High School Stress Reduction

If you're the parent of a stressed out high school student, or if you are a stressed out high school student then you may be interested in this New York Times article about a high school that is implementing stress-reduction programs for all of its students.

From the article:

"Mr. Richards is just one principal in the vanguard of a movement to push back against an ethos of super-achievement at affluent suburban high schools amid the extreme competition over college admissions."

Sound familiar? These schools are responding to problems like:

• cheating
• alcohol & drug use
• depression
  
• suicide

“One of our big goals is to try to help students become more resilient,” Mr. Richards said. He wants to help students learn to cope better with the inevitable setbacks, he said, “so they don’t fall apart if they get a B-minus.”

Some of the changes schools like these are implementing:

• stop publishing the honor roll in the local newspaper
• relaxation consultants
• mandatory yoga classes
• homework-free weekends and holidays
• requiring students to get parental permission before enrolling in Advanced Placement classes
  
• experimenting with later start times so students can get more sleep