Wickliffe Elementary School Thought Ramblings

Chances are, you don’t. Who doesn’t feel rushed these days? And this is not a new thing. Over 20 years ago I was a teacher in UA when David Elkind, a nationally recognized child development expert and author of The Hurried Child: Growing Up Too Fast and Too Soon, was brought in to speak to the community about the problem of rushing children. Looking back, I don’t think his talk has had much of an effect. In fact, twenty years later, I suspect Dr. Elkind could write another book and call it The Overscheduled Adult.

And all of this rushing around in our lives has resulted in one thing that physicians say are at the root of the majority of medical maladies for adults and children...stress.

Last month, the BBC reported on a study done by the United Nation’s children’s organization (UNICEF). It rated children’s “well-being” in the top industrialized nations. Well-being was defined as a broad set of measures that included things like; poverty, health care, relationships with other children and adults, etc. The Netherlands and Sweden came out as highest (#1 and #2) “child-friendly” nations while the United States and the United Kingdom were at the bottom (#20 and #21 respectively).

This report led the BBC to ask: “so why are Dutch children so happy and British children under so much stress?” In England, Primary Review Director Professor Robin Alexander said that the British children in the study continuously talked about the stress of government tests. He also pointed out that excessive consumerism, materialism and self-absorption in our society today also accounted for children’s increased stress levels.

All of these recent findings are resulting in what I’m calling the “erosion of childhood.” Too much, too soon. Just like good old Dr. Elkind warned us years ago.

Last month I saw a story in The New York Times about a high school principal in a well-to-do suburb in Massachusetts who has seen enough. He was extremely worried from seeing high school students under such severe academic stress that he has organized a schoolwide stress reduction plan which included no longer publishing the academic honor roll. He also put together a Stress Reduction Committee which included students like Josh who is captain of varsity tennis, president of the Spanish club and a member of the student council. Oh, by the way, Josh couldn’t make the Stress Reduction Committee because he was too busy.

What surprised me about all of the consequences of the principal’s actions was not that he had been ridiculed by Rush Limbaugh for “coddling students”. Nor did the hate mail that he received from all over the nation shock me (too much). What surprised me was that this strong stance against increased stress in children's lives was such an unusual happening that it was considered by the nation’s largest newspaper organization to be an important story. Something seems wrong when the shocking news is that a concerned educational leader is trying to help children get off the “hamster wheel” that so many of us adults are contributing to at school and home. We’re not talking about an absence of stress -- actually, stress is part of learning. But experiencing too much of it results in losing learning and even losing living now. How many of us have said, “oh, once I get that work done, then I’ll be able to enjoy my...(life, family, hobby, etc.).

The bottom line is academic stress is real ... and sometimes schools make it worse. For example, eliminating recess has become commonplace throughout the nation in order to capture more academic time. This of course backfires because with the elimination of recess children miss important social learning time and a vital physical outlet for stress build up. Parents also can add to the problem. One way parents have done this is to go overboard in the other direction and try to “rescue” their child from the natural or logical consequences of their behavior and/or by convincing their child that they are in fact the center of the universe. Of course, the reality is that our culture is saturated with a multitude of things that contribute to the culture of stress in our children's lives.

So what to do? Or should we do anything about our “collective culture” of stress? You might not even agree with this point of view (which is fine because Thought Ramblings is supposed to provoke thoughts). But if you do agree, and you have some effective strategies for helping children (and adults) manage the “rush”, stress, and sometimes “the rush of stress”, please send me a note or e-mail. If I get enough responses, I’ll report them back...and hopefully you’ll have time to read them.

Here’s an idea... Would you be interested in meeting with me and others to talk about this and perhaps other issues in Thought Ramblings? If so, please e-mail me or return this note below.

fburton@uaschools.org

____ Yes, I would like to be invited to any Thought Rambling Book Club topics in the future.

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