Pressure to succeed

I couldn't help but be struck by the latest Asian editions of Time and Newsweek magazines, which both tackled stories on education. Time's Liam Fitzpatrick asks "Are We Pushing Our Kids Too Hard?" while over at Newsweek, Emily Flynn Vencat wonders, "Is Rampant Cheating Undermining Our Schools?"

Anyone else see a connection?

Back at the high school where I taught, one of the toughest issues was overscheduling and pressure. Kids literally would take classes every period of the day (we had nine 40-minute class periods) -- skipping lunch and avoiding study periods if at all possible. Their goal? To take as many high-level and AP classes as possible so that they'd shine above other students who took "just a regular load" of classes. A recipe for disaster? Definitely! (That's why, as part of its strategic planning process, the school is implementing nine new action plans to "encourage a healthy, balanced life.")

Obviously, pressure to be an "uber-student" can push kids over the ethical edge into cheating. The numbers are shocking, according to Newsweek:

"In a huge study of 50,000 college and 18,000 high-school students in the United States by Duke University's Center for Academic Integrity, more than 70 percent admitted to having cheated. That's up from about 56 percent in 1993 and just 26 percent in 1963. "

Are over-scheduling and cheating big problems at JIS? My gut tells me no. The students I know seem pretty even-keeled about school. JIS does a great job of supporting activities outside of school like sports and clubs, and its increasing emphasis on social service helps kids see that there's life outside the priviledged walls of academia.

But for schools (and parents!) it's always wise to be aware of the issues -- and of the pressures that our kids face. Tonight I'm going to ask my middle-schooler how she's doing in school, and I'm going to just sit back and listen. (That's hard to do! I'm usually so full of "good advice"!)

Hope your break is going well....