The term “healthy schools” usually brings to mind the topic of Health and Wellness Centres with their attendant ministrations to our students as they arrive with various and sundry ailments. However, Patrick Bassett, President of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), takes a different view when he writes:
Schools are, like greenhouses, controlled environments that protect the life within them from noxious elements that could harm or dwarf growth. Schools are also highly nourishing environments that enable the young to grow deep and strong roots and healthy leaves. At the same time, students are pushed and challenged and offered controlled exposure to the outside world so that, as with greenhouse plants, once transplanted in the outside world, they will not only survive but flourish. This analogy sounds right to folks, confirming their intuitive belief about independent schools and reminding them of one of the main reasons why they choose independent schools — which, according to an NAIS survey, is because schools provide “a safe environment.” But we also need to acknowledge that noxious elements can breach the greenhouse door.
In the same Fall 2005 issue of Independent School, Wendy Mogel, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles, writes on the topic of “How Anxiety Harms Student Academic Performance.” Mogel identifies an increase in student anxiety and symptoms of stress as being one of the predominant mental health issues facing schools today, particularly at the secondary school level. “We face a paradox,” Mogel writes. “Our accelerated curriculum, heavy homework load and crowded line-up of extra-curriculars are actually sabotaging our children.” Mogel suggests that we should be considering school schedules, after-school activities of our students and the “political” pressures of the issue as they pertain to teacher, coach and parent expectations.
Not only do our students face pressures from the structure of our school programmes, but they are also subject to high performance expectations from their parents, who have made substantial investments in independent school education. Add to the mix the competition for limited places in competitive university programmes, or, competition for limited places in secondary programmes in some of our schools, the relentless pressure of the media on young people today and the normal peer pressure to participate in various activities and we wonder how our kids can still smile. Such is the resilience of youth!
I have participated in a number of committees and task forces examining the issue of “pace” during my career as a teacher and there does not seem to be an “easy” solution to this problem. I believe that we need to begin conversations in our schools around the topics of pace and balance. Each of our school’s cultures is unique, with stressors coming from different directions and, as a result, each school will need to re-assess its expectations of students from the perspective of the “whole child” we so often hear about.
I do not believe it is simply a matter of timetabling, but the solution path involves teaching time management skills and relaxation techniques, goal-setting, ensuring our kids get sufficient exposure to the outdoors and ensuring healthy sleep and dietary habits.
Perhaps the most important component of reducing stress and anxiety in our students is to put the topic on the table for discussion. It’s not just a matter for school leadership teams to wrestle with, but should involve conversations with teachers, coaches, directors of plays and musicals and parents.
Patrick Bassett speaks of schools being like greenhouses that nourish their students. Have you checked the environmental conditions in your greenhouse lately?
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