We have a lot of troubled kids. As of 2016, approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. For children aged 8–15, the estimate is 13%. HERE. Schools should be on the front line to assist children and adolescents with mental health difficulties. But […]
High School College: High School Hell!
Freshmen are told on one hand not to worry about college, then given an early version of a college entrance exam three weeks into their first year of high school. ~Chicago Tribune Nov.13, 2017 Like kindergartners pushed to be first graders, high school is the new college. Teens are more anxious than ever. Depression and […]
Brain-Based Learning: Pushing Children to Learn Faster—Why?
There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. ~ Erma Bombeck (1927-1996), American author and humorist. Brain-based learning promotes the idea that children learn faster if they are taught differently. But why push children to learn faster than ever before? Why turn children into adults before they […]
Student Socialization in Public Schools
Socialization you could say is how a child interacts with their peers. There are many definitions, but in school, socialization mostly involves how children play and get along with each other. We think of recess when considering socialization. We wonder how much socialization children miss when they don’t get recess. Public schools can go a […]
States Lacking Mental Health Services for Kids–And Some Glimmers of Hope
Marcie Lipsitt is a special education activist for children in Michigan, and she sent out a report about the serious loss of services there for children with mental health problems. It’s entitled, “In crisis, mentally ill children forced to wait days or weeks for hospital beds,” and includes the plight of a parent who has […]
Robin Williams and Lessons to Be Learned About Kids with Mental Illness in Public Schools
I have been reminded that Robin Williams died of a particularly severe neurological disease called Lewy Body Dementia. This is not a psychiatric disorder, so it is incorrect to associate Williams to mental illness. Unfortunately, this is an older post and the title is stuck. Still, the information about schools and mental illness I hope […]