Feature Posts
Gen Z is falling short of who we were destined to become
I think for most members of my generation — the illustrious Gen Z crowd — it is a relatively common phenomenon to have a parent or other older adult turn and look at you, pleading with you to “save the world” or “be the change.” As an individual who is planning to attend law…
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American kids are overmedicated
America is a lot of things: a global leader in innovation, an arms dealer, a centuries-old democracy, an abuser of human rights (sometimes). We are also a pharmacy, and if you are a toddler showing mild signs of hyperactivity, boy do we have the product for you. Meet the “focus pill.” Focus pills are stimulants intended to address attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder.…
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We are losing ourselves to the internet
Princeton’s role in combating the drug crisis must start on campus
Drug addiction is a public health crisis in the United States. Total overdose deaths have increased in the United States over the last two decades across all demographic groups, with about 17 percent of Americans battling a substance use disorder in the past year. These alarming statistics show just how large of a problem drug dependency has become, but there’s…
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Our apps can’t dictate our politics
The rise of technology is affecting our relationships with the people in charge. At the moment, there is arguably no form of media more important than social media — for many cultural, social, and political reasons. It might even be labeled “technofeudalism,” where we essentially “rent” little plots of space from each platform, whether…
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Growing Tomorrow’s Leaders Today: A Conversation with Joyce Cooper-Kahn
Introduction: Why Executive Functioning Matters When I interviewed Joyce Cooper-Kahn about the new edition of her book, “Late, Lost, and Unprepared: A Parents’ Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning,” she modestly credited many of her insights as a child psychologist to what she’d learned from working with her clients. One example she offered was particularly…
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Education and the brain: On grace and development
For Coach Tommy Jones January is cold for baseball, but at this preseason practice, the team sitting, backs against the left field fence in front of our home dugout, I was as warm and shamefaced as I could be. Coach Tommy Jones, as he did before every practice, told us a story about life…
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The calculus of Blackness
Who has jurisdiction over Blackness? Who gets to determine who is and isn’t Black, and why? And what is it based on? Is it phenotype — complexion, hair texture, lips, eyes, your nose? Is it who you hang out with? Is it how you dress, or where you went to school? Is it where…
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3 Helpful Scripts for Teachers with Anxious, Perfectionist Students
After “the craziest admissions season ever” last year, and as we head into what will surely be another highly competitive cycle, high school students are understandably increasingly anxious about their academics. I’ve witnessed this firsthand during my years teaching high school and middle school—seeing students vibrating from the stress and barely holding it together,…
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This is an article about suicide
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] I suppose that is a trigger warning, yet I don’t like the term…
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Princeton, it’s time to implement media literacy training
“Seek the truth by asking your own questions and coming to your own conclusions.” Under the gothic arches of the University Chapel in his 2011 Baccalaureate speech, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg defined a struggle that has plagued our generation: the exponential rise of online disinformation, which has consistently challenged democracies and hindered…
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Curiosity Did Not Kill the Cat
“Curiosity killed the cat.” Among the world’s most foolish aphorisms, this one stands out. It is quite likely that the lack of curiosity is more likely a fatal condition for cats . . . and humans. Yet another lousy OpEd on education graced – or disgraced – the pages of the New York Times…
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There is no such thing as the perfect victim
The fallout of the film It Ends with Us has been nothing short of messy. Star Blake Lively faced widespread criticism after marketing the film, a story about domestic violence, as a hot pink, flower-power version of feminism. Her use of the press tour as a way to market her haircare line and her husband’s involvement…
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What to do when the world is crumbling
Health & Well-Being: Reframing the Anxiety Conversation
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] Like many schools across the country, University School of Milwaukee (WI) has seen…
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Reality(?) TV
I have a guilty pleasure. I watch reality television. I know, I know…and the only thing I can say in my defense is that until recently, I almost exclusively limited myself to cooking shows with a strong preference for ones where the contestants were kind to one another (think early seasons of The Great…
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“No Excuse, Sir”
This is an address presented to high school students and their parents and teachers. Each time I conduct one of these awards ceremonies, I spend some time thinking about what it is that separates those who are successful students from those who are not. What characteristics do the successful possess? Though it will probably…
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Failing focus
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] A few weeks ago, I deleted TikTok. I didn’t make this choice because I…
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The Hollowdays
“We are the hollow men / We are the stuffed men / Leaning together / Headpiece filled with straw.” – T.S. Eliot (“The Hollow Men,” 1925) It is already Christmas at Starbucks. They may call it the “holidays,” of course, just one more way of extracting all the caffeine (i.e., authenticity) and profundity…
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Pathologizing men is unproductive. We should invest in better men-focused spaces.
In her Oct. 22 op-ed, Julianna Lee ’25 argued that male-only spaces could better Princeton’s campus by building “encouragement, empowerment, and friendship for men.” Columnist Ava Johnson ’27 responded on Nov. 4, contending that male-only spaces fail to address men’s problems and “[run] the risk of breeding misogyny and bullying.” These opinions come at a time when…
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Banning books is detrimental to intellectual growth
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] Back in February, The Daily Princetonian’s podcast Daybreak interviewed English Professor Anne Cheng on the…
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14 Essential Conversations with Tweens: An Interview with Michelle Icard
Last month, I shared an interview I did with Michelle Icard on her new book, Eight Setbacks That Can Make a Child a Success. It occurred to me after writing that piece that Ms. Icard’s previous book on how to have difficult conversations with tweens would be a helpful resource to parents supporting their children through setbacks…
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Learning and the Brain: Bid the geldings be fruitful?
“And all the time – such is the tragicomedy of our situation – we continue to clamour for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more ‘drive,’ or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or ‘creativity.’ In a sort of…
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Learning and the Brain: On wind and roots
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” – Frederich Nietzsche During the early 1990s, an experiment was taking place in New Mexico called Biosphere 2. It was (and still is) a closed ecological system — air, food, community, everything had to be generated in this biodome. Though now…
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Home Is The Training Ground For Life: A Conversation With Parenting Expert Sheri Glucoft Wong
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] Do you wish you had fewer conflicts with your children involving screen time, homework,…
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The rotten seed of American individualism
The rotten seed of American individualism has grown into a mighty tree, spreading its branches and curling through the hearts of American citizens. It whispers in our ears lies of self-sufficiency and the lonesome American Dream, promising freedom but leaving cracks in the Earth and sowing division. It has wrapped its tendrils tightly around our everyday lives, taking root in the…
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The Road to Success Leads Through Failure: A Conversation with Author Michelle Icard
We Can’t Shield Our Kids From Failure. And We Shouldn’t. “Helicopter” parents (monitoring every detail of their children’s lives) and “snowplow” parents (ensuring no obstacles get in their children’s way) mean well: They genuinely believe that shielding their children from failure can help them succeed. But the more I read about raising successful, resilient…
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Pics or it didn’t happen
Seeing and being seen: a Penn tradition, a universal obsession “A picture-perfect night” is the best way to describe the Class of 2028’s evening gala at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a beloved NSO tradition. The foyer was lit up in Penn’s red and blue as students snapped selfies of themselves munching on baba…
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The emerging loneliness economy
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] Social media and emerging technologies have created unparalleled opportunities for connection, to the…
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You may have eyes, but do you know how to see?
There’s a difference between looking and truly seeing. What color is the floor where you took your last class? Could you describe one painting in that building? Chances are you have no idea. Why would you? Life is busy, work needs to get done; you know the drill. So you go through your life…
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For What It’s Worth…
As parents, we spend a lot of our time worried about our children’s mental health. Is their self-esteem (how they think about themselves) strong enough to withstand the risks and challenges that are coming? But how do we help our kids find their self-worth and keep it? How do we help them never need…
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Young men versus young women: Where did we go wrong?
For the nation’s prosperity and personal happiness, young men and women must reconnect with each other in a meaningful way. It isn’t hard to imagine a dystopian novel where the political parties of a country become split by gender rather than by genuine ideological framework. It seems we may be headed there. The upcoming…
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No magic bullet for the bullets…
Dear Marja, I sit here across from the TV, and I hear screaming, crying, yelling, grief. Gun violence at another school, this time in Georgia–12 or so kids, babies really, shot by a 14-year-old. A 14-YEAR-OLD. Gun violence, again, but it isn’t just guns. I think it’s a mindset we have got to change,…
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Boosting or Breaking Productivity: The Impact of Hyperfixation on ADHD
Are you ever so engrossed in an activity you love that you completely lose track of time? Does it seem like you lose sense of where you are and what’s happening around you? And when you snap back into the reality of what’s going on around you, are you disoriented? People with ADHD and…
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Kindness
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] So work has been crazy, as the days before school opens always are.…
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Plan ahead even if you have no plan
One random evening my first year of college, I set myself up for more success than I have at any other time during my college experience. I was a lowly political science and math major trying to consider what minors or certificates would best prepare me for a future career as a lawyer and…
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Another Generation Cometh
[Editor’s note: This speech was delivered to high school students, teachers, and parents 30 years ago. Unfortunately, its focus may be even more relevant today.] Last term, as I watched recovering alcoholic Michael Tripp speak to you during an assembly, I experienced a moment of recognition. It wasn’t a recognition of my own…
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Advice from a graduating senior — make friends with your professors
Question Authority!
In religion and politics people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing. – Mark Twain I confess to have…
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The language of tribalism: How political shibboleths are destroying discourse
We live in a world dominated by the sound bite, the clip and all things scrollable. To facilitate this shortened content, different groups have had to find creative ways to convey great meaning in small packages. Though this may sound ingenious, these words — known today as political buzzwords — have had a divisive effect.…
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How to Motivate Children: Science-Based Approaches for Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] What’s the best way to motivate children? The intrinsic motivation to learn about…
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Friends should intellectually challenge you
When I imagined college as a place for intellectual growth, I visualized riveting exchanges with professors and radical arguments in textbooks. When I stepped foot on campus, however, I realized that my ivy-covered academia fantasies perpetuated rigid expectations of what qualified as “growing my perspective,” and I had underestimated the importance of developing relationships with…
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ADHD Kids May Not Be Doing Alright These Days…
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] …particularly if they have a phone, access to screens, the news, or are…
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How Smartphones Are Rewiring Children: The Anxious Generation Review
In Jonathan Haidt’s justly acclaimed new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, he repeats a Polynesian expression: “Standing on a whale, fishing for minnows.” Haidt explains that “sometimes it is better to do a big thing rather than many small things.” What’s the “big thing”…
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The ‘fun’ model just isn’t sustainable: a plea against hookup culture
As a top institution of higher education, Princeton tries to do its best to prepare us for our future: offering career fairs, hosting resume writing sessions, and even offering Last Lectures about careers in local government. But there is one place where the University is falling short: preparing its students to form healthy relationships. There…
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What’s the Score?
Well, that didn’t take long. Following the short burst of SAT-optional college admission policies spawned by the pandemic, the testing race is back at full throttle, at least at some Ivies. Among the rationales this time around is the preposterous claim that SATs actually enhance diversity. The argument goes like this: Not submitting test…
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Yale Will Not Save Her
Content warning: This column contains references to sexual violence. On April 2, University President Peter Salovey emailed the Yale community under the subject line “Your Yale, Your Voice,” asking us to complete the 2024 Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Misconduct and Resource Awareness [SHARE]. The third in a series of quadrennial surveys administered by the…
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The gifted and talented program is flawed
In the fifth grade, my family moved and I transferred to a new school district in New Jersey. In the West Orange school district, I gained admission into the High Aptitude Program, a gifted and talented program that I would get bussed to weekly. When I entered the Parsippany-Troy Hills Township School District, I applied to…
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Status update: In a toxic relationship with academia
As amazing as academia can be, it also has a darker, alienating side. “I love academia, but is it good for my mental health?” “I don’t know who I am, but I have no time to figure that out.” “Americans live to work.” “Penn is my toxic boyfriend.” These are some of the things…
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Black Princeton is fragmented. Let’s consolidate.
[Editor’s note: Although this essay focuses on Princeton, the issue may be relevant to many colleges and schools.] BSU, PASA, PCC, PEESA, PNSA, PABW, PBMA — call it the alphabet soup of Black student organizations. These are groups intended to cater to specific niches in the Black community and serve to represent its diversity. These organizations serve critical community-building needs that Princeton’s diverse…
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From swiping to sipping: The digital pathway to dependency
More than five billion people use some form of social media. In the United States, 75% of teens have an active account on a social media platform. Digitization has crept into our lives and altered our world. People check social apps for news, trends, academics and to keep in touch with their peers. When we crave information, social media…
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Intolerance towards disagreements is dangerous
I’ve always considered myself a rather stubborn individual, but alongside that trait, I’ve prided myself on a certain level of self-awareness. I’ve been cautious never to impose my thoughts onto others, respecting their perspectives even if they differed from mine. However, as of late, I’ve noticed a shift within myself — it’s not stubbornness that’s…
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The feminine urge to apologize
It is almost as if “sorry” is the default response for women. They apologize for having emotions and showing them, for asking a valid question and for walking in the same direction as someone in the store; they apologize for their failures and their successes. In every situation women automatically respond with an unnecessary “sorry.”…
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Unlocking the dopamine code: A blueprint for college student well-being
As college students navigating the complexities of academia, we often find ourselves contending with formidable adversaries: seasonal depression, lack of motivation and high levels of stress. According to the National College Health Assessment, approximately 80% of college students report experiencing overwhelming levels of anxiety, and nearly 40% grapple with symptoms of depression at some point during…
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It gets better…
There are those moments many of us experience as parents when parenting feels hard, even painful. Our children, our tweens or teens, may become surly, disrespectful, or sometimes even downright mean to us. Surely, this behavior is not what we had in mind when we held that delightful bouncing baby in our arms not that…
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How do I avoid the perfectionism trap?
Dear Dr. Saline, I recently started my first full-time job after graduating from college and feel like I’m struggling with the adjustment. I’ve had the usual ups and downs in school which come with ADHD. But now that I’m working, my tendency toward perfectionism has become overwhelming. Worst of all, I don’t think my work…
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Rejection is normal, but not normalized
After a grueling college admissions process, I was excited to begin my journey at the University of Michigan. Yet, I was surprised by the campus’s intense culture of club recruitment and internship applications. At the beginning of each semester, I applied to some clubs but was hesitant to apply to others, intimidated by the grueling…
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Play Can Save Us
The numbing ubiquity of human despair and political idiocy is enough to get a guy down. I spend far too much of my retired life with the New York Times on my lap. My privilege requires that I pay attention, despite knowing that I can’t do a damn thing about most of it. But there…
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Internet safety requires more than a Senate hearing
“I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO, in the most recent congressional hearing on online child safety. Disingenuous as these words may be, they are more than just an apology from the tech mogul. They signify the culmination of failed government action, a rise in companies set on making…
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Growth Over Grades: Top Ten Takeaways from Wharton Guru Adam Grant
The central question keeping me up at night as an educator is this: How can we maximize every student’s potential? This question emphatically isn’t about making sure a student becomes “the best” at anything in particular, but rather about ensuring all students become their best selves. In his new book Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater…
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Power of Words…
Your words have power…even beyond what you might already realize. Sure, we know a lot about tone, inflection, and volume, and we think we are aware of our word choices, but are we really? Beyond enabling communication, words can be weaponized or used to empower. Used carelessly, words can cause damage we neither intended nor realized.…
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Schools should teach media literacy
It has never been easier to spread misinformation, either deliberately or by accident, than it is right now. The digital age has amplified a diverse set of voices on social media, for better or worse. While many users are well-intentioned and act as online educators, they have the capacity to spread fake news, which can…
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Can’t find a job? You’re not alone
As a senior in college still figuring out my post-graduation plans, I am far too familiar with the dreaded question, “What are you doing next year?” In an effort to defend my “I don’t know” reply in the face of judgmental adults, I have done extensive research to defend the claim that the job hunt…
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Stop interacting with people you dislike online
On Dec. 18, 2023, comedian Ziwe Fumudoh sat down with recently-expelled congressman George Santos for a satirical-style interview to recap his short-lived career in Congress and inquire about what he plans to do in the future. When asked how the United States could possibly get rid of him, Santos gave some of the best advice of his…
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The Art of Mattering
Many people at Andover are familiar with issues such as anxiety, imposter syndrome, and burnout. These are phenomena that are generally unavoidable and in most cases attributed to the stress of school. However, I would argue that these symptoms point to a bigger problem: students don’t feel like they matter. According to Isaac Prilleltensky, professor…
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New Year resolutions? Maybe….
So every year I hear, see and read about people’s New Year resolutions toward self-improvement or toward a goal, for about a week or two, and then I hear, see and read about how they have fallen by the wayside, a victim of great intentions without follow-through, or more accurately, poorly conceived follow-through. I see…
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Finding Our Own Answers: A Case Study
On November 28, I attended a truly excellent webinar conversation with Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, hosted by Intrepid Ed News and OESIS. Once again, I was struck by the response of so many teachers and administrators who, when presented with new insights into how people learn (insights that challenge the status quo), want very specific…
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Democracy in Peril
New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie wrote this week about the threats to our democratic republic: Democracy, remember, is not just a set of rules and institutions. It is, as the philosopher John Dewey argued throughout his life, a set of habits and dispositions that must be cultivated and practiced if they are to…
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Finding my father in Sterling
Stepping out of the rail on Georgia Avenue, my father, Guarocuya Batista, entered the Freedmen’s Hospital, the largest African American hospital in the Washington area. A fresh-faced doctor, he walked through its halls with a quiet determination and sage awareness that this was the start of his medical career. He was also bearing the mantle of a…
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Overcoming Negativity Bias with Students, Parents, and Colleagues
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] At the end of a week, why do we focus on one difficult…
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Give Children Real Life
“This car climbed Mt. Washington.” This bumper sticker is commonly seen in New England and refers to the highest peak in the East. As implied, there is a winding road to the summit. These bumper stickers never fail to irritate, as the “achievement” is remarkably unremarkable. It’s rather like having a CD player with a…
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What’s all this about independence?
Starting at about age 18 months, my son’s favorite phrase became, “NO! By myself!” It didn’t matter what my request of him was–could I help going up the stairs, could I pick him up, could I help with a meal, could I help getting dressed? The answer was always the same, “NO! By myself!” While…
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If You Prick Us
We need to talk about the real emotions of speaking up as a minority
“I thought doing the right things made you feel strong and proud not sad and angry.” This is a text I received from my mother after she confronted ignorance and xenophobic comments in the workplace. She told me that while she was in the break room, two women were having an offensive conversation, spewing false…
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Dollar signs and sob stories
From my fragmented Mandarin to my distaste of “chow mein,” I avidly explored the facets of my Asian-American identity in creative writing. When I picked up the pen, I found myself writing about my mother’s rice rations during the Cultural Revolution and the internal strife of life between two cultures, inspired by writers like Ocean…
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Boys will be boys…
Really? Did you just read that headline and have that reaction? Or did you sigh, and think, “You don’t need to tell me that…”. As the parent of two now wonderful men (ages 26 and 33), I can safely say, at some point, I have had both reactions and then some! While my work in…
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Playing the Get-Out-of-Jail Card: Improving Mental Health in Schools
“I’m walking. I’m walking right out of the door. I won’t ever be back.” The gray-haired teacher who was filmed during her meltdown in her classroom shouting those words to her students and doing exactly what she said became an instant nucleus of condensation for the torrent of frustration and stress felt by thousands of…
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Reading Madness
An article this week in Chalkbeat Tennessee told of Kamryn Sanders, an 8-year-old Memphis 3rd grader who walked out her school’s front door on the day her reading scores were to be revealed. She walked a mile, finally asked for help, and the police returned her to school. Kamryn was afraid, with some justification, that…
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Understanding Perfectionism: How To Make It Work For, Not Against, You and Your Kids
Honestly, it’s tough to be a perfectionist writing about perfectionism. Wait, let me rephrase that: a recovering perfectionist writing about perfectionism. See, there it is—correcting myself to get it right. I like accuracy, accountability, and setting high standards for myself. These traits can be motivating and help me accomplish my goals. But sometimes, these same…
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A message to the aspiring quitter
“I never should have dropped. I can’t believe you let me do that,” I said. This was minute 10 of me walking around the patio in distress, whisper-yelling to my parents on the phone. In hindsight, my dropping out of my computer science class was not their doing. But it always feels a little easier to blame…
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You don’t need to party in college to have a good time
Throughout middle school and high school, I always dreamed of going to college — getting away and doing whatever I wanted. While I certainly had friends and made the most of my time during my days back home in Illinois, I was excited for my chapter as a college student. I was looking forward to…
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Barbie is back on the big screen…but she first talked in 1992…and what did she say??
Talking Barbie came out in 1992. Her epic first words were, “Math is tough!” And with that, we continued down a path of gender subject-matter bias that has plagued us for decades. In fact, according to research, there is no cognitive biological difference between genders when it comes to math performance. So what is going…
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Comments on Test-Optional College Admissions
Having been the dean of admission at Princeton from 1978 to 1983, I read with interest that Harvard and Yale, along with scores of other colleges and universities, made a decision to adopt a “test optional” policy with respect to those applying for the 2023-24 academic year. This initiative prompted me to write this brief…
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The Myth of Lost Learning
This week yet another New York Times piece by Harvard and Stanford “experts” warned of the devastating learning loses sustained by American kids due to the pandemic. Read the piece if you love arcane, statistical analyses and nearly impenetrable pseudo-scientific prose. Or if you need a sleep aid. The educational establishment is rife with this…
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How to talk when we talk about hate
As parents, we all struggle sometimes with how to explain things we hear to our kids. We want our kids to understand what they are hearing and seeing. More importantly, sometimes we need them to understand so that we can protect them. As a parent of four, I am no different. Of late, however, I…
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Rigor Mortis: Let’s Redefine Rigor to Meet Student Needs
In a country where self-serve businesses seem a fitting symbol for a pervasive approach to life, I’m not surprised that I get a lot of criticism for promoting schools that make room for the self of the student: “Kids today already seem over-indulged, narcissistic, and entitled,” say my critics. “They need to learn about the…
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Putting the Brakes on Accelerating in Mathematics
“My child is bored in 6th-grade math and I would like them to take Algebra I over the summer.” This is a request that I have heard dozens of times over the past decade, which is dozens more times than I ever heard this request thirty years ago. I am a recovering math department chair…
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You and your family aren’t getting any younger
This past weekend, my dad surprised my family with a trip to downtown Chicago for a bit of fun. Needing to make a trip to meet with some higher-ups at his company, he had figured that it was a good opportunity for the rest of us to take a brief vacation. The trip was great…
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Evaluating the Goodness of Fit for Students Planning to Go to College
On Sunday, April 2, 2023, I read an interesting and provocative article by Frank Bruni that was published in the New York Times. The title of the article was “There’s Only One College Rankings List that Matters.” Having worked as the Dean of Admission from 1978 to 1983 at Princeton University, and having evaluated the…
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Learning Disabilities, Learning Differences and Neurodiversity, Oh My!
As a kid growing up with learning differences, especially those not diagnosed until I was older (19!), I have learned a few things about what works and what gets in the way as a learner and as a person whose brain works differently. Back then, there was never a discussion of being “neurodiverse,” in fact,…
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Cool, Connected, and Successful
Attitude usually plays an essential role in success. In my experience, the most successful students tend to see themselves as students and feel a sense of pride in being a student. Learning matters to them; they want to learn (which is very different from merely wanting a good grade). They are intellectually alive and curious,…
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A Cure for Senioritis: How to No Longer Be “Sick” of School
Are you constantly plagued with a lack of motivation? Do you find yourself scrolling through Tik Tok instead of through your extensive list of assignments? Have you claimed, “I’ll just do this in the morning,” knowing full well that you most certainly will not be doing this in the morning? Would your friends describe you as ‘checked…
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The future of AI might be scary, but let’s focus on why it’s scary today
In a recently published open letter, some of the most prominent figures in technology urged for a full-fledged six-month pause on developing certain Artificial Intelligence technologies, including Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter; Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak; and Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp, among many, many others. In the letter, they ask that all companies…
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Sugar and Spice?
Our girls are not doing very well right now; in fact, they are struggling. While this is a sweeping generalization, allow me to both explain and expound. It is true that most adolescents (and I would even include tweens) suffered and saw a mental health decline during COVID and have been slow to rebound in…
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#TeacherQuitTok: The face of a current teaching crisis
For the past few months, my TikTok For You page has been riddled with teachers using #TeacherQuitTok on their videos. This hashtag has become a place for teachers to shed light on current problems in education and advocate for change, and it is clear that change is needed. While some teachers have quit their teaching…
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College is just the beginning
“College is the best four years of your life.” If I had a nickel for every time I heard that phrase, I could have paid my tuition in cash. Every time I think about that statement, it seems even bleaker. Why would anyone want to peak that early? As I reach the end of…
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Death to the GPA
The GPA system can stunt our intellectual growth due to undue pressure and excessive grading. As an international student, the concept of the ‘GPA’ — the grade point average — was foreign to me. Since coming to Penn, long gone are the days where homework did not count towards your grade, due dates were…
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Risk-takers, Innovators and Teens, oh my!
I am sure you have heard (or experienced) that children become greater risk-takers during adolescence. As parents, we may stay awake at night worrying, but should we? To answer that question, and to truly understand how to turn this concern to an advantage, we must first understand a bit about the adolescent brain. During adolescence,…
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Risky Business
Of all the claims that schools make, perhaps the most ubiquitous is the assertion that “our students learn to take risks.” Risk-taking is meant to suggest that students are able to “move out of their comfort zones” by trying new things—like befriending classmates from other cultures or leaping into new activities or, especially, engaging with…
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Struggling with body image, then and now
Content warning: This article discusses disordered eating and eating disorders. I always thought it made sense to obsess over how my body looked. It just seemed irresponsible not to. To be an elite athlete is to strive for perfection— toward an ideal standard of performance and a standard idea of excellence. It is an…
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Black history is your history too
People of all races should see themselves in Black history. In elementary school, February was the only time I learned about Black historical figures. I recall cutting out paper dolls of Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks — all the same shade of brown due to the singular brown crayon. While…
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Of Dogs and Kids
I’ve been spending a large part of my time recently training and learning to train my partner’s new service dog, who is still a puppy, only about a year old, which, in dog lifeline, makes her an adolescent. It is remarkable how much she and human adolescents have in common. In fact, I have been…
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Phonics Can Cure Cancer
An Open Letter to my 7th Graders
How Penn did and didn’t prepare me to teach you I took a leap to become your teacher; after four years as an undergrad at Penn, I thought I would be ready to instruct middle schoolers. I declared a major in English very early on, but I grew a passion for serving students and…
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Entry-level jobs don’t exist anymore
If you’re frantically scrolling through LinkedIn, Handshake or Indeed looking for jobs and internships like me, you probably noticed that the standard for entry-level positions has risen exponentially. The idea of entry-level jobs is practically disappearing before our eyes. For many college students and recent graduates, the search for post-graduate jobs seems almost impossible. Since 2017, 35%…
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Gaming the Educational System
I did not grow up a “gamer.” I never played D & D. We had an Atari (I am that old), but I had no thumb intelligence. I had no interest in PS anything, Nintendo, or any of the other game systems. I watched, observed, and studied kids playing lots of games through the years…
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The Content of Character
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. Few readers will be reading this quote for the first time. Those on the anti-racist…
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The Myth of Multitasking: How to Reduce Stress and Improve Productivity
It’s one o’clock on a Tuesday and I’m wrapping up three hours of therapy. In the next 90 minutes, I have to do my notes, check my emails, eat my lunch and leave enough time to get my beloved afternoon coffee before starting up again. It’s a tall order. Do I walk away from my…
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Teacher Agency Is a Good Thing: Supporting Teacher Voices
“[T]he percentages of teachers who agreed with positive statements about their profession were higher among teachers who believed their opinions were considered in school decisions and lower among those who did not believe they had a voice.” –Center on Education Policy survey Five years of work–five years that, on one night, faced a final…
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Red leather pants. . .
I wear them every year on my birthday and have since I turned 40 (this year I turn 62, so it’s been a bit!). Let me explain why this tradition is so important to me, even if it mortifies my own four kids. As a woman now in my 60s, I resent the image of…
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Stop colloquializing mental illness
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] While browsing the internet recently, I came across a website selling a T-shirt…
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Finding My Own Answers
Or, Even Teachers Get The Blues [Editor’s note: Oren Karp is a recent graduate of Brown University and a Fulbright Scholar teaching English in Kathmandu, Nepal. He posts an account of his life in Nepal every few weeks. This essay is an excerpt from his most recent posting; you can read the full essay…
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Because They Need It
“Because they need it.” – Whitney Tilson Tilson is a multimillionaire hedge fund manager who is a major supporter of education “reform,” particularly the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) chain. “Because they need it,” was Tilson’s unguarded response to a question at a seminar about KIPP’s draconian disciplinary practices. “They” referred to the poor Black…
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Teaching Consent About More Than Just Sex
Although we have heard more about “consent” recently, nearly every time it is in reference to some kind of sexual situation. Consent is vital to understand in terms of actually having sex; however, all children need to understand the concept of consent well before they reach the age of consent in order to truly make…
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Creating Better Schools: Let’s Look to Parents
True Confessions of a Dyslexic…
A dyslexic head of school?? Surprised? You shouldn’t be, but most folks are. The perception of dyslexia in society is one of people crippled by the inability to spell, read, or write. In fact, ask someone what dyslexia is, and they might say something like “switching ‘d’ for ‘b’.” While this perception may have some…
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Poison Ivy
For months, she struggled silently with a sense of worthlessness. She had panic attacks that left her trembling. Nightmares that made her cry. She’d told only a handful of friends about the sexual assault she endured while she was home the summer after her freshman year. Now, as she finished her sophomore year at Yale…
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On Edge
Transitions take our feet out from under us, make our knees weak, our hearts hurt, especially ones we don’t plan. The loss of a beloved teacher, the disappearance of a pet, grandparents saying goodbye before a flight home. Our boy, Elias, comes without filters, without the ability to express his feelings in words, and grief…
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How to Teach Problem-Solving (to a Kinder or a Teen or Anyone in Between!)
As parents and teachers, we hate to see our kids struggle with problems. So when they come to us for help, our natural reaction is to do just that–help them find solutions to their problems. Too often, however, we give into our helpful nature (and desire not to see those we care about suffer in…
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Group work doesn’t work
We’ve all been there — the group chat is going off because your group members are trying to figure out why a member hasn’t touched the shared assignment document that’s due in three hours. They are fuming because that person didn’t hold up their end of the commitment and now you all need to scramble…
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Blood on Their Hands
It was well past midnight. I awoke with a start as a silhouette appeared in my dorm room doorway. My heart pounded as a person approached, knelt at my bed and whispered, “Help me.” The person was a blond, carefree college senior whom I had befriended at several parties. We were drawn together by a…
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Everyone needs to work a customer service job
I was 15 years old when I got my first customer service job. I had my interview in the squeaky plastic booths of a small town’s frozen custard shop. I even wore dark pants and a thick blouse despite the 80-degree weather, just because I wanted to make a good impression for my first-ever interview.…
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Oren’s First 100 Days of School
Or, The Children’s Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death [Editor’s note: Oren Karp is a recent graduate of Brown University and a Fulbright Scholar teaching English in Kathmandu, Nepal. He posts an account of his life in Nepal every few weeks.] Okay, I’ll level with you: I have no idea how many days of school…
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Opening up about my freshman year abortion
Removing the stigma of abortions is vital in the fight to achieve equitable reproductive rights. I found out I was pregnant in a Starbucks bathroom, only a few weeks after starting my first year at Penn. I was 18, and I did everything to keep it a secret. Buying a test on campus risked fellow…
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The Beatings Will Continue
“The beatings will continue until morale improves” is a rather familiar quip of unknown origin. Two recent news stories remind of just how apt the saying remains. The first was an astonishing New York Times report on the reinstitution of paddling as a disciplinary tool in a Missouri school district. Surprisingly, paddling children in school remains…
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An Education in Racism
A Moveable Festival
Or, The Only Jew In Kathmandu [Editor’s note: Oren Karp is a recent graduate of Brown University and a Fulbright Scholar teaching English in Kathmandu, Nepal. He posts an account of his life in Nepal every few weeks.] I’ve grown to love the rain here, the way it paints the trees a crisp, dark…
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College Admission – Failed Rite of Passage
Don’t Expect to Enjoy College
Sept. 23, 2021, a date which will live in infamy. Only three weeks into my first year of college, I found myself nursing a tennis-ball-sized swollen ankle while poring over lines of Latin that depicted, in painstaking detail, a Roman dinner of sow udder. When in Rome this summer, remind me not to do as…
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6 Strategies for Managing Back-To-School Anxiety
You know it’s August when the “Back-to-School” sale commercials flood your screens. Some kids cannot wait: time back with friends, teams, activities, excitement, and much-needed structure. Others, however, are more anxious: a new place, a new grade, COVID protocols, concerns about school safety. Whether your child has started school or is getting ready to return,…
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When It Comes to School Culture, Words Aren’t Enough
Educators must take systematic steps to ensure that a school’s mission and values are reflected in students’ and teachers’ actual experiences. Schools have different cultures created by their beliefs, values, goals, and behavioral norms—cultures that are often described on a continuum from nurturing to toxic. An increase in cases of depression, instances of suicide, and…
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By The Book
Or, When it Rains . . . [Editor’s note: Oren Karp is a recent graduate of Brown University and a Fulbright Scholar teaching English in Kathmandu, Nepal. He posts an account of his life in Nepal every few weeks.] One of my favorite things about learning a new language is seeing how the vocabulary, structures,…
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BENEFITS AND DANGERS OF TEEN TECHNOLOGY USE
This STEMs from insecurity
Growing Into Myself At the ripe old age of 10, my dad and I ran into one of his gym friends when I was getting picked up from a late night swim practice. I don’t remember much from that interaction, but what I do remember sort of changed my life. The friend was extraordinarily tall,…
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Two Worlds Syndrome
One of the most common sentiments you’ll hear among Asian Americans is the feeling of being torn between two worlds. As immigrants and children of immigrants, Asian Americans have a stake in multiple cultures, nations and principles. Our families expect us to live proper Asian lives at home while also sending us out to contend…
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Site Currently Under Construction
Or, Oren Needs a Friend [Editor’s note: Oren Karp is a recent graduate of Brown University and a Fulbright Scholar teaching English in Kathmandu, Nepal. He posts an account of his life in Nepal every few weeks.] At 9:55 am the bell rings (or, I should say, someone bangs on the metal plate) to…
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Extra School
In my experience as a teacher, I’ve collected memories that illustrate for me what needs to be improved in middle school education. My thesis? Schools filled with students from poorer families (low SES–socioeconomic status) need to do more to engage their students intellectually. One such illustrative memory is of a brilliant African-American economics major from…
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The creator economy can hurt users
As spring break Instagram posts rolled out, images of my classmates in picture-perfect tropical scenes bombarded me while I returned to the bleak surroundings of central Pennsylvania. As the week continued, I found myself checking Instagram every 15 minutes, growing more and more bitter. I was filled with an urge to post something, anything, to…
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Emotion, Intelligence, and Learning
Two of the most persistent myths about learning are that emotion and rational thought can be treated separately and that emotions interfere with clear thinking and learning. They certainly can. Grief and rage or joy and excitement can easily overwhelm focus and motivation for even the most interesting lesson. So, it’s not surprising that educators…
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Beautiful Views of Terrifying Drops
Or, Gaining a Little Height on Life [Editor’s note: Oren Karp is a recent graduate of Brown University and a Fulbright Scholar teaching English in Kathmandu, Nepal. He posts an account of his life in Nepal every few weeks.] It’s hard for me not to see the last nine days as a little…
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Diversity, equity, and inclusion: What predominantly white universities could learn from Beyoncé’s “Black Is King”
Beyoncé’s Black Is King provides an example of cultural inclusion that universities can follow to be more inclusive of marginalized groups. I suppose that, compared to some other regions of this country, one could consider Penn to be a fairly diverse place as our student body is only about 40% white. Such percentages are a source of…
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There’s no ‘moving on’ from queer marginalization
“Moving on…” — these words used to swiftly change the subject make me wince every time I hear them. I feel shame, embarrassment and discomfort, as if I had said something I clearly should not have; as if I lacked the self-awareness to realize how uncomfortable my words made others. It is striking to me…
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The case against following your passion
It’s concentration declaration season for AB sophomores and BSE freshmen and the same old questions are bubbling to the surface: Do I really have what it takes to become a math major? Should I pursue classics or comparative literature? Then there’s the most familiar question: Should I choose the more “practical” major that may land…
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Off To See the Wizard
On April 24, 1990, my father was killed in a Pennsylvania hospital. He was in the third day of recovery from elective reconstructive knee surgery when an error his doctors had made erupted somewhere in his abdomen. Most of his blood vessels ruptured and he bled to death. His doctors had prescribed too large a…
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She’s not leading you on — you’re doing it to yourself
During my first year at Pitt, I went on a date with a total stranger. We had met on a dating app, and I could tell within a few minutes that we were not a match. Coupled with the fact that it was this man’s first real date and I enjoyed talking with him, I…
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Oppression Does Not Define My Blackness
Oppression. Whenever I hear this word in a class discussion, I am inclined to listen more attentively, knowing that somehow my identity, my Blackness, will require me to offer my stance in the conversation. As an Afro-Caribbean and a Black-American, I always feel obligated to diversify the discussion with first-hand experiences. Every class discussion subtly…
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Amy Wax is not an anomaly
Wax’s racist comments represent a larger perception of Black students in academia. Penn has been receiving national media coverage lately after Penn Law professor Amy Wax made racist comments against Asian and Black Americans. Her recent remarks are consistent with the comments that she made back in 2018 in a discussion titled “The Downside to Social Uplift”: “I don’t think I’ve ever…
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Being a Good Teacher
Last week my grandchildren, Maddie and Jack, were in an out-of-school production of Cinderella. My wife, Maddie’s and Jack’s parents, and I were delighted and grateful that first grader Jack’s teacher came to the evening performance, a gift well beyond the call of duty. He was thrilled. She offered congratulations and hugged him warmly before leaving. This…
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Students should be picky about their jobs
Despite being responsible for a one-star review at my workplace that states “the little redhead behind the counter is rude,” I am a very good employee. I promise. The cruel reality about customer service jobs is that no matter how good you are at your job, there will always be a handful of customers that…
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Being extraordinary is overrated
Ever since things have gone back to almost-but-not-quite normal, I’ve had this overwhelming feeling that I’m not doing enough. It’s almost become a mantra in my head, the words repeating over and over, “You’re not doing enough.” I’ve mentioned the feeling to friends and classmates, and the majority of them have related — each and…
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Matter over mind: You’ll get out of this what it’s willing to give
As we begin another semester of COVID-19-related uncertainty and instability, it serves us to put things in a less judgmental, self-deprecating perspective for those times when we come up short. One rhetorical trick often used to quash this forgiving perspective is the meritocratic assumption that whatever we do, wherever we are, and however many obstacles…
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Save our clickbait souls
The metaverse. Virtual Reality. Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce. We live in a time where such technologically advanced concepts are more than just facets of a futuristic fantasy. Thinly veiled Mark Zuckerberg slander aside, this is a remarkable fact. Since the advent of the digital age, human ingenuity seems to have kicked into overdrive. However, when the average…
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Talking Bodies
A perfect version of me lies out there somewhere. His limbs are more outstretched than mine, landing his shiny head of hair at the 6’ mark. Where a shallow valley gapes between my eyes, a well-defined nose bridge juts out from his face. And he sorta looks like me, if only I could slap muscles…
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Be Your Authentic Self
By 2005, when Angela Merkel became the first female chancellor of Germany, she had already amassed years of successful leadership at different levels of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. She had nothing to prove. However, a tabloid scandal about wardrobe choices early in her tenure might have doubled her resolve that she would not…
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Sellout season
As the semester started and junior year summer internships came to a close, the sellout season promptly began. Exciting offers from top tech, consulting, and finance companies filled my LinkedIn feed. I began to comment “Congratulations” on Facebook and Instagram announcement post after announcement post as my peers prepared for postgraduate life. I read as,…
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Most of your friends are just people you spend time with
In my senior year of high school, amid college admissions anxiety and clearly defined cliques, I learned a difficult lesson. Most of my friends were not actually my friends. After social upheaval in my senior year, I decided to distance myself from my friend group. As I isolated myself and dealt with personal issues, I…
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Schools: The Persistence of Failure; Paths to Success
I have spent a lifetime in schools–as student, teacher, administrator, parent, and trustee. I am a weary veteran of the endless wars over what’s to blame for the sorry state of education. As covid and virtual schooling have made even clearer, we need to do a better job. Test scores are lousy; achievement and learning…
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We must shift the way we test understanding
Last year, many professors faced a difficult decision: How would they make sure students were given a fair chance when taking exams remotely? For a politics course I took in the fall semester, the professor normally used an exam that centered around short questions related to readings throughout the semester. The virtual format meant that…
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Pull Those Damn Bootstraps!
“Just pull yourself up by the bootstraps!” This exclamation captures the prevailing attitude of many Americans, mostly conservatives, toward the least advantaged among us. The sentiment is accompanied by a belief that we live in a meritocracy, where one deserves what they get and get what they deserve. It is a silly admonition because, of…
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On loss, grief, and not being okay: The toxic ‘constant productivity’ mindset at Princeton
During the summer of 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I experienced the tragic and unexpected loss of a close lifelong friend. His death was absolutely devastating — undoubtedly the worst physical and emotional pain I have ever experienced. In the months that followed, I struggled to function like a normal person should.…
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That’s a “NO” for me
A colleague who had become a first-time mother once regaled me and other coworkers, during lunch, with the amazing exploits of her new baby. Like many new parents, each and every moment of her child’s first year seemed crystallized in her memory. We couldn’t help but be held in rapt attention by her tales. One…
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When Creativity Fades
Sometimes, when I get caught in the tornado of Cornell’s nightlife, my brain kicks into autopilot. My eyes hunt for any and every escape route away from the dance floor. Away from the gyrating hips and the fog of body odor. I often find myself running to the bathroom three times in an hour. Or…
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No matter what the future holds
Five years ago, I was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, one that required some of the most aggressive treatments that the FDA currently allows. I am lucky to be alive. But despite my luck — or unluck — the long-term consequences of this disease have followed me for a quarter of the time I…
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A letter to my fellow Yalies
On such a racially diverse campus, why is cross-racial engagement limited?
There is no question that Penn is incredibly diverse — comprising twelve schools and a student body of more than 25,000, Penn’s community comes from a variety of races, genders, sexual orientations, religions and socioeconomic backgrounds. But diversity means more than data points and percentages. On the ground, intermingling between people of different demographics occurs far less…
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Mirror, Mirror on the “Historical” Wall
The autumn air, alluringly crisp, surrounded me as I opened the passenger seat door to my grandfather’s car, ready to make the five-hour trip back to Long Island. We stopped at Dunkin’ to pick up coffees to sip along the way and drove through color changing mountains, whose seemingly unreachable summits countered the mountain of…
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The trouble is paradise
On a bleak autumn night, moonlight peeks from behind the clouds — just enough to illuminate the words “THE DEAD SHALL BE RAISED.” Pallid figures draped in decaying flesh emerge from behind the gateway of Grove Street Cemetery, keeping the promise etched in the arch above them. You awake from your nightmare with such a…
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The Toxicity of “The Body Positivity Movement”
While scrolling through social media this past summer, I saw a lot of content surrounding the body positivity movement. Influencers were pushing their viewers to love their bodies, embrace fluctuations in body shape and weight, and reject the beauty standards imposed by society. While in theory, these ideals seek to empower and promote diversity and…
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What I learned after three years at Princeton
I’m almost certain that the Classes of 2024 and 2025 are tired of orientation activities, meetings, and how-tos. Despite the good intention of these events and recommendations, they seem to stretch ad nauseam into late September and early October. However, I thought it would be helpful to share my experiences in an effort to reassure…
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How I used honesty and action to overcome my anxiety
I vividly remember my first-year panic episode. It occurred the night before I had to deliver a major speech for my communications seminar. I woke up at 4:30 in the morning, drenched in sweat, shivering, struggling to catch my breath. After realizing this was a panic attack, I began performing breathing exercises in an attempt…
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Smartphone addiction, ambition and our fear of silence
Perhaps, like me, you instinctively reach for your phone. Standing in line to buy cupcakes this summer, I scrolled on my phone. Waiting for my dentist appointment several weeks later, I scrolled on my phone. I plug in every crack of empty time by reading news articles, emails and Tweets. I overuse my phone partly…
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The Myth of Passion
These days, it seems like the resume obsession is real. Everyone is scrambling for jobs, internships, shadowing, clubs, research positions and whatever else the pre-corporate world has to offer. It seems like any use of our time is only as valuable as the number of professional buzzwords we can squeeze out of it. The landscape…
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Washing Dust From the Soul
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” – Pablo Picasso We are in the midst of a prolonged dust storm in America. Daily life brings reports of yet another shooting, a pandemic surge on the horizon, emotional fatigue from a year of isolation, the threat of domestic terrorism…
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Empathy, Balance, & Dilution
(Editor’s note: Although this article focuses on a specific school, its implications have universal application.) Empathy. Balance. Inclusion. [EBI] These three values are essential to the pursuits of Andover, drilled into its students and even visible on the front page of its website. Unfortunately, they’re beginning to feel hollow—a sentiment that echoes the efficacy of…
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Faculty and Student Wellness: Embracing the Interdependence
Earlier this summer, during an online discussion about grading practices, a teacher made a familiar, yet rarely challenged assertion: “When a student gets a D/F—or even an A—in my class, that’s the grade they earned.” My translation: “I provide opportunities for students to succeed. Their failure is on them, not me. It’s their choice.” In…
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Individualism is a privilege too
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been shy in social interactions, not wanting to make the first move or reach out to others. Though I was scared of talking to others, I always loved reading. The library has always felt like a haven to me where I could experience people’s stories and their…
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Cast a wide net to find the activities and clubs you love
When I arrived on campus last fall, I didn’t have a nine-month plan that culminated in becoming an editor at The Pitt News. In fact, I didn’t arrive with any sort of plan outside of my class schedule. I could certainly rattle off some interests. After realizing I was failing to leave much of a…
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Women in academia need to get aggressive
I don’t need to dive into why women, especially women of color, are marginalized in academia — every woman knows the answer. We should be teaching men to be more accepting and less sexist rather than teaching women how to survive and thrive in male-dominated academia, but at a certain point, when your professor is…
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The First Essay
English essays. Some of us love them, some of us hate them. But regardless, we all write them. Fear not, however, because I’m not writing to provide advice, or make you feel bad about the quality of your writing. Instead, I’d like to reflect upon the aspects of English classes that have room for improvement,…
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The Best Advice I Never Took
A few weeks before moving into college, one of my best friends’ mom gave me a piece of advice that I still kick myself for ignoring: “You should delete social media for a few months, just until you get adjusted to college. Knowing what everyone else is doing can really hurt.” My friend’s mom, a…
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Colleges Have Damaged Education
One of the most profound changes in United States culture during my lifetime is the role of higher education. By and large I think it has not been change for the best. In many ways colleges and universities have damaged education and had a number of deleterious impacts on society. In 1950 29.7% of high…
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What to discuss with your new roommate before move-in day
So, you got assigned with a random roommate. Congratulations! Whether it’s your first year living in East Halls or your senior year at an off-campus apartment complex, this is a great opportunity to make a new friend and learn about living with other people. You’ve likely already contacted this person and maybe talked about your…
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Unique Challenges for Black Individuals with Mental Health Conditions
According to a 2018 survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 16% of African American adults reported having a mental illness in the previous year, and 22.4% of that group reported a serious mental illness. The same survey showed that, of the nearly 5 million African Americans with a mental illness, close to 70% hadn’t received treatment (Williams, 2020). Still…
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Tough breakup?
Relationships at Yale are hard, and breakups, whether romantic, platonic or somewhere in between, are even harder. But breakups are both ugly and beautiful for the same reason: They remind us that we’re human and nothing more than human — even if Yale would like us to believe otherwise. The first thing a breakup breaks…
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The reign of influencers needs to end
“I was excited to connect the Harvard community.” That’s how Mark Zuckerberg recalled the night he started Facebook during his 2017 commencement speech at Harvard University. He went on to tell the graduating students that “to keep our society moving forward, we have a generational challenge — to not only create new jobs, but create…
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Pity the White Folks
Tourists in the Capitol! This was Georgia Representative Andrew Clydes’s characterization of the fine folks who visited Washington D.C. on January 6th. It might have been a tad more understandable if Clyde were a Florida Congressman. I did see some slight resemblance between the merry marauders in the Capitol and some scenes from spring break…
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Silence and judgment on social media activism
At the height of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in June 2020, I had an exchange with a close friend that I regretted later. My friend was a dedicated champion of women’s and LGBTQ+ rights. Like many young Americans who are passionate about social justice, she frequently posted infographics or news stories on social…
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Let’s Dump The ABC’s — And D’s and F’s, Too
The votes are in. Experience, common sense and neuroscientists agree: People don’t learn when they are scared. Well, they learn, but they don’t learn math or history or whatever lessons schools are actually trying to teach. Kids learn to hate school or to fear Mr. Smith or even to hate themselves, and the cause is…
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Let’s not conflate white supremacy with white people
I never thought I’d hear a U.S. president explicitly call out white supremacy in an inauguration address. For President Joe Biden to follow it up a week later with a slate of executive orders aimed at pursuing a racial equity agenda offers an encouraging start to the much more difficult project of healing the divisions…
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Mental health is not a product of one’s volition
“Live, Laugh, Love”… Let’s Not
During my freshman year at Stuyvesant, getting report cards back was like a game—people traded papers, compared grades, and calculated their GPAs. It was a bundle of excitement the first time we got back our progress reports with number grades. People nosily asked how you did, and if you refused to answer, you were then…
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Ill-Conceived Identities: Social media trends are harmful to teen identity development
The existential question, “Who am I?” that teenagers are faced with as they transition from childhood to adulthood is an idea that Indie coming-of-age movies and books have centered on to gain massive audiences. All of the most popular teen movies like Perks of Being a Wallflower and Ladybird follow the plot of teens taking…
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Why choose ignorance?
In a lot of conversations, discussing American politics replaces small talk. An awkward silence is almost always followed by a comment on Trump’s absurd tweets and policies. A recent Zoom call with my classmates cemented this for me. After the cordial questions of “How are you enjoying the break so far?” and “How does it…
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READ, DAMN IT!
Education blogger Jan Resseger published a particularly fine piece on April 26, reporting the alarming backward trend toward the “Read by third grade or else!” policies of the recent past. As she convincingly argues, such an approach is particularly harmful as we emerge from the pandemic. What kids need most is social and emotional reconnection,…
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Start Starting
Procrastination is a problem that has followed me around since the early years of elementary school. As a kid, I remember flipping through TV shows the night before class and trying to immerse myself in the content before me, but failing to as anxiety filled up inside me at the thought of the assignments due…
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The best self-care costs little to nothing
Self-Care is a booming industry currently valued at upwards of $450 billion. With endless offerings of practices and products promising health and wellness, it is impossible not to feel neglected if one doesn’t have a self-care budget. In fact, in 2018, the average American is said to have spent $199 on self-care expenses each month. …
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Creating Environments Where Black Students Can Thrive
As white adoptive parents raising a biracial son, my husband and I set out to equip him and ourselves with the tools to navigate an experience far more complex than our own. Long before he was born, we tried to prepare, educating ourselves by devouring research and resources about race and racism and talking to…
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Relying on Your Own Mind
A recent issue of Time magazine launched the new “Kid of the Year” recognition. Along with this year’s selection of Gitanjali Rao, the magazine profiled four other young people whose accomplishments, imagination, and engagement in life are impressive. As I read about them, I couldn’t help imagining them among the thousands of other students I…
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Social Media Activism At Exeter
“Save the Amazon!” “Black Lives Matter!” “LGBTQ+ rights!” Such catchphrases and messages have lost their value due to their sheer volume. Social media has actively harmed the movements they aim to further. Such messages pop into view as we swipe; we repost them and then let them disappear. It’s a monotonous cycle, one not fit…
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The myth of meritocracy and what we can do about it
Despite our individual responsibilities, some issues are too big to be resolved individually. When we think of professionally and financially successful people, more than knowing who they are, it is important to ask where they come from. There is myriad evidence that in many countries, meritocracy is a myth and social reproduction is the norm. In…
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The Search for Motivation
What makes someone successful? The answer might seem simple: motivated people do well in life, and unmotivated people fail. Motivation seems to be the key to so much, yet most people know so little about where it truly comes from. We often assume that some people are just born with more talent, willpower, and most…
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Call Me Pathologically “Woke”
In a recent New York Times column, conservative pundit Bret Stephens argued strenuously that divisiveness was ruining our great nation. He was specifically irritated by a proposed ethnic studies curriculum in California’s public schools. He hauled out all the culture war piñatas and beat them relentlessly. “Critical race theory” was most prominent among the targets. His conservative columns routinely…
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Coping with loneliness through solitude
“Solitude is impracticable, and society fatal.” Ralph Waldo Emerson In an episode of the TV show Gilmore Girls from the early 2000s, Alexis Bleidel’s character, Rory Gilmore, gets caught up in a scandal for breaking into her school with a group of girls in the middle of the night as part of a hazing ritual.…
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Neutral Doesn’t Work When Talking About Race
When people take a “neutral position” on race, it doesn’t work. This describes the main finding of a study I explored in my doctoral dissertation at University of California, Los Angeles. The study, conducted in 2020 and guided by Pedro Noguera, consisted of in-depth interviews with 30 recent alumni of color, representing Black, Latinx, and…
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It’s not just another meme: Why teens need to be conscious of hate online
Quarantine halted my world and left me adrift with no schedule to dictate my day. I became attached to my phone. No matter what I was doing — eating breakfast or lunch, walking my dogs or going on a run — I always had it with me. Until online school staged an intervention two weeks…
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Slowing down daily life in a virtual age
“Heads up bro, we got problems,” said Leon in the 2001 Fast and Furious movie. And yes, we got problems — we are downright getting dumber. To no surprise, our attention spans are decreasing, too. A goldfish has an attention span of nine seconds. The average human attention span? Eight, down from 12 in 2000.…
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Acne is a true issue for teens: It’s time to treat it as such
I look down while walking through crowds of classmates hoping the fluorescent school lights won’t reveal the red bumps on my face. I shuffle through the halls praying to go unnoticed, only to be asked, “Why does your skin look like that?” This is a scenario that many teenagers with acne (including me) have experienced.…
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The Problem with Inclusion: Time to Shift to Belonging
“Hummus…what’s that?” I remember asking my 9th grade white peers as we sat around the lunch table for the first time, aware of their looks and smirks because I did not know what it was. In my Afro-Caribbean immigrant household, hummus was not on the menu. This was one of the first othering experiences I…
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On being an unlikely Leo
My experience with astrology consists of years of eye-rolling at horoscopes that axiomatically claim I’m a headstrong, assertive, domineering, natural leader who strives to be the center of attention. Recently, a friend did a birth chart reading for me. “You’re a Leo, so you have a big personality,” she said. I laughed at that. “You…
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Zoom is the Devil’s Work
Resist Remote Learning! “It’s like deja vu all over again.” – Yogi Berra I have no idea what the 20th century sage was referring to, but the quote is apt when considering the locomotive bearing down on education as the light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel grows brighter. Early in the 20th century…
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The college major system is archaic
While much of the learning done in college is valuable, a significant proportion of students don’t actually use their undergraduate degree in their future career. Even though a college education is a useful experience with regard to diversity of thought and academic rigor, students would be much better off if they were permitted to explore…
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Drained to exhaustion by online learning, students should be given less school work
I began to feel the adverse effects of online school while doing homework one night during our second week. My mind a relentless murmur of the same fatigue that seemed to unfocus my eyes and sway my thoughts during the school day, I spent an hour reading a passage again and again, trying to drill…
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How high schools failed victims of sexual assault
Sexual assault may seem like a distant fear for some, but on college campuses, it is an everyday reality. Of course, the combination of freedom and alcohol creates a dangerous environment and enhances teens’ raging hormones, thus increasing the likelihood of assault occurring. But the problem does not entirely arise from students seeking to indulge…
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Safe, structured lives
Over the summer, did you consider taking a gap semester? Possibly a whole year? If so, you were definitely not alone. At both Harvard and Yale, roughly 20 percent of incoming first-year students deferred. Similarly, I opted for a leave of absence, delaying my senior year to the fall of 2022. Despite how frequently the notion of a…
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Seeking a Pandemic Alternative to Tough Love
My teacherly instinct is to embed love and encouragement into my pedagogy. I go out of my way to get to know my students, to learn their extracurricular interests, family structures, social problems, and athletic achievements. I believe that students learn best from teachers who they like and who they believe like them. And I…
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I hate The Great Gatsby
Across the country, students are being brainwashed. The boomers blame social media, and they may be right. But there’s another kind of indoctrination that grinds my gears — I speak of the cult of the American high school English class. Lately, there has been much evaluation of what we teach children, primarily in history classes.…
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You are not entitled to ‘civility’
In high school, I had a better relationship with civil discourse. I was part of my school’s We the People team, and we competed in competitions centered on debating pressing constitutional issues. At Princeton, though, I noticed that things changed. I began dreading certain classes’ lectures and precepts. It wasn’t until recently that I realized…
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The Fight Is Real
Uncharacteristically boisterous laughter echoed off the walls of my largely empty office on a fateful Monday afternoon as my young student regaled me with his latest epiphany: “Y’all’s fight must be real!” He had arrived in my office despondent and perturbed. His petite frame, always in motion, was especially restless that afternoon. Although he wasn’t initially…
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More than just a time difference: Reflections of an international student
A 14-hour time difference from Korea to Princeton is difficult, as anyone I’ve complained to about my sleep schedule can attest. Yet being an international student in the age of COVID-19 means much more than a time difference. Rather, what’s most frustrating is feeling different and oftentimes less important than our United States-based peers. The…
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Oh to Be a Girl
To be unaware of the broken glass at your feet, to leap straight through historic shards, bare, bold, free. To hail from sugar, cayenne, and so much more than nice. To envision a future beyond a shower of rice, to be shown you can be anything, to believe it, well beyond childhood dreams, to not…
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Zoom and Gloom
Every time I leave a Zoom meeting, I’m left with an acute sense of emptiness. There’s no satisfaction or relief derived from getting through a lecture without falling asleep. No lingering sense of happiness that usually comes from catching up with a friend. With a single click, I’m thrust back into the stark silence of…
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The bubble
My hometown of about 12,000 residents made the front page of the New York Times a couple of Thursdays ago. It wasn’t for something good. I live in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one of the most segregated places in the United States by some standards. We’ve remained a bastion of support for the current president, even as other suburban…
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Black Woman’s Eulogy
In my native village of Kendu Bay, Kenya, funerals are meant to canonize the dead. The first rite of many is performed by women. Early at dawn, they arrive at the homestead of the deceased to wail, pacing about and lamenting death — the sound gives one goosebumps, and it seems to last forever. We…
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Life right now
Student life is inherently oriented toward the future. We prepare for classes that prepare us for more classes that prepare us for careers. With so much anticipation for what is to come, it can be easy to neglect what is already here. I write to caution against dismissing the present as less significant than the…
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My prep school reckoning
My high school’s cafeteria lunches featured a build-your-own sushi bar. Teslas and Range Rovers littered the drop-off line. One time, a Fiji Water shortage caused a schoolwide panic. The Latin School of Chicago is an elite prep school whose alumni include Nancy Reagan and the Governor of Illinois’ children. Today, I think of Latin as…
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Searching for my reasons
More times than I can recall, I’ve started a class eager to learn about some fascinating topic. But as the semester progresses and piles on exams and homework, the course grows less and less interesting. The desire to perform well in the course starts to replace my original curiosity, until I’m not sure why I…
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Working for Minimum Wage During a Pandemic
I’ve worked at the same restaurant in my hometown since senior year of high school. I haven’t had any sexy internships over the summer, just long shifts that leave my hair smelling like french fries. I work there over any break I can, and — in an industry where employee turnover is high — I’ve…
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Unapologetically human
To be or not be a snake: how I survived the ‘major’ mistakes of college
In my sophomore spring, I returned from a gap semester spent taking care of my mental health. I felt refreshed and excited to restart my Princeton journey as a potential Economics major. Since I had skirted around sophomore fall, I had not witnessed the recruiting scene that had happened for my upperclass Econ friends. At…
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Back to school again
It seems only just a few months ago that we posted a set of tips for back to school. Yet here we are again heading into a new school year, only this time the situation couldn’t be any more different. The pandemic has forced adjustments in every facet of our lives. The fabric of our…
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Sleepwalking through School
Failure is the fate of most teachers at least some of the time. In their classrooms sit students whom, despite their most heroic efforts, they just can’t reach–like TJ, a boy who traveled from Indiana to attend an eastern boarding school and found his way into my classroom. Every fall, I struggled to get students…
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The shadow of a gunman
I wasn’t born in the shadow of 9/11. Nor did I grow under the weight of the Iraq war. But both of those events marked my youth with fear and distrust. I was born into the echoes of the Holocaust. I was raised under the pale of 101 California Street. Very few people remember 101…
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The MAT 202 cheating scandal is a problem of our making
For most of us, the news that the Committee on Discipline (COD) is investigating dozens of MAT 202 students warrants nothing more than a casual glance. We wonder how it must feel to be accused of cheating. Perhaps our peers under investigation elicit a pang of sympathy. Perhaps they don’t. “Those 202 kids got what was coming…
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Online School Doesn’t Need to Replicate the Classroom Model
The sudden immersion into distance learning has not been easy for students or teachers. An article last spring in Forbes cites surveys that find that over 75% of high school students hate the experience, while teachers have been largely unprepared for it. Many teachers describe the difficulties and steep learning curve with which they struggle.…
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The future of education: A lesson from COVID-19
For the past year, I have wanted to write about technology in education. When I first arrived at the University, I was surprised that at an institution whose endowment lies multiple orders of magnitude beyond any amount of money I could imagine, I found classrooms containing no technology more recent than electric lights or plastic…
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Why you don’t feel successful at Princeton
I spent my first two summers of high school completing state-required gym classes so that I could fit more science classes into my schedule during the academic year. Every morning, I had to run a lap on the track with my classmates under the searing July sun. I ran these sprints several dozen times, and…
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Voices from the Invisible: The Reality of Black Lives in Our Schools
School people, especially boards and heads, are really good at spinning words into fluffy fantasies of utopian worlds where they have “created diverse, inclusive communities,” “protected and empowered the most vulnerable” and “cultivated environments to unlock the richness of diversity.” Lofty sentences appear in glossy catalogs and websites and swaddle prospective parents and students of…
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Understanding my inherited workaholism
My mind seems to be obsessed with this memory I have from second grade. I was playing with my friends at recess, telling them my dad got a new job two hours away from our home. I insisted we make a lemonade stand after school to raise money for him to stay. My naivete as…
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Let’s Agree to Disagree
A few days ago, I graduated from Penn. It’s a moment I had anticipated for years, and now I am entering a world and workforce rife with uncertainty. While Penn taught me a lot of unexpected lessons regarding grit and perseverance, one in particular stands out in this current crisis: Try your best to understand…
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My body is not a joke
While casually scrolling Facebook (for the hundredth time that day), I noticed a meme about looking like a busted can of biscuits when it comes time to go back to work, to go to the beach, to go outside, etc. The comments underneath talked about how “disgusting” people would look going out to these activities…
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You Catch More Flies With Honey
After discussing my last article detailing the performative allyship that happens on social media, my editor told me that while my article was precise and interesting, it was not as forward as he had expected. Here we are in the midst of civil unrest, where I spend my days constantly writing and detailing the injustices…
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Mother of Black Sons
Last Memorial Day, while most were celebrating the holiday with a well-needed break from COVID-confinement, I announced to my children that they would be catching up on all the assignments that remained missing on their Google classroom logs. After some complaining, they each picked the easiest assignment they could find and went to work. My…
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This isn’t normal
A tweet went around this week saying that if you don’t come out of quarantine with a new skill or more knowledge, “you didn’t ever lack the time, you lacked the discipline.” It was a harmful manifestation of the paradox we all face right now: sitting at home, you think you should be doing more,…
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Panic and propriety
“What we need in the world is manners … I think that if, instead of preaching brotherly love, we preached good manners, we might get a little further. It sounds less righteous and more practical.” My grandmother has this quote, from Eleanor Roosevelt, above the stove at her home. In many ways, it embodies my…
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Speaking of Mental Health, Part 2
The efficacy of psychotherapy as treatment for a wide variety of conditions is well-established. It is also a natural partner, along with psychopharmacology, in the treatment of serious mental illness and addiction. Still, lots of misconceptions persist in the general population about what counseling is and how it works. In fact, while mental health services…
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Graduating Jobless
I graduated from Cornell with a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering in 2016. Not only did I graduate without a job offer, but I never even had an interview. I certainly applied to plenty of jobs and I went to all the career fairs. Overall, I think I had a relatively normal and…
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On navigating isolation, together
Carl Jung defines an extroverted attitude as “a standpoint characterized by an outward flowing of personal energy — an interest in events, in people and things, a relationship with them and a dependence on them.” An extrovert is energized by their daily interactions; physically drained by their lack thereof. Those who know me well would…
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Humility: We Need It Now More Than Ever
When was the last time your child sulked when you asked her to take out the garbage? How loudly did your son complain when his sibling took the last cookie? Does your daughter regularly ignore your pleas to get in the car as she and her friends giggle and stare at their phones? Or how…
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Accommodations, year-round
As we enter our third week of courses conducted entirely online and adjust to this new reality, we need to ask ourselves: Why weren’t these services readily available before the COVID-19 pandemic? These services include: every course material (including textbooks) available online, Zoom lectures recorded for future replay and review and more lenient attendance policies…
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How to succeed at “Zoom University”
Having half of our semester online due to the COVID-19 outbreak was a big shock to The University of Tampa community. These past couple of weeks have felt like an eternity, sitting in the house and not having classes to go to everyday. I can’t believe it’s been less than a month since the majority…
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Someone should say something…
Stuck at home with a teenager you don’t recognize? You successfully avoided each other for the first month, but as confinement drags out beyond 30 days, things are starting to feel awkward. If you’re one of the lucky parents of an emotionally intelligent teen–one who knows how to get his or her needs met in…
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An Open Letter to Queer Freshmen Considering Rush
Growing up gay in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio, I got used to figuring things out on my own. Though I watched my peers follow all the same well-traveled paths as their friends and mentors, it didn’t occur to me that I deserved guidance as well. In hindsight, the impact of this lack became more clear…
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Unmasking the Racist Infection of the Coronavirus
My freshman year in high school, I was playing an improv game in my theatre class. Everyone stood in a circle; one person began acting out what object or noun they were and then someone else jumped into the circle, acting as another object or noun that was subsequently added to the scenario. Usually, if…
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Appreciating random acts of kindness
My mom and I have always used public transportation to get around town. Living in Oakland since 1990, by now my mom knew AC Transit, BART and the Bay Area like the back of her hand. You’d always catch me and my momma on BART or the bus, and if our destination was close enough,…
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Tips for Managing the “New Normal”
The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing every level of our society to reexamine its priorities, while exposing the good, the bad and the ugly of our true selves. After now two full weeks of modified lockdown, tolerance is wearing thin across the board. While images of themed soirees, virtual adventures and formal dinners were popping up…
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Capable of closure
The pain comes in waves. I hear “Come On Eileen” and remember all the times we drunkenly sang along, and how we will never do it again. Or I see a photo of Sterling on social media and remember the many late nights and tears. Yet I miss those study sessions, knowing that I will…
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Reflecting on Peggy Orenstein’s New Book about Boys and Sex
Peggy Orenstein’s latest book, Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity, responds to reader demand, as well as the #MeToo movement. Her new book is based on two years of in-depth interviews with 100 high school and college students, many of whom attend or have graduated from…
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College students need to normalize interracial friendships
“I have a black friend” is an unfortunate statement that some white people still feel the need to say. College students need to normalize interracial friendships, and that can start with leaving the “I have black friend” statement and other ignorant comments in the past, as the color of one’s skin should not be the…
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Does anyone really know where they see themselves in the next 10 years?
“Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?” The question is a favorite among job interviews and icebreakers for elementary school teachers and college professors alike. “What are your hobbies? What’s your major? Oh, and I know you’ve barely reached the legal drinking age, but what will your life be like when you’re…
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Kaleidoscope
I hold my new kaleidoscope up to the light. I am five years old, and it’s snowing outside on Christmas morning, like it never does anymore. Well-kempt lawns throughout my neighborhood lie blanketed in white. I turn the soft cardboard slowly to reveal the fragmented shadows of brilliant blues, reds, purples, and greens. I long…
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Building bridges
I opened Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Monday afternoon on January 20th looking to retreat from the old, white male readings that had become normal to me in and out of the classroom. While I’ll admit that my required Machiavelli reading was very interesting — given the current consequences in political affairs…
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The Ivy League Breeds Obedient Capitalists
Prestigious universities like Cornell are, in theory, institutions where talented young people receive the education, ideas and skills needed to tackle the world’s most pressing issues. A closer look into elite culture reveals that these conceptions are fantasies that serve privileged, wealthy sectors of society that equate their own interests with those of the rest…
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From the Interviewer’s Seat: What to Do and Say to Win Your Next Job
I just announced my retirement after 45 years in education. For the past six years, I’ve been the head of lower school at The Bolles School (FL) and am currently part of a team that’s hiring for my position. As I close this chapter in my professional career, I’m reflecting on my time in independent…
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The attention economy is corrupting the classroom
Distractions engendered by the use of technology in class You have 15 minutes. What would you — a curious, respectful student, part of a privileged 4.3% — rather indulge: an Instagram post or the insights of a leading academic? The choice seems obvious. But our everyday practices speak to a bleaker reality. The promises of…
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Students should take some personal responsibility, stop vaping
The reality is that most people don’t know what they’re putting into their bodies when they vape. Teen and young adult vaping is an epidemic that needs urgent attention. On and around college campuses, it’s common to see people holding e-cigarettes. You might even own one. If you do, you should throw it out. You…
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The Downside of Positivity Culture
You see them everywhere. Those little journals that have you write down the answer to “one question a day” for five years or “something you did that made you happy.” Or books telling you how to always be in good spirits when everything might not be going so great. Or Instagram accounts with inspirational quotes.…
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She lost her dad when she was 14. Now, she’s helping kids learn how to mourn.
CNN HEROES Mountainside, New Jersey (CNN) When Tracy Crosby’s husband died unexpectedly, she suddenly became a single mom to four young children. “The hardest thing in the world is to tell your children that they’re never going to see their other parent again,” she said. Her children would cry a lot at bedtime because they…
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The “upright” march on
I didn’t identify as disabled before I came to Yale. I saw myself as someone who happened to live in inexplicable, often debilitating pain, who happened to restructure his life in order to cope, and who happened to find success despite those major physical barriers. Like so many of my peers, I was accepted into…
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Professors, show that you care
Extensive academic expertise is not enough to foster mentorships When I watched Good Will Hunting for the first time as a high schooler, I marveled over how the professor in the movie not only helped Will cultivate a passion for mathematics but also undertook Will’s personal strife and actively helped him overcome it. Although it’s…
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Consider the ethics of companies where you want to work
We have a moral imperative to avoid enabling unethical behavior It happens every fall at Penn. Corporate representatives flock like vultures to our campus, eager to take their pick of the brightest students here. From engineers to financial analysts to consultants, they search relentlessly for the students who will create the most value for their…
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Speaking of mental health
Mental illness affects around 11.2 million adults 18 or older in the United States. Of the affected population, people ages 18-25 have a higher prevalence of Any Mental Illness (AMI) and Serious Mental Illness (SMI) than any other age bracket. A serious mental illness (SMI) results in substantial limitations or impairment in one or more life…
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Don’t Stop, Don’t Put Down Your Pencil
The outrage this year over the attempts of the rich and infamous to rig the college admissions process in favor of their children has focused new attention on an old issue: purchasing a diagnosis to qualify for extended time on standardized tests. During my 18 years as an assistant head of school, from the late…
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On colorblindness and cancel culture
“I don’t see color; whether you’re black, white, blue, green, or purple, everyone’s the same to me.” As a liberal, black student on a socially liberal campus — and a black person in general — I’ve had my fair share of uncomfortable conversations with well-meaning liberals. But none are more predictably cringe-worthy than the ones…
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On the other side of the screen
It’s no secret that the transition to college is difficult. But for today’s college freshmen, social media adds a whole new layer to this transition, making an already difficult adjustment exponentially more difficult. If you don’t know what I mean, think about your social media feed. The photos of parties on Instagram; the Snapchat stories…
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More black journalists are needed to tell stories for us, about us and by us
On July 14, President Donald Trump went on Twitter, and in a series of tweets, he attacked four politicians of color: Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). He explicitly told them to “go back” to the “broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Later that…
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Who gets to be a student?
After two years at Yale, I have learned that move-in never gets easier. When I was a first-year, the chaos of move-in meant frantic runs to thrift stores and supermarkets to acquire furniture, climbing more stairs than I ever imagined and being thrown into a group of 15 peers I had never seen for nightly…
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Some advice about advice
I stopped calling my parents in the middle of sophomore year. Not because I was angry or withdrawn but because I knew that every conversation would lead to me asking the same question: Am I doing this right? It started with shopping period, when I would call my parents sometimes three times a day. Then…
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What is a belief?
When I first arrived on campus, I was afraid to discuss politics. It wasn’t that I was uncertain of my beliefs, but Princeton students have a formidable reputation. Coming from the dirt roads and cornfields of the Midwest, having never dreamt of attending an Ivy League university, I knew I was entering the lists. The…
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Lost voices
They said that prisoners liked to have fun with little boys like me. They said that I would soon find myself defenseless and scared, forced to complete unsavory favors to survive a lifelong sentence. It was only a matter of time before the sounds of sirens on the street would drown out the cries of…
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Hookup culture hasn’t liberated us — yet
Apps are free to facilitate easy hooking up, but they should encourage users to respect and engage their sexual partners, not disregard them, and they need to take a stand against discrimination. “Hookup culture” is a term that gets tossed around by everyone from the bitterest baby boomers to the most progressive Generation Z kids.…
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Announcement from Families for Depression Awareness
Families for Depression Awareness is releasing its free “What Families Need to Know About Mental Health and Insurance” webinar on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 12pm ET. In this webinar, you’ll learn ways to help your loved one navigate insurance and pay for mental health treatment. Family caregivers and expert presenters will discuss important considerations…
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The role of a role model: Inspiring girls in school from a younger age
Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I saw little representation of women in STEM fields. The inspirational autobiographies I read while growing up mostly consisted of women politicians or writers. The shelves of our libraries were always lined with books written by the likes of Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, or Beverly Cleary. Once in a while,…
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Khan Academy highlights deficiencies in conventional teaching methods
Why our existing educational support system isn’t enough Have you ever prepared for an exam, only to realize that you didn’t understand what was taught in class? How often do you rely on Khan Academy to learn the material that you didn’t understand from your lectures? Khan Academy has truly changed who we are as…
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Why a decision that lasts a lifetime for students should receive more attention and assistance
Students are settling for majors they are not happy with just to make a decision. Thinking back, most can relate to the ambitious change that occurred when moving into college. You felt eager to take on the challenges of the unknown and try new things. It is a foreign experience that is difficult to fully…
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1st-year students should wait to join Greek life
Free Webinar from Families for Depression Awareness
Families for Depression Awareness is presenting a free Recognizing and Managing Teen Anxiety webinar on Wednesday, September 25 from 7:00 to 8:15 PM ET/ 4:00 to 5:15 PM PT. In this webinar, Lisa M. Schab, LCSW, a practicing psychotherapist and international best-selling author, will discuss the symptoms of an anxiety disorder, anxiety management skills adults…
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Tips for Parents: Setting Your Child on a Path for Success in the New School Year
The first day of school is already upon us. After a long summer of extreme weather and, perhaps, extreme boredom and moods by our teens, it’s critical to start thinking of ways to set them on a path of success for the new school year. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the top four drivers of…
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Requiring sex education in college can change lives
A lack of sex education leaves students unprepared and at risk in their sex lives. Of all the subjects we learn in college, sex education is one of the more complex and crucial topics that we should leave college understanding. Of all the required classes that the UW has set out for us, sex education…
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Don’t let your parents determine your career path
It’s up to you, not your parents, to decide what you do with both this summer and the rest of your life There’s something about going home for the summer that initially seems so satisfying. It’s been about two months since your last break, and you’ve just finished a grueling round of finals, so you…
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Data are just one point in the real story of sexual assault
Sometimes epiphanies happen when you least expect them. Mine came in the form of a question from a middle-aged father as he approached the microphone in front of our panel at SXSW [South by Southwest] 2019 about how to take action in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement. Looking me in the eye, he told…
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Giving credit where credit is due
As I headed into this semester’s midterms, I tried to figure out how I was going to study for my four exams. The stress of the semester had culminated in the challenge of attempting to ready myself for my tests while keeping up with regular class work, as well. Most of this semester has been…
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Why reunions?
This Memorial Day weekend, I return to New Haven for the Class of 1989’s 30th reunion. This will be my sixth class reunion. And because my wife is a member of the Class of 1988 and I have accompanied her to several reunions, I can safely say that I have been to at least ten…
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The romance of friendship
I have spent much of my Yale career looking for love. I have dated dozens of athletes and musicians, scientists and writers, boys and girls. As my friends entered into serious relationships and my own history of failed relationships and flings piled higher and higher, I only searched more fervently. However, as graduation drew near,…
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Uber safety: A forgotten concept among the app users
When Uber first came out, my parents were terrified at the thought of my using it. They were skeptical because it was a new and different concept, especially for a small country like Panama. Four years later, the only method of transportation they fully trust for me to use is Uber. When the news of…
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ANNOUNCEMENT FROM FAMILIES FOR DEPRESSION AWARENESS
Families for Depression Awareness is now offering the second webinar in our Coping with Stress and Depression in the Workplace series. You can watch our free webinar How Workplace Can Support Mental Wellness and Prevent Suicides on demand at your convenience. We would love your help sharing this resource! During this free 1-hour webinar, featured…
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A few thoughts on “racism” towards white people
A columnist at the Harvard Crimson recently wrote a column titled “Who Can Be ‘Racist’?” The columnist explores the question of whether minorities in the United States may make comments such as “I hate white people” — and whether such comments may be labeled as racist. This debate has recently surfaced at our own University. In response to a…
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Writing Never Gets Easier — That’s the Point
You’re sitting in Bobst Library between classes, being the responsible student that you are and actually using your only break of the day to start that essay due at 8 a.m. tomorrow. But almost immediately, you find that your brain decides to fry itself and forget the entire English lexicon. You end up staring at…
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When the dust settles
I guess I can start by telling you I graduated from college a few weeks ago, which is a pretty big accomplishment considering I got rejected from every university I applied to out of high school. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I had originally been accepted to San Jose State as a music major, and…
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Why we need to take more decisive measures to address racism in sports
About a month ago, Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook was told by two Utah Jazz fans to “get down on your knees like you used to.” A few weeks ago, English soccer players Danny Rose and Callum Hudson-Odoi were subject to racist abuse from Montenegro fans while playing for England. And last week, Italian striker Moise Kean faced racism from…
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Santa Fe vigil highlights nationwide apathy
I received a text message from a friend who knew one of the victims from the Santa Fe High School shooting, and she asked if I’d like to attend the vigil on May 20. Shocked and overwhelmed, I agreed to come with her to honor those who had passed away the day before. When I…
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Reflections on Navigating the High School Admission Process
It typically begins in seventh grade. Sometime in March or April. Unfamiliar feelings. Wandering eyes. Vague insecurities. Burgeoning cases of FOMO, or the “fear of missing out.” A dim awareness that other people are watching you, wondering what you’re thinking. This isn’t the first sign of puberty. These are not the hormone-induced emotions of fragile…
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Acknowledge the narratives of black students at Penn
Why I decided to join The Daily Pennsylvanian The art of being black at a predominantly white institution isn’t always pretty. It is noting the experiences you have that others do not, simply because of the color of your skin, whether those experiences bring tears of grief or joy. It is searching the school newspaper’s…
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The idea of love is great and all, but…
Since coming to Columbia, I have been in far too many romantic entanglements. But once I realized that I was actually unhappy with myself as a person, I finally gave up on love. It wasn’t just my personal experiences that led me to this conclusion, though. After seeing a friend of mine leave an abusive…
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It’s taxing to be a girl
A couple of months ago, I had to review a concert taking place in Kerrytown that would force me to go through the heart of Ann Arbor. It started at 7:00 p.m., which, being in winter, seemed like the dead of night. Not finding anyone to accompany me and knowing all too well the dangers…
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The Problem With Colleges Fetishizing POC Struggles
With the recent attention given to college admissions processes, one question remains: Why are universities so obsessed with hearing trauma stories from students of color? It’s no secret that it is much harder for students of color to be admitted to elite institutions. A New York Times analysis from 2017 indicates that black and Hispanic…
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Tough on trade (schools)
The bias against blue collar is hurting the country and its students When Aidan, who requested his last name be omitted, graduated from north Seattle’s Roosevelt High School in 2016, he knew almost nothing about vocational schooling. “I feel like Roosevelt was pretty focused on getting students into college,” Aidan said. “Most of the time…
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In defense of Black American culture
Since arriving on campus, I have been involved with many conversations with my peers similar to the following: “So… what are you?” Huh? “Like, where are you from?” Texas. “No! Like where are you really from?” Texas. Something that I quickly learned upon arriving here is that I am a minority. So now you’re probably…
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Conquering the fear of loneliness through independence
Loneliness is an inevitable feeling. No matter how many people you may surround yourself with, you’re going to feel lonely at some point. It may sneak up on you during a quiet moment in the day walking between classes, or when you’re pulling an all-nighter and find yourself alone in a group study space. While…
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Sailing Through High School: A Nautical Alternative
When my kids were little and needed to get out of the house, I took them down to the water. There was much to do: skip rocks, play in the sand, and make dams to hold back the tide. If the tide was low, we looked for creatures under the rocks. We had a dory…
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When Your NYU Community Doesn’t Respect You
NYU is the first community I have truly chosen to be a part of. I love this community and the people in it. I smile at people in my dorm’s elevator. When I share a table with someone in Kimmel, I strike up conversation. In every NYU student, I see someone whom I share an…
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Hold On Tight
Floating alone with my life preserver in the middle of rippling black water, I feel the whole world slow down. I push wet hair out of my eyes and watch the scene in front of me as if through a TV screen. The sound of the boat’s engine and the touch of the waves slapping…
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Perks of being sober
Staying sober might be the best part of a drunken Saturday night The music is too loud. The room is too crowded. The people are drunk. Believe it or not, bars are not all they’re cracked up to be — at least if you’re sober. I came to college knowing I wouldn’t drink. When family…
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Help for students in search of federal financial aid for college
Embark has created a new, entirely free service that helps US students apply for government financial aid. For over 20 years, Embark has provided colleges and schools with software to manage their application process. TeensParentsTeachers first contacted the company ten years ago so we could stay connected with each other on trends in admissions. Now…
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Finding Your Voice
Writing is difficult – especially when what you’re writing will be published on the Internet, where anyone and everyone can read it. I started this column last fall hoping that it would help me improve my writing. I’d always enjoyed the rewarding feeling that comes with putting your thoughts down on paper, and I’d reached…
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The Finale, for Now
We had four hours on the road before we had to officially call ourselves final semester seniors. The road was a safe haven — if you didn’t look at the hills of snow everywhere, spindly trees and the depressingly gray sky. Still, we were safe. “Would your freshman year self have thought you would be…
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Condemning white nationalism is too easy
In 1991, a brutal video of police officers beating motorcyclist Rodney King was released to the general public. Across the country outrage surged, with anger towards King’s assailants crossing racial and political lines. As critical theorist Kimberle Crenshaw describes, the video represented an “easy event for the entire mainstream of American culture to abhor, it did…
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Rejection: The hardest part of winter
The winter is the most dangerous time of the year — not just for chapped lips, bitter finger tips, and icy ground, but for a University student’s pride. Whether it’s applying to internships and spring classes or approaching someone on the Street to initiate cuffing season, rejection looms in the air. Hearing “the applicant pool…
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I’m worried about a teen in my life.
One out of every five teenagers struggles with depression. Depression can interfere with everyday life for teens and can lead to academic failure, substance abuse, bullying or being bullied, eating disorders, and suicide. Teen depression is often mistaken for normal teen angst. Many of the behaviors associated with adolescence — moodiness, anger, social withdrawal —…
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Helping My Son To Plan Ahead
My teenage son has bipolar disorder. My husband and I want him to be ready to manage his care and treatment decisions, so we’re engaging him now. I try to be well-rounded and active about mental health. I engage with my elected representatives to try to affect policy; I speak out to combat the stigma of…
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Today is the Day: I drop down
It’s week two of my sophomore year, and I’m already near tears. I don’t belong here, I think as I flip through the test. “Skip the hard ones,” they tell you. But what if they’re all hard ones? I had taken honors biology the year before and done well in it, getting a pretty solid A. I…
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The Tune of the Hick’ry Stick: An Apology
“What part of this don’t you understand?” the judge asked, frustration edging her voice. “You’re fifteen. The law says you need to be in school. Do you think the rules don’t apply to you?” The boy looked at her, swiveling slightly in the green, high-backed chair. He tugged a couple of times at his long…
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Were our textbooks really that helpful?
Before break, some friends in my dorm and I were discussing the different types of educations we received from elementary school through high school. There were the expected differences that arose between private and public schools, but we also realized there were stark differences based on where we grew up. Three of us — from…
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Want to help the world? Don’t do drugs
Three days after the 2016 presidential election, I watched a protest against President Donald Trump outside of Nassau Hall. People railed against the president-elect’s racism, misogyny, and conservatism. His heated rhetoric of Mexicans “bringing crime” and being “rapists” rocketed immigration to the forefront of national dialogue. After that day, there were rallies, op-eds, petitions, and clubs created to oppose his policies. Since…
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Let’s Tackle Teen Depression
ParentsAssociation.com has recently partnered with Families for Depression Awareness (FDA) to help spread the word about this resource. FDA provides a useful website containing advice, programs, guidance and free webinars. Below, you will find a couple of examples of what FDA offers. Here is a webinar that aired in October and that you can listen…
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Rigor is not value
Taking a course at Princeton, conventional wisdom would have it, requires a commitment to intellectual life and academic output. Yet it seems evident that our institution prioritizes rigor — or perceived rigor — over other considerations. This isn’t because rigor is required for understanding, nor because difficulty-for-the sake-of-difficulty is a pedagogical necessity. Rather, the point…
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Pause the podcast, take out your earbuds, and listen to your own thoughts
Your inner voice is your most important podcast When I would start to stress out about school, my hands would immediately go to my phone and earbuds. I needed to listen to something to take my mind off my thoughts. I would put on a podcast or listen to some music. But soon, it became…
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‘Woke’ men need to wake up
Among those who identify as liberal, a certain type of man has emerged: he calls himself a feminist, has many female friends, and has donated to Planned Parenthood. He prides himself in his interest in gender, and shakes his head when another prominent man is revealed as a sexual harasser. He also interrupts the women…
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How Coming Out as a Gay Teacher Helped My Students
Being out only endeared this teacher to his adolescent charges. As a gay high school teacher, I often ask myself how to best navigate my sexual orientation in my classroom. I believe that at a time when cultural conversations about what it means to be a man or a woman are not so clear, LGBT…
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Why I’m happy with my useless majors
Impracticality matters much less than you’d think when the alternative is a practical field of study that’ll lead to lackluster and underwhelming performances and interests. I have a useless major — two of them if you ask some people. As a cinema and political-science major, with a creative-writing interest, I feel as if I’ve…
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Posture and confidence at Kenyon
As a senior, I’ve been battling feelings of anxiety of being ordinary and failing to stand out. In a world of competition, you can never really feel too comfortable in your own skin. When we try our hardest and give our best attempts, there’s an internal pulse that carries us to the next step, ideally…
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The Sins of Us Fathers
Not much has changed in the world of booze and young people over the centuries. In the fall that I helped my daughter move into her room at college, I noticed a young man in the driveway of the house next door wrestling an empty beer keg into the back seat of his car, and,…
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Professors are right — taking notes by hand leads to greater comprehension, learning in class
Though banning laptops seems juvenile, taking notes by hand eliminates distractions, making lectures more conducive for learning It seems as though the age of laptops in classrooms came and went in the blink of an eye. To start off the school year, many professors have put their foot down and begun to insist that…
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Penn may have changed my bond with my father, but it’s just as strong
How college changes your relationship with your parents My dad and I are unusually close. When I was nine, my mother died following a six-year battle with breast cancer. In many ways, experiencing something like that at such a young age was a curse, but it also bonded me to my father. Starting college inevitably…
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The Show Must Go On: Reflecting on the Difficult Decisions Heads Have to Make
Students at The Chicago Academy for the Arts have a long history of taking on challenging material. However, the school’s ability to handle controversial work was recently put to the test. ********* Winter break was a few easy days away when Ben Dicke, the chair of our theatre department, stopped by my office to discuss…
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Consider teaching — especially if you’re a student of color
If you’re a person of color and passionate about social justice, try becoming a teacher. Our presence in the classroom has long-term implications on how future generations will come to navigate race, and now more than ever, our children need brilliant teachers of color. You might hesitate at this thought. If you’re anything like I…
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Lessons from high school
“In a few years you’re going to college,” my ninth-grade English teacher cautioned us. “And no one is going to care about what you did in high school.” Similar sentiments have echoed around me for years — from teachers, parents and, just this April, students at Yale. “Next year, nothing from high school will matter anymore.”…
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The Learning Curve: How We Learn and Rethinking the Education Model
(NOTE: Occasionally, we post articles about learning that we think will help parents evaluate their child’s experiences in school and enable parents to discuss education issues with teachers and school administrators. This article is one of those.) In the 18th and 19th centuries, various infections, often called childbed fever, were common causes of childbirth-related maternal…
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Me, too
The #MeToo movement has come, but it has not yet gone; while the testimonials of women who were sexual harassed have largely faded from our Facebook and Twitter feeds, the issue of sexual harassment — in the workplace, in the classroom, at the bar — has continued to dominate public discourse. In the wake of the…
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Startups, a Millennial Myth
Earlier this month, I went to watch my best friend pitch her non-profit startup at Harvard’s 2018 President’s Innovation Challenge. Of the fifteen competition finalists, only two teams were entirely composed of undergraduates. This surprised me — at a top school with no shortage of young talent, where entrepreneurs have access to a vast array of resources and a…
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Selfishness Won’t Save Us
Last semester, I went to an event at Oxford organized by The Economist called “The Future of Work.” This title has become shorthand for nebulous concepts such as “the AI/Automation revolution” and how they might lead to mass chronic unemployment in the near future. I have had a keen interest in this for a couple of years and…
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Re-orientating our attitude toward loneliness
Recalling first-year orientation brings back little besides the sensation of immense loneliness. Watching as my peers made fast friends with each other, feeling like an outsider observing social rituals conducted in a foreign tongue. I didn’t connect to anyone that first week at Brown, or the second. As my first semester slogged on and I…
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Back to School Anxiety…the good, the bad, and what a parent can do
Losing sleep before school starts? This may describe both you and your kids. You may be counting off the things you still have left to do, the items you still have to get organized or purchased, the tutors lined up, the rides, the after-school programs, oh, yes—the rides back from those, the lunches, the forms,…
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The effect of Adderall on abusers is staggering
With the quiet start of finals week settling over countless college campuses across the country, the even quieter exchange between buyer and seller of mixed amphetamine salts resounds with an estimated 6.5 million non-medical users of prescription drugs, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health — including college students, who use one…
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In moments of trial, are we ready to act?
My blood ran cold as I watched the man smash his fist into his victim’s face. The other man crumpled to the floor, but the assailant continued to strike. I was terrified. This was neither a scene from an action movie nor a training simulation. It was real-life violence, unfolding before my eyes. *** Last…
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Helping Your Child Succeed in School
Many parents suffer from watching their son or daughter struggle in school. They often feel powerless to help. Daniel Franklin knows that parents can help. He believes that the relationship–the partnership–between a caregiver and child is the single most important factor in transforming struggle into success. He has written a book with the number-one goal…
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The Reality of Being Black in Iowa
When I was about to graduate from high school in Grand Rapids, Michigan, many people ridiculed me for only applying to three colleges. My classmates had applied to eight or nine colleges and insisted I needed to broaden my options. But I didn’t need to apply to 15 schools because I knew that no matter what happened,…
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There’s probably nothing wrong with you
I spent almost the entire two first years of my college experience wondering if there was something wrong with me. I never liked going out to the Street — every time I’d tried, I hadn’t had a great time. Maybe I hung out with the wrong people or went to the wrong clubs, but when…
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The faces of autism
It’s serendipitous that I write this column in April, which just happens to be Autism Awareness Month. It’s promising to see events that raise awareness about autism, such as the annual 3K walk organized by Spectrum: Autism at Cal. But despite these causes, there is still a lot of confusion surrounding this diagnosis. And as…
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The endless uphill of social media
Stanford’s beautiful campus and close access to open spaces were a huge draw for me. Growing up in the mountains of Colorado caused me to appreciate the value of nature. I knew that I needed places to escape campus, to hike and to run. Open space brings vitality to my soul and helps me mentally reset…
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Don’t romanticize destructive habits
According to the American College Health Association, nearly one out of five university students is affected by anxiety or depression. There are many reasons why these disorders may be prevalent on college campuses, including smartphone addiction, the rising cost of college and mental exhaustion. Nearly all students at Brown experience some form of mental exhaustion at least…
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Changing the way we teach race
In the eighth grade I was asked if I wanted to step out of the room while the class learned about slavery. When I politely declined, I was allowed to sit with my classmates as we were taught the wonders of slave culture — the music and religions cultivated from a beautiful blend of two cultures,…
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Are Your Shoes Classist? Are You?
You see them every day, probably. They’re ugly, but we’re expected to believe they’re a subversive type of ugly, emblematic of revolutionary sentiments and avant-garde innovations in fashion and culture itself. Yes, I mean the Balenciaga Triple S Trainers. People that sport this clunky, worn-in footwear probably don’t realize that their ironically and offensively expensive apparel choices…
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How campus culture cultivates body-image issues
College cultivates a toxic culture surrounding beauty expectations for women and forces us to try to imitate unrealistic ideals. As college students, we tend to be under perpetual stress. It’s an expected, although unwelcome, aspect of school. Exams, essays, loans — not to mention the ever-elusive social life — are enough to break down even…
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The stories we choose
In her TED Talk on the “single story,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie addresses our adherence to single stories — of places and their political landscapes, of others, and of ourselves. We advance the single story because it allows us to understand the world in a linear, comfortable way and to comprehend ideas of excellence one-dimensionally. From…
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Juuling: An Alarming Trend Reversing Decades of Health Gains
Cigarette smoking has been on a steady decline among teens for the past decade. That’s good news … but, a new craze called “Juuling” is threatening to reverse that. A Juul is a brand of e-cigarette that has become popular among middle and high schoolers, at least in part because of youth-friendly flavors and a…
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Am I Growing Up?
We’re told that college will fundamentally change us, but that’s not how it always pans out. Back in high school, everyone was clamoring to get out. “I can’t wait to leave,” they said. “Senior spring can’t come soon enough,” they said. And when August rolled around and summer came to an end and college loomed large right…
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Connecting the Ivory Tower to the real world
The classes I’m taking this semester have me circling back to this one thought: How applicable is the stuff I’m learning in the classroom to the real world? We’re so fortunate to attend a place like Brown. Only a small minority of us will ever get the chance to receive a college education, live in…
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For the miles ahead
As a senior on the track and field and cross country teams, my time at Yale has revolved around seconds, miles and a 15-minute bus schedule. Like all distance runners, each day brings its own demands, including a consistent stream of prescribed miles. Though a mile may seem to be a uniform measure of distance,…
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Be uncomfortable
Around this time each year, the perennial question resurfaces: What do I do this summer? And, if you’re one of the two-thirds of seniors who won’t be in the all-entangling tresses of consulting or finance next year, the question could simply be: What do I do? My answer to you? Something completely different. After graduating…
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Resilience gets personal…
My best friend’s daughter killed herself last spring. Our families had grown up together. We were on vacation with her parents when it happened and got the news together. And no, we didn’t see it coming. I know we can’t stop kids from killing themselves, but I feel compelled to try, no doubt like every…
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Combating sexual harassment in middle schools
Despite every middle school’s valiant efforts, cramming hundreds of pubescent kids into a building is an uncomfortable experience for everyone involved. Yet the most uncomfortable issue that emerges with the onset of puberty is also the one least discussed: sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is appallingly common in middle school, and unfortunately the incomplete education students…
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Thinking About Campus Transparency
To pass the science building at night is to wonder at the glow of lab tables and Smartboards, the white lab coats and goggles neatly hung, the textbooks and spider plants bathed in the light of energy-efficient dimmers. You don’t have to look closely to catch the faculty prepping the week’s lessons—or tending to something…
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Kindness is a powerful form of activism
After a year that even the creators of South Park found impossible to parody, current events have lost their ability to shock us, and something of a formula has formed. As attentive and impassioned students, we see the way things are, we measure our dissatisfaction, we react. But a realization struck me last month as I…
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Overcoming rejection
It was only Thanksgiving season, and I’d already been rejected by three academic conferences, three a cappella groups, two fellowships, two summer internships, and one guy I really liked. I’m not even done yet; I’m applying for a multitude of other programs, with the hope that maybe I’ll be accepted to one for the summer. I once thought…
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It’s time for Syracuse University students to address our self-segregation problem
Let me start by saying segregation is far from dead. It might not be politically enforced, but institutions have ways of naturally segregating people, and colleges fall into that category. From the moment students step on Syracuse University’s campus and are handed their first Otto’s Army shirt, they’re instantly pressured to find their place and…
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Teaching Boys to Become Compassionate Men — On and Off the Athletic Field
The hit in the corner was colossal. Boards and glass shook as the two ice hockey players peeled themselves away from the collision site. One player in a green-and-white jersey glided uneasily toward the bench. His moans of pain suggested he had sustained an injury. He held his right arm close to his body as…
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Hooking up ousts firm relationships
Teenage relationships commonly consist of casual hookups or long-term couplings. To say this generation is inadequate in forming emotionally intimate relationships is probably the understatement of the century. Instead, we seem to be creating non-relationship relationships. Just the other day, while walking through the hallowed halls of Brookline High School, mindlessly eavesdropping and people-watching per…
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Toward a broader job search
As the spring semester begins, students are scrambling to secure summer internships and post-graduation positions. The pressure is especially high for seniors, who will soon be completing their final semester and walking through the Van Wickle gates into the dreaded “real world.” For those of us seniors who still don’t have a job lined up…
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Leave millennials alone about their piercings and tattoos
Over the summer, I interned at Long Beach City Hall. I had to apply for the position and was eventually interviewed. My interview went well: I brought my resume, dressed for the occasion and made sure I appeared qualified. I also had bright blue hair in high school, including when I interviewed for my internship.…
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Another kind of doctor
From the time I was in elementary school to the summer before I came to Yale, if you had asked me what kind of career I was going to go into, I would have told you that I was going to go to medical school and become some kind of physician. When people back home…
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Does the stress of high school ever end?
I have thought about the above question for as long as I have been at Kenyon, and even as a sophomore, I am still not sure if I can answer it. The preoccupation with getting into a “good” college consumed my life beginning in the ninth grade. Even though admissions officers encourage potential applicants to…
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Detriments of living in a college bubble
For many students, college exists as a place to escape reality; an environment in which avoiding pressures associated with the outside world can be avoided. There’s fresh, hot food available at multiple dining halls, without any personal preparation necessary. The bathrooms are perfectly cleaned, without any manual labor from the students who use them. There…
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A Teacher Opens Up About Becoming a Student in a MOOC
On the wall in the most inconspicuous and least traveled room in my house, two framed certificates from selective and expensive institutions of higher learning proclaim that I have completed a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. Next to them hang two other certificates indicating that I have completed and passed two online MIT courses…
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Group projects are horrible
There are a few things a professor can say that will automatically make me fear taking a class. For example, “This class is not curved,” or, “I expect half of you to fail or drop out of my course,” or the awful “The final is cumulative.” But in my opinion, nothing is worse than the…
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A Case of Mistaken Identity
Escaping some stereotypes while embracing others presents a difficult task. Stereotypes have always followed me around. In elementary school, the “Asian” accent was a running joke. All my friends did it and I did it too, perhaps as a way of deflecting the joke, owning the joke, showing that it didn’t matter and that I…
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Improving our civic knowledge
Last week, while investigating a politician using public records from the Rhode Island Superior Court and State House for a course, I made a startling discovery: I quickly realized my basic high school education about American government had slipped away from me. As I spoke to administrators who asked me what type of court case…
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Teaching tolerance
When my sister told me she was trans, her eyes wide open for my response, I almost laughed. I told her that she should give it some time, that she was too young to make such a big decision. I didn’t understand why she took off in front of me when I suggested that maybe…
Read MoreTeensParentsTeachers is an online communication center that brings parents, guardians, students and teachers together to discuss topics relative to helping teenagers become adults. We offer articles, links to other useful sites and a forum for discussing and sharing ideas that cover a wide range of topics: educational issues, college admission, college life, health, nutrition, substance…
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How to resist the pressure to buy young children a smartphone
The holidays are upon us–the season of giving gifts, a time when it’s especially difficult for parents to resist the clamor of children begging for a smartphone. Research into cellphone use among young children suggests that this technology is doing real damage. Smartphone use by the young has been linked to increasing depression, sense of…
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Making A Splash
(Note: This is a talk given at an academic awards ceremony to students, parents and teachers.) In the ‘60s during the flowering of the hippie generation, young people didn’t trust anyone over 30. We didn’t like adults, didn’t want to become one. I recall vividly vowing that I would be dead before I turned 30,…
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Students should understand the benefits of getting involved
Being active in your field of choice early on increases the likeliness of future success There is no denying that college life is busy. The average student’s planner is filled with lists of commitments, exams and work schedules. But college is also a time to grow, make memories and develop foundations for the future. Amongst…
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My mid-college crisis
As a junior who came into Brown thinking she had it all figured out, I’m more confused about what I want to do with my life now than I was as a bright-eyed freshman. In high school the choices seemed black-and-white: I imagined I’d spend my undergraduate years preparing for either law, medical or business…
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Digital Citizenship and Social-Emotional Skills Are Inseparable
Every school has its own unique culture. It is made up of all the ways in which students relate to one another and their teachers. In today’s world, digital devices in particular (and technology in general) have a huge effect on these relationships. For better or worse, communication is different now, and it has the…
Read MoreYour guide to raising teens: Parenting tips from Artemis Hospital
Adolescence is certainly the most important phase in one’s life. Rachna Khanna Singh, a psychologist at Artemis Hospital (Gurgaon, India) and a well-known lifestyle management expert, believes that parents should be sensitive to the behavioral changes that occur in teens. Adolescence usually gives rise to conflicts between parents and kids, sparked by the reemergence of latent sexual impulses as…
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The importance of time to oneself
When I think back on my summer, some of my favorite moments were spent alone. Oddly enough, I really enjoyed my daily one-hour commute in Los Angeles traffic from the San Fernando Valley to Pasadena. My falsetto dramatically improved with all of the R&B music that I sang along to in the car, and my…
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Saving for retirement, now
Two weeks ago, I wrote an article in the News encouraging students to over-borrow for their education while simultaneously investing money for the future. This week, I want to backtrack and answer the question: “Why on Earth would I save for retirement during my bright college years?” As is so often true, the limitations of…
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Inbox anxiety
There are a lot of things about myself that I expected to change once I started college — more friends, better classes, less junk food (a delusion and a failure, I assure you) — but one thing I didn’t expect was my newfound addiction to checking my email. Walking to class? Let me refresh my…
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Credentials over color
This year has been a big one for women’s tennis. Serena Williams, arguably the greatest living tennis player, won a Grand Slam while pregnant and delivered a beautiful baby girl. Meanwhile, her rival Maria Sharapova not only returned to the circuit after fulfilling the conditions of her suspension for using banned substances but also authored a book. That book immediately…
Read MoreShort Circuit
Teachers can learn something from electricians. For example, taking the path of least resistance isn’t always the best way to go. If we want the lights to go on, the current needs to flow through the full circuit, and a short cut, like a nail lying across the wire, usually results in darkness. English teachers,…
Read MoreAt Winsor School, the Student-Teacher Relationship Drives Academic Support
Laura Vantine Academic support is a significant concern for independent schools — more so today than in the past. On the surface, the trends seem worrisome: A number of schools say more students are struggling, while others report that more parents are pushing for individual support and accommodations, specifically so their children can gain extended time…
Read MoreA message from “dumb” athletes
While some seem to believe that nothing athletes have to say is worthy of their time, we want to discuss why recent statements about student-athletes have underestimated just about every Yale student, in addition to shaming and devaluing a specific group within this community. The central message of these negative stereotypes is that student-athletes do…
Read MoreGrowing up (wanting to be) white
On Hollywood whitewashing and why representation matters When I was younger, I wanted to be an author. I wanted to write short stories and plays and novels. I thought something was keeping me back, though — my name. I didn’t think the name “Jessica Li” would look good on a byline, underneath the glossy title…
Read MoreOn the Ground
If Marathon Helicopters flew over our house, as they often do, shuttling tourists around Resurrection Bay, if they passed overhead on a certain evening this week, at what seems to be our family’s witching hour, the pilot and passengers might have witnessed a mother yank the crutch right out of her boy’s hand, storm across…
Read MoreMore Than a Token
Parting reflections on being black at UChicago. “If I were you, I would just go to whatever state school you’ve already been accepted to. The University of Chicago is really a tough institution, and I’m not quite sure you’d do well there, if we’re being honest.” I felt my heart beating fast, my mouth getting…
Read MoreWhat I (actually) wish I knew freshman year
As of writing this, two weeks from now I’ll be sitting on a beach somewhere. Three weeks from now, I’ll be enjoying my last Reunions as a student. And four weeks from now, I’ll probably be at home, waking up and wondering if this was all a dream. Knowing this is my last column for…
Read MoreMotivation
It was cold, a November evening, and I was the administrator on duty, so I was walking around the campus shortly after dinner on my way to the athletic center to lock the building. The last coach to leave after practice was supposed to lock up but never did. My mood was not good. The…
Read MoreThe art of opinion-making
I love opinions—I energetically spatter them around with Pollock-like imprecision, with the Columbia student body as my canvas. And at a campus like Columbia, that is not a distinct characteristic; the campus is colored by our vehemently expressed viewpoints and opinions. However, before being an opinion columnist this semester, I honestly believed that my opinions…
Read MoreDemanding respect for women in intramural sports
A few weeks ago, I played in an intramural soccer game in which I was the only woman playing. When I walked into the gym and saw four or five extremely tall, muscular men warming up on the other side of the field, I was a little intimidated. As a 5-foot-3-inch, 140-pound woman, I wasn’t keen…
Read MoreWhy Young People Should Embrace the Whole Life Movement
At first glance, the term “whole life” can conjure up numerous different feelings, depending on the context. There are those who believe it’s just another euphemism for the right-wing anti-abortion mob; there are those who see it as another movement in the Christian community that won’t actually take us anywhere. I believe it to be…
Read MoreEx-Stream Entertainment
Netflix exploits and distorts serious issues to create binge-worthy shows. For a large percentage of students, exam procrastination takes the form of Netflix. I love Netflix. But it’s a love-hate relationship. While I appreciate the instant access to a wide variety of easy procrastination, recently released Netflix shows like 13 Reasons Why have capitalized on the addictive…
Read MoreEmbrace failure
Steven Spielberg was a repeated failure. He received unimpressive grades in high school, and was rejected three times — yes, three — from the University of Southern California. Yet Spielberg went on to direct 51 films, win 3 Oscars and amass a wealth upward of $3 billion. It is no coincidence that before succeeding, Spielberg…
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The Era of Not Knowing
I know enough about myself, and what I tend to write, that this final, end-of-the-semester piece will be reminiscent of this school year. I’m no longer the freshman who can write about the conflicting feelings of dorm life and the realization that everyone struggles, but never wants to leave Cornell. And I’m not a senior,…
Read MoreThe Costs of Paying Attention, The Value of Reflection
Recent studies done by neuroscientist Mary Helen Immordino-Yang (University of Southern California) and her colleague Joanna Christodoulou (Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT) suggest that educators need to consider much more carefully the role of reflection in learning.1 They cite new theories of two brain systems that control our attention. One is activated when we engage with…
Read MoreStop telling kids you’re bad at math. You are spreading math anxiety ‘like a virus.’
“How was skiing?” I asked my 14-year old daughter as she hauled her boot bag into the car. “Well, the ratio of snow to ground was definitely low,” she replied, adding that she had tried to figure the ratio of snow-to-ground during practice but had received only mystified looks. “Stop the math!” demanded a coach. “You…
Read MoreLearning Disabled or School Disabled?
According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, my grandson is one of about 6.4 million children who have been diagnosed with ADHD. The symptoms of ADHD include inattentiveness in school, distractibility, inability to sustain attention, difficulty finishing school work, difficulty shifting from task to task, procrastination, and fidgeting when seated. In other words, if you…
Read MoreAssessments That Provide Real Insight into Learning
A math teacher described a problem he was having with his 2nd graders: “One of the goals of our math curriculum is to enable the students to articulate their mathematical reasoning. We would like them to explain, ‘The problem said two more came, so I knew I needed to add,’ but instead we get, ‘I…
Read MoreAdvice for Adults on Teen Car Accidents
I am a high school student in Charles City, Iowa. In our writing class, we are researching topics that we believe are large issues in the world today. I chose to research teenage car crashes. I researched the large number of accidents resulting from drinking and reckless driving. I came up with two ideas to…
Read MoreParental Expectations and Pressures
I am a high school student in Burleson, Texas, and would like to inform you of an issue I find very pressing in today’s society and education. As you know, education is a key factor for bettering students in our country. I have an issue with how parents’ expectations affect the mental and physical health…
Read MoreParents, Kids and Technology
We are high school sophomores in Lafayette, Indiana. We would like to make parents across America aware of the negative factors of the technology age. We feel the majority of parents are not well informed about the negative effects technology can have on the younger generation. Technology is a key in the development and progression…
Read MoreAdolescents Struggle to Identify Fake News
Given the multitude of phony news stories spawned during the 2016 election, culminating in the shooting at a D.C. pizza restaurant, the Stanford History Education Group’s study of adolescents’ ability to judge the credibility of all the information vying for their attention in cyberspace is amazingly timely. The study focused on over 7,800 middle school,…
Read MoreMy School, My Self
“I just needed a place where I could be myself.” That was Teri’s assessment of what was missing from her life in school, and my experience suggests that she speaks for hundreds of thousands, probably millions, of students. School is not typically a place for the self, at least not the self of students. A…
Read More“If For No Other Reason But That I Said So”
(This speech was addressed to students, their parents and teachers at an academic awards ceremony.) Ceremonies like this one are a way for one generation to pass the ideals and values of a society to the next generation. On this day, your teachers sit up here as a visual reminder of the responsibility adults have…
Read MoreWhat Happens to Empathy Deferred?
As an alumnus of an independent school, I have enjoyed reading about the increasing emphasis on teaching cooperation, teamwork, mindfulness, and empathy. As independent schools become more globally and racially diverse, the need for greater reflection, for awareness of one’s own thinking and biases, and for curiosity about the perspectives of others also grows. The…
Read MoreCivics in Uncivil Times
Facing down the challenges of teaching the 2016 election, with resources for preparing engaged citizens In a chaotic and hostile election season — rupturing political parties, incessant name-calling, and growing dissension along racial and class lines — it may be tempting for educators to discourage political talk at school. But as the school…
Read MoreThe Honor Code Vote – One Student Senator’s View
Should an honor code place one student against another? Is it the best way to ensure an honest and trusting atmosphere at a high school? Will it ensure moral action and thinking? In the Final faculty-Student Senate meeting of the winter term, we voted to adopt an honor code for Lawrence Academy. I left with…
Read MoreArab American Students in Public Schools
Arab Americans in U.S. schools represent more than 20 countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa. They share many similarities with other immigrant groups seeking to establish an ethnic identity in a heterogeneous country, but they also face additional challenges. These result especially from negative stereotyping; racism and discrimination; widespread misinformation about their history…
Read MoreThe Public Purpose of Private Schools
Independent schools are uniquely positioned to make a difference in the public domain. Given the societal turf independent schools occupy, the considerable resources they command, and the powerful network of caring and influential people they attract, independent schools have the opportunity – and, I believe, the obligation – to do more than educate 1.5 percent…
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What Should Parents and Teachers Know About Bullying
Bullying in schools is a worldwide problem that can have negative effects on the general school climate and on the right of students to learn in a safe environment without fear. Bullying can also have negative lifelong consequences—both for students who bully and for their victims. This brochure characterizes bullies and their victims, offers advice…
Read MoreThe Trouble with the Standards Movement
With the best of intentions, President George Bush and the nation’s governors met in 1989 in Charlottesville, Virginia, to make the schools of the United States into world-class institutions, competitive with the best schools among industrialized countries. By calling for the creation of high standards with tests to measure student achievement and to hold teachers…
Read MoreCOMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
INTRODUCTION The Groton/Dunstable School district’s Community Service Learning and Development (CSLD) initiative has been evolving over the past years through the initial efforts of Ms. Donna Kwajewski, director of Curriculum and Staff Development and Mr. Joseph Dillon, Principal, Groton/Dunstable Regional High School. It was at the high school that the first CSLD efforts began. Now,…
Read MoreDiscipline Project Tests Group Participation
New Justice Department research helps validate the need for all members of the “school community” to work together to improve campus climates. Although many aspects of the bullying problem remain controversial, one finding has received general support: The real culprit is the “growing-up environment” of the bully. Adults in the bully’s environment are often unaware…
Read MoreThe Challenges of Parent Involvement Research
Despite the validity of some studies, much parent involvement research to date contains serious methodological flaws. But it is possible that more effective parent involvement will generate cost savings by lessening the need for remedial and other special programs. National Council of Jewish Women Center for the Child Amy J. L. Baker and Laura M.…
Read MoreSchool Strategies for Increasing Safety
The recent incidents of horrible violence at presumably safe schools in protected communities has caused great concern and disillusionment as teachers, parents, and students face the fact that even these schools are vulnerable to violent acts. Numerous reports show schools organizing to manage such a potential crisis. But are public schools really dangerous places? Should…
Read MoreA Symbiosis of Sorts School Violence and the Media
The schools and the media sometimes seem locked in a symbiotic dance of death, making it difficult to think about school violence without taking note of its connection to the ever-present media. Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media Teachers College, Columbia University by Gene I. Maeroff The names roll off the tongue like a…
Read MorePreparing Middle School Students for a Career
How can middle schools promote the development and education of adolescents? How can they focus students’ attention on career opportunities and training? This article offers families some ideas about how they can encourage their children’s career awareness. Information in this guide was drawn from Digest No. 155 published by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult,…
Read MoreNew Information on Youth Who Drop Out: Why They Leave and What Happens to Them
from ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education by Wendy Schwartz It has been known for many years that young people who don’t complete high school face many more problems in later life than do people who graduate. But, while national leaders have demanded that schools, communities, and families make a major effort to retain students, the…
Read MoreCareer Development for African American and Latina Females
African American and Latina adolescent females need extensive support for developing and implementing career plans. There is a need to provide female adolescents of color with a career education that will enable both economic self-sufficiency and personal fulfillment. ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education by Jeanne Weiler Low-income African American and Latina adolescent females need extensive…
Read MoreThe Chronicle of Higher Education
Click here to see how particular universities stack up in their gender equity in sports programs.
Read MoreThe Athletic Experiences of Ethnically Diverse Girls
Today, girls make up about 37 percent of all high school athletes, and one girl in three participates in sports. Despite these gains, girls’ sports programs still receive a disproportionately smaller share of resources than boys’. Girls’ involvement in school- and community-based athletic programs has grown since the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of…
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Do Female Athletes Prefer Male Coaches
The Women’s Sports Foundation Position It is often heard from male and female athletes that he or she prefers a male coach. Eighty percent of all coaches at the high school and college level are male. Only two percent of the coaches of men’s teams and less than half of the coaches of women’s teams…
Read MoreRecruiting Retention and Advancement of Women in Athletics
Women’s Sports Foundation This is a very different time with a very different feeling. There is a tension between men and women in the workplace that has never existed before. There is, according to Susan Faludi in her book, a “backlash” against the invasion of women into the workplace and women who seek equal rights…
Read MoreThe Challenges of Parent Involvement Research
Despite the validity of some studies, much parent involvement research to date contains serious methodological flaws. But it is possible that more effective parent involvement will generate cost savings by lessening the need for remedial and other special programs. National Council of Jewish Women Center for the Child Amy J. L. Baker and Laura M.…
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Raising Cain – Book Review
– March 2000 What Pipher accomplished for girls in her book, Reviving Ophelia, psychotherapists Kindlon and Thompson are trying to do for boys. Their book is an eloquent discussion of the struggles boys face as they learn to be men in our culture. From Literary Cavalcade, property of Scholastic Inc. by Dan Kindlon and Michael…
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The Most Important People
At a press conference last year, President Clinton, addressing the flap about the First Lady in her interview with Talk magazine, said, “But I can tell you this, as I think about other children in the world and in our country that have difficulties growing up, I am convinced from my own life and from…
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College Links
Check out our Links page for some sites that will help you with the college process. Scroll down to “College-bound links,” where you will find directories of colleges and universities (both 4-year and community colleges, private and public), information on digital badges (an alternative to traditional colleges), and help on navigating financial aid.
Read MoreCompany or College — Corporate Connections – Mutual benefit or Moral Corruption
Students are questioning universities’ practices and their relationships with corporations. In a Nov. 1 New York Times article that became a popular topic of discussion on campus, reporter Karen Arenson described Columbia’s ascendancy in the following words: “As much a business as an ivory tower…” A business? In the most traditional sense, schools are not…
Read MoreCollege Central
FENCED IN BY DELUSIONS: Parents & College Admissions – Fall, 1996 Parents can be confounded by playing the college admissions game. Common pleas made by parents are explored, and alternate roles for parents are discussed. How much impact can a parent have on the future of a senior high school student? Independent School, Vol.…
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A Guide to Youth Smoking Prevention Policies and Programs
Social problems in many urban areas often lead to smoking by teenagers. They believe — wrongly — that tobacco will help reduce their stress and make them look “cool” instead of insecure. Many pressures for smoking are discussed, as well as countermeasures. The number of young people who smoke is decreasing, but one third of…
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Smoking Prevention Strategies for Urban and Minority Youth
Smoking is declining among many teenagers,but one-third of high schoolers still use tobacco. This article explores the risks of smoking and campaigns to prevent it. Overall, the number of adolescents who smoke and use smokeless tobacco is decreasing, and the decrease is sharpest among minority youth. Still, about one-third of high school students use tobacco…
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Reducing Injury and Death in Teen Drivers
Given that automobile crashes are the leading cause of injury and death in teens, you can pretty much say that teens drive themselves to trauma centers. And, they do this in record numbers. Car crashes account for approximately 6,000 deaths annually of American teens. While 15 to 20 year olds only account for 6.7%…
Read MoreGetting Along with Others – Article
As students we should learn to live with one another right now, because we’re going to have to do it the rest of our lives. By learning to live and accept that others are and will always be different, we take a step away from ignorance, and a step towards knowledge. Address to New Students…
Read MoreSupporting What We Don’t Believe
– November 1999 Freedom of speech is not absolute, as Supreme Court decisions have told us. Yet what rights do we have about seeing our funds being used as we want them? The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that will affect colleges and universities across the nation, including Columbia. In…
Read MorePublic School Reform: Innovation Not Renovation
– November 19, 1999 Public schools are in serious trouble: Standardized test scores have not increased while dropout rates, teacher turnover rates, and school violence rates have all increased. Students are more belligerent, curricula are less modern, and teachers are less skilled than ever before. Is there a cure? From Columbia Spectator,…
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The Rise of Gun Violence – Who Shoots Whom
– November 16, 1999 What can be done to end the senseless mass killings? Are the Media to blame? Can the Media paint a more accurate picture? It was by chance last week that I caught wind of a breaking story of another shooting, this time in my hometown in South Florida. The…
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The Most Productive Third of Your Life
– November 12, 1999 Sleep is needed to rejuvenate the body and mind. What is the most important part of sleep? Too little sleep can be very detrimental to your health. People spend one third of their lives in an altered state of consciousness. This is required for normal growth and development, and it…
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BINGE-DRINKING PLAGUES EVEN THE IVY LEAGUE
Is boredom a factor in binge drinking? Is it a pressure relief, or a way to fit in? Ms. Dressler examines these and other possible causes of this dilemma. Many people are under the impression that Columbia University does not have a problem with campus drinking, at least not as much as the Big Ten,…
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Divorce Source
Divorce Source — Information from every state for divorcees, and their children. www.divorcesource.com
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Go Ask Alice
— Ask about sex, drugs, health, and relationships, from Columbia University Health Services www.goaskalice.columbia.edu
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Marriage Builders
Marriage Builders — A large site helping couples understand how to fall in love and stay in love. Marriage Builders offers a wealth of articles, an active discussion board, personal coaching services, and much more. www.marriagebuilders.com
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