Stressing

As I was doing some research for a Twitter chat that I will be hosting for schools in the Philippines tomorrow, much of the research that I found...I think I didn't want to have confirmed.

The chat is about the stress that our students are currently under.  The amount of stress proposed by all studies is more than anyone should ever have to go through.  It is certainly a wonder that our students have any brain space at all in which to call on to allow them to learn.

One article starts by explaining that our students are getting less sleep than other generations.  The blame falls on such things as video games, screen time, communication with friends...and then goes on to household expectations, babysitting, and taking on adult roles due to family economic stressors.

Another study shows that the amount of students walking around with diagnosed or undiagnosed depression, anxiety, and panic disorder is at an all time high due to societal pressures. This changes hormones in our students which can affect everything from acne to mood swings.

One logical stressor affecting our students today is their teachers.  What I mean by this is when their teachers are stressed due to higher demands on them such as growth in data and pushing more curriculum onto their students, it directly impacts the stress levels of the students.  Our students mirror our affect and anxiety.  Our moods directly impact our students and then, due to teacher frustration, causes teachers to become angered, which in turn...becomes a vicious cycle.

Finally, the old standard teen stressor-fitting in is as alive and well as it has ever been.  Students are trying to find themselves and fit into more categories of what they consider normal than every before.  As our world becomes more comfortable with fluid sexuality, our students are often lost in trying to fit into this world as well, or at least in trying to assure themselves who and what they are at any given moment.

We must be aware of these stressors as teachers.  To help our students...our whole students.  Not only as students needing to be educated, but as people that are walking on a tightrope that feels as though they have no safety net.

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites