Seven Hills Parent Lecture Series
Denise Pope
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students
Dr. Pope reported on her own in-depth study of high school students, teachers and administrators on the alarming reality of students’ lack of learning, creativity and poor health as a result of cultural pressure to succeed.
She cited statistics from a recent large Stanford survey of 9000 adolescents in schools across the country which showed that middle and high school students are spending so much time on homework and extra-curricular activities that it negatively affects how much sleep they get, which in turn leads to deterioration of and/or poor development of mental and physical health. The study also documented that student exhaustion leads to widespread cheating. Only five percent of 11-12 graders do not cheat. Only ten percent of 7-8 graders do not cheat.
The Challenge Success Center at Stanford works with schools and individuals to help develop strategies to remediate problems such as cheating, sleep deprivation, and over-scheduling. Dr. Pope stressed the importance of three necessities for healthy child development: Play time, Down time and Family time, (PDF).
Play is younger children’s job, and it is essential for every human’s health. Parents should make sure they preserve chunks of unstructured time during the week for their child.
Down time is also crucial, and enables children to get ready for the next task. Permit your child time to chill, rest and rejuvenate. Parents should make a space in the day for their children to have self-directed relaxation (reading, music, etc). Moderate doses of screen time are also good, as long as it is not violent screen time --30 minutes to an hour is appropriate.
Family time helps develop a protective factor in your child’s life. Avoid over scheduling so you can enjoy twenty minutes, five times a week together as a family. These times should be "unplugged" time together, when you develop family traditions and rituals that help you communicate with, enjoy and support each other.
Parents can visit the Challenge Success website at www.challengesuccess.org and click on the "Parents" section. The "Research" and "Resources" sections of the parents portion of the site contains valuable links to research and additional information on school and homework, physical and mental health, extracurricular activities, media, etc.
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