So we let her. And did occasional classes targeted to what she was interested in. We let her walk alone to the park one block over. We let DS bike around the neighborhood and soon his friends parents allowed it too. We prioritized playdates on the weekends instead of multiple sports. So, they actually had strong relationships with friends and a sense of themselves before they hit the teen years. We also listened to what they wanted in high school. DS really didn't do much in HS activities but had a couple hobbies he pursed at a level he wanted. He hasn't been a joiner in college either but is doing well and has a good group of friends.

They still got stressed about school but we were clear that there were lots of colleges they could go to, we cared only about what finding what fit them vs. making them fit some preconceived goal. They both have ADHD so I put my foot down and insisted on no more than 3 AP classes in junior year. That forced them to prioritize the areas of study they actually cared about. It's crazy to me that this is considered a light schedule.

A huge help is that DD on her own decided she didn't want to do social media and she has had a small, tight group of friends since ES. DS did do social media but now in college he recently told me he's decided he spends too much time on it and is trying to read more fiction instead.

DD does recognize that she's a bit outside some circles not doing Insta/Snap/TikTok but her BFFs are on them and let her know if there's something she should know. They have no issue with her quirky decision to be social-media-free. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics