Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, advice from DCUM for BASIS parents is to watch your children like a hawk so that they don't go into a depressive spiral, and even if they aren't spiraling in a way you can tell, they are probably just holding it in until they crack and wither under the pressure

Feel free to post sarcastic responses. Nevertheless, my BASIS student has reported multiple instances of suicidal ideation among classmates in the past year.

Is it the age, or is it the environment?

These kids are not seriously thinking about committing suicide, you are all overreacting incredibly.

I really hope that if your child tries to engage you on this topic, you will keep an open mind and a closed mouth until you figure out the key issues - does your child have a plan etc............

When you son at BASIS talks about walking out onto a highway so that he can be hit by a car, come back and talk to me seriously.....

I don't see how homework and a high course load causes thoughts of suicide. Depression, maybe, but not suicide.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, advice from DCUM for BASIS parents is to watch your children like a hawk so that they don't go into a depressive spiral, and even if they aren't spiraling in a way you can tell, they are probably just holding it in until they crack and wither under the pressure

Feel free to post sarcastic responses. Nevertheless, my BASIS student has reported multiple instances of suicidal ideation among classmates in the past year.

Is it the age, or is it the environment?

These kids are not seriously thinking about committing suicide, you are all overreacting incredibly.

I really hope that if your child tries to engage you on this topic, you will keep an open mind and a closed mouth until you figure out the key issues - does your child have a plan etc............

When you son at BASIS talks about walking out onto a highway so that he can be hit by a car, come back and talk to me seriously.....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, advice from DCUM for BASIS parents is to watch your children like a hawk so that they don't go into a depressive spiral, and even if they aren't spiraling in a way you can tell, they are probably just holding it in until they crack and wither under the pressure

Feel free to post sarcastic responses. Nevertheless, my BASIS student has reported multiple instances of suicidal ideation among classmates in the past year.

Is it the age, or is it the environment?

These kids are not seriously thinking about committing suicide, you are all overreacting incredibly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, advice from DCUM for BASIS parents is to watch your children like a hawk so that they don't go into a depressive spiral, and even if they aren't spiraling in a way you can tell, they are probably just holding it in until they crack and wither under the pressure

Feel free to post sarcastic responses. Nevertheless, my BASIS student has reported multiple instances of suicidal ideation among classmates in the past year.

Is it the age, or is it the environment?

My child is at Latin, and I think the suicidal ideation is the age of the kids. He has three friends who talk about how awful their very nice upper middle class lives are. One of them mentioned suicide and my child immediately told a teacher. My son himself will sometimes complain about the stress, but he only does 30 minutes of homework a night. I partly think if he worked harder he'd feel less stressed. I partly think being 12 is funky emotionally. My nephew goes to an average public high school in middle America and complains about stress too.

PP - I certainly hope you shared what your child told you with the school counselor.

Anonymous wrote:No, advice from DCUM for BASIS parents is to watch your children like a hawk so that they don't go into a depressive spiral, and even if they aren't spiraling in a way you can tell, they are probably just holding it in until they crack and wither under the pressure

Feel free to post sarcastic responses. Nevertheless, my BASIS student has reported multiple instances of suicidal ideation among classmates in the past year.

Is it the age, or is it the environment?

No, advice from DCUM for BASIS parents is to watch your children like a hawk so that they don't go into a depressive spiral, and even if they aren't spiraling in a way you can tell, they are probably just holding it in until they crack and wither under the pressure

Advice

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it assumed that the only kids who stay for more than a few years have their spirits crushed? Some kids were crushed by boredom and bullying in their IB DCPS and are happy and thriving after 4 years of BASIS.

Different strokes for different folks, but it IS offensive for parents to be told that keeping their child at BASIS (which the child wants to do) is damaging to their child's emotional state, just as some may be offended that it is assumed that their child wasn't smart enough to stay.

That's not what was posted, PP. Instead, the post read

Listen to your children and do the right thing for them as individuals.

If your child loves BASIS, you should absolutely stay and benefit from the accelerated (and free) education.

If your child's enthusiasm for BASIS starts to wane, however, you should consider alternatives. Our kids have reported on several occasions having classmates who hate attending BASIS but whose parents won't let them transfer out.

Wouldn't this advise apply to any child in any school?

+100

Anonymous wrote:Why is it assumed that the only kids who stay for more than a few years have their spirits crushed? Some kids were crushed by boredom and bullying in their IB DCPS and are happy and thriving after 4 years of BASIS.

Different strokes for different folks, but it IS offensive for parents to be told that keeping their child at BASIS (which the child wants to do) is damaging to their child's emotional state, just as some may be offended that it is assumed that their child wasn't smart enough to stay.

That's not what was posted, PP. Instead, the post read

Listen to your children and do the right thing for them as individuals.

If your child loves BASIS, you should absolutely stay and benefit from the accelerated (and free) education.

If your child's enthusiasm for BASIS starts to wane, however, you should consider alternatives. Our kids have reported on several occasions having classmates who hate attending BASIS but whose parents won't let them transfer out.

Why is it assumed that the only kids who stay for more than a few years have their spirits crushed? Some kids were crushed by boredom and bullying in their IB DCPS and are happy and thriving after 4 years of BASIS.

Different strokes for different folks, but it IS offensive for parents to be told that keeping their child at BASIS (which the child wants to do) is damaging to their child's emotional state, just as some may be offended that it is assumed that their child wasn't smart enough to stay.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do, because our future BASIS seniors will be competing with plenty of Boston Latin students, and their high octane urban public school ilk around the country, when applying to college. I hear DC parents of academic high fliers in public school claim that we will able to play the elite college admissions game on our own terms. This is because our public school system is unusually troubled, and our kids are way ahead of the pack. I doubt it.

I wish that BASIS were much less interested in weeding kids out, but then my kid is bright and hard-working and I'm hard up for a public middle school, so I take what I can get.

My kid is bright and hard working and loved learning and school, then he spent a few years at Basis. Notice how I said loved...not leaving the building in 3 years combined with the copious amounts of homework helped to kill our child's enthusiasm. Now we are are working to mitigate the damage. In theory, I support their model of education. However, the devil in the details and I find the execution lacking.

ditto. The assumption that ultimately only the 25 kids who graduate could cut it is ridiculous. The reality is that many of the kids who are cutting it don't want to. So a lot of the high fliers leave as well, and as more and more friends leave, and you end up with a bunch of nasty competitive kids left, the healthiest thing to do in high school may be to leave.

Listen to your children and do the right thing for them as individuals. Who cares if they ultimately get 25 kids into college and some into great colleges. Think about all the spirits they crushed to get there, including some of the graduates who will be going from BASIS to Harvard.

Anonymous wrote:I do, because our future BASIS seniors will be competing with plenty of Boston Latin students, and their high octane urban public school ilk around the country, when applying to college. I hear DC parents of academic high fliers in public school claim that we will able to play the elite college admissions game on our own terms. This is because our public school system is unusually troubled, and our kids are way ahead of the pack. I doubt it.

I wish that BASIS were much less interested in weeding kids out, but then my kid is bright and hard-working and I'm hard up for a public middle school, so I take what I can get.

My kid is bright and hard working and loved learning and school, then he spent a few years at Basis. Notice how I said loved...not leaving the building in 3 years combined with the copious amounts of homework helped to kill our child's enthusiasm. Now we are are working to mitigate the damage. In theory, I support their model of education. However, the devil in the details and I find the execution lacking.

I do, because our future BASIS seniors will be competing with plenty of Boston Latin students, and their high octane urban public school ilk around the country, when applying to college. I hear DC parents of academic high fliers in public school claim that we will able to play the elite college admissions game on our own terms. This is because our public school system is unusually troubled, and our kids are way ahead of the pack. I doubt it.

I wish that BASIS were much less interested in weeding kids out, but then my kid is bright and hard-working and I'm hard up for a public middle school, so I take what I can get.