Our latest author, Melissa Kyhn, had this to say about her photo: "The picture was taken when I was 2 and my brother was 4. It is one ofthe many pictures that my Oma and Opa had taken of us when we were
younger. As you can see I had finally grown some hair!" You'll be happy to know that Melissa STILL has hair, and she has grown into quite a writer in the meantime...I think you'll agree when you read her work here.
She wrote:
In chapter nine Elkind addresses how children react to stress. Elkind writes that children might react to stress with free-floating anxiety, which includes a sense of unrest, having a low mood, and physical ailments that are stress related. Free floating anxiety is most commonly associated with the divorce or separation of parents and is the reason why I experienced free floating anxiety as a child. When I read Elkind’s words, I thought, “That’s me.” I was only three years old when my parents divorced and while I don’t remember a whole lot from around that age, I remember quite a bit of anxiety during my middle school years.
I grew up being shuffled from house to house. My mom would take me to school, my step mom would pick me up from school, and my mom would pick me up after she got off of work. If all of that wasn’t enough, every Wednesday night and every other weekend was spent at my dad’s house. I remember feeling a lot of anxiety as a child. I had to remember to pack my blankie and stuffed lamb in my backpack or else I wouldn’t have them to sleep with at my dad’s house. I always worried about my blankie and lamb being in my backpack at school. My school would have frequent fire drills, which I thought were real fires. I would stand outside of the school with the rest of my classmates and I would freak out, worrying that my prized possessions were going to burn up in my classroom.
The stress reaction that I feel is the most important is school burnout. Elkind described school burnout as occurring when students are excited about school at first, and then they eventually become dissatisfied because of failure or other reasons. In some cases this burnout causes the student to hit a point where they feel done, and they will in some cases be kicked out of school for their actions or they will drop out of school. School burnout made complete sense to me. There have been times when I have been stressed out and thought that I couldn’t finish college.
Students are being taught things like algebra earlier and earlier in school, so I can completely understand that they would feel inadequate and feel like giving up because they didn’t get something that was being taught to them. To me, school burnout is the most serious reaction to stress. School dropouts are at a huge risk of poverty because most students that drop out, never go back to school.
I think it is our job to watch out for these kinds of reactions to stress and try to help children cope in better ways. While reading this chapter, I found myself wondering what is in store for the future of children in our society. It seems like year after year children have more and more stress, and the stress that they have often starts at such a young age. My big question after reading this chapter is that, if this is how children are reacting to stress now and the stresses seem to be getting more extreme, what kind of reactions are children going to have ten years from now?
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteFirst, I would like to compliment you on the picture you submitted; you appear to be very happy and stress-free! I was touched by your story of how you took your prized possessions to school with you, and the fear you felt when your lamb and blankie were left behind. I remember having an attachment as well, to a pillow, and I would have been devastated if I were in your shoes.
The discussion of school stress causing burnouts and dropping out couldn’t have come at a better time in the semester. It wasn’t more than two weeks ago when I was contemplating throwing in the towel. Thankfully, I have stuck with the program and pushed through the crunch time, but nonetheless, I understand the felling.
The question you presented at the end of your entry is valid. Thankfully, we are in classes that offer the materials to open our eyes to these issues. As you have mentioned, we as future teachers need to help the children cope with the stressors. It is our responsibility to not only prepare them academically, but help them become well rounded people that will thrive in this world.
Best of wishes for a stress-free remainder of the semester,
Brittany Slaven
First of all Melissa, I am so sad for you! I’m sorry that you were always so upset during fire drills. That made me so sad to read! It makes me think twice about the fire drills we do at the preschool I work at. Speaking of preschool, stress is very evident in children. Parents do not know how much stress they put on their children, whether they mean to or not. I have one student that has been in my class for three years; a three year old class, a four year old class, and a five year old class. In the three year old class, he was completely potty trained. Out of nowhere, he started wetting his pants. It was right after his mom gave birth to his baby sister. In the four year old class, he started wetting his pants again when his mom went back to work. This year, in the five year old class, he started wetting his pants again because his dad lost his job. Of course, all of these factors have nothing to do directly with this little boy. Indirectly, they cause a lot of stress. You made many excellent points, and once again, I’m sorry about your stress during fire drills!
ReplyDeleteShannon Nash
We've actually had many sit downs about this topic and our fear of graduating! We are so desperate to pass our classes with good grades that the thought of not passing with a suitable grade is worrisome. I've already shared this story with you, but I’m going to share it here with everyone because it's the worst burnout I felt as a child. I feel it less in college because I know I'm striving to better myself for me, not for my parents.
ReplyDeleteI remember junior and senior year experience and having bad burnout. As a young girl, when I felt too much pressure, I would have a vigorous panic attack that ended with passing out. My parents were breathing down my neck junior year because I didn’t want to take honors or AP classes because I felt they created too much pressure. This is the time when teachers and counselors stress the SAT or ACT for college. My parents pushed and pushed, and I told them I didn’t want to do it, and would take the required classes in college. To my surprise, they went to the school and spoke to the counselor to put me in honors classes. So my junior year, I was enrolled in Honors Biology and Honors American History. I hated biology and history with a passion; I hated them so much that I could create a hate club for them. So of course, on the first exam in Biology, I passed out due to my panic attack brought on by fear. I had the biggest fear of failing in academics because that’s what my parents made me strive for. I didn’t want to know the results if I didn’t meet those requirements. So, the school counselor pulled me out of class after the 3rd faint in class and asked what was happening. I was scared to talk at first because I thought my parents would be mad. Then I finally spoke, and they transferred me into a regular biology and history class. My parents weren’t as mad as I thought they would be, and supported me throughout the remainder of the year. Elkind make a good point on this topic, and makes me wonder how many more children now, are walking in my shoes of the past.
-Iyare Isibor