2019 Boys Soccer Verbal Commitments

[Unregistered]

Grad school is s different beast. A lot more research being done there, especially MIT.

MIT PhD researchers are some of the top folks in the country to be CTO's for high tech startups. If we are using federally funded R&D to create such folks who then return to China to develop such small businesses shame on us.

[Unregistered]

what kind of stress? social stress?
I might agree with this but only because there is excessive political correctness in a way that kids, especially boys, are not permitted to express themselves. I don't mean rape or bullying, but they get hammered for insignificant utterances because any one of a thousand different social groups gets offended.

Class stress...academics? I don't think there is enough.

Totally disagree. My wife is a HS guidance counselor. Depression and anxiety is up significantly among teens. Every school has had to hire more metal health experts. Kids have more than enough stress, and some aren't handling it well, with increased rates of depression, self harming, even suicide . Until more teens learn how to handle stress better we shouldn't be making it worse. We can improve the academic performance of our HS students without stressing them out more. Better teachers would be a start - the # of ineffectual teachers in the system thanks to tenure and the union is absurd. It drives my wife crazy watching teachers phone it in. If the pay and benefits weren't so good (I work for myself so it matters) she'd prefer to work at a private school where poor performing teachers get sh*tcanned regularly

"According to one study, approximately half of all high school students feel a great deal of stress on a daily basis. As author and film producer Vicki Abeles writes, there’s a “nationwide epidemic of school-related stress.” The cause? Abeles says that “expectations surrounding education have spun out of control,” with excessive loads of activities, homework, and sports." https://education.good.is/articles/h...s-stressed-out

More on teen stress

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-c...nd-millennials

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...gical/5266739/

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-...y-shows-n26921

https://psychcentral.com/lib/increas...en-depression/

[Unregistered]

Totally disagree. My wife is a HS guidance counselor. Depression and anxiety is up significantly among teens. Every school has had to hire more metal health experts. Kids have more than enough stress, and some aren't handling it well, with increased rates of depression, self harming, even suicide . Until more teens learn how to handle stress better we shouldn't be making it worse. We can improve the academic performance of our HS students without stressing them out more. Better teachers would be a start - the # of ineffectual teachers in the system thanks to tenure and the union is absurd. It drives my wife crazy watching teachers phone it in. If the pay and benefits weren't so good (I work for myself so it matters) she'd prefer to work at a private school where poor performing teachers get sh*tcanned regularly

"According to one study, approximately half of all high school students feel a great deal of stress on a daily basis. As author and film producer Vicki Abeles writes, there’s a “nationwide epidemic of school-related stress.” The cause? Abeles says that “expectations surrounding education have spun out of control,” with excessive loads of activities, homework, and sports." https://education.good.is/articles/h...s-stressed-out

More on teen stress

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-c...nd-millennials

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...gical/5266739/

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-...y-shows-n26921

https://psychcentral.com/lib/increas...en-depression/

I wonder what teachers would say about guidance. Great job less stress, few complaining parents, likely better pay, union?

[Unregistered]

I wonder what teachers would say about guidance. Great job less stress, few complaining parents, likely better pay, union?

Believe me, she has parents hounding her ALL THE TIME. She definitely isn't paid as well as teachers. She also has nearly 300 kids to work with from one extreme to the other in terms of grades, attitudes, mental health issues, substance abuse issues.... She also has to come up with creative letters of recommendation that make lazy students sound good. Some HS teachers are amazing, caring and give 150%. Some simply are not. They're out the door the minute the bell rings, take weeks to return assignments, count the day until they get to retire with a nice package.

[Unregistered]

Believe me, she has parents hounding her ALL THE TIME. She definitely isn't paid as well as teachers. She also has nearly 300 kids to work with from one extreme to the other in terms of grades, attitudes, mental health issues, substance abuse issues.... She also has to come up with creative letters of recommendation that make lazy students sound good. Some HS teachers are amazing, caring and give 150%. Some simply are not. They're out the door the minute the bell rings, take weeks to return assignments, count the day until they get to retire with a nice package.

Re: leaving at the bell ring: I know several high school teachers that get to work two hours early to get work done while avoiding the traffic (since they can’t afford homes in the town they work in and buy where they can afford), take 10-15 minute lunches, and then leave at end of school to avoid a two+ hour commute. You want good and not burnt-out teachers? Well, they need to be fresh and ready to teach every day while being to balance out their family life. Don’t take everything at face value. There’s usually more to it.

[Unregistered]

Totally disagree. My wife is a HS guidance counselor. Depression and anxiety is up significantly among teens. Every school has had to hire more metal health experts. Kids have more than enough stress, and some aren't handling it well, with increased rates of depression, self harming, even suicide . Until more teens learn how to handle stress better we shouldn't be making it worse. We can improve the academic performance of our HS students without stressing them out more. Better teachers would be a start - the # of ineffectual teachers in the system thanks to tenure and the union is absurd. It drives my wife crazy watching teachers phone it in. If the pay and benefits weren't so good (I work for myself so it matters) she'd prefer to work at a private school where poor performing teachers get sh*tcanned regularly

"According to one study, approximately half of all high school students feel a great deal of stress on a daily basis. As author and film producer Vicki Abeles writes, there’s a “nationwide epidemic of school-related stress.” The cause? Abeles says that “expectations surrounding education have spun out of control,” with excessive loads of activities, homework, and sports." https://education.good.is/articles/h...s-stressed-out

More on teen stress

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-c...nd-millennials

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...gical/5266739/

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-...y-shows-n26921

https://psychcentral.com/lib/increas...en-depression/

There is constructive and destructive stress. The excessive coddling that now occurs during kid's youth is not at all preparing them for the mix of success and failures they will see later. You are right. Kids aren't prepared to handle stress. But that is the fault of the pussy-whipped-can't-let-my-child-feel-bad-about-anything-society that we have become. This by no means suggests that hitting a child or bullying are good. These leave scars as well. But maybe we should get rid of all the 'trophies' that kids are raised with. For example, the winning team gets the trophy. The majority of the rest get to play the following season. In that world of the past, most of the kids didn't get rewards except for the fun of playing. There was no singling out any weak kid so there was no stress to be experienced other than kids learning that they might want to win the next time.....but they learned early on how to handle 'loss'.

Kids growing up today have no idea how to handle losing. They have little idea that playing a game is reward enough. This is mainly due to parents not spending enough time just playing and fooling around with a ball and having a blast.

I agree...kids today aren't prepared to handle stress. But this doesn't mean we should continue with this nonsensical coddling when they are young.

[Unregistered]

There is constructive and destructive stress. The excessive coddling that now occurs during kid's youth is not at all preparing them for the mix of success and failures they will see later. You are right. Kids aren't prepared to handle stress. But that is the fault of the pussy-whipped-can't-let-my-child-feel-bad-about-anything-society that we have become. This by no means suggests that hitting a child or bullying are good. These leave scars as well. But maybe we should get rid of all the 'trophies' that kids are raised with. For example, the winning team gets the trophy. The majority of the rest get to play the following season. In that world of the past, most of the kids didn't get rewards except for the fun of playing. There was no singling out any weak kid so there was no stress to be experienced other than kids learning that they might want to win the next time.....but they learned early on how to handle 'loss'.

Kids growing up today have no idea how to handle losing. They have little idea that playing a game is reward enough. This is mainly due to parents not spending enough time just playing and fooling around with a ball and having a blast.

I agree...kids today aren't prepared to handle stress. But this doesn't mean we should continue with this nonsensical coddling when they are young.

Until kids are better prepared to handle stress we shouldn't be adding more. It's taken our society years to get into this mess and it will take years to weed it out. In addition to your points I think kids don't get enough time to just be kids. They're over way over scheduled and their down time is often attached to electronics - playing video games or "talking" electronically. My wife and I had many battles about when our kids should get electronics and now that mine are older I'm glad she pushed so hard to wait. Society in general is feeling more and more disconnected and lacking meaningful human connections. Our kids aren't immune to that.

[Unregistered]

Until kids are better prepared to handle stress we shouldn't be adding more. It's taken our society years to get into this mess and it will take years to weed it out. In addition to your points I think kids don't get enough time to just be kids. They're over way over scheduled and their down time is often attached to electronics - playing video games or "talking" electronically. My wife and I had many battles about when our kids should get electronics and now that mine are older I'm glad she pushed so hard to wait. Society in general is feeling more and more disconnected and lacking meaningful human connections. Our kids aren't immune to that.

We sort of agree....but....stress is something that we used to grow up with. It came in different forms. Sometimes it came from a group of kids out on ball field playing pickup ball. Sometimes it came from the classroom. Sometimes if came from siblings and others it came from parents. However, these are disappearing or gone.

Over the last 20-25 years it has all changed. As you mention, the scheduling is excessive and pickup time has disappeared. The classroom has changed and teachers are no longer allowed to penalize kids. The town has stopped publishing the honors society kids. Kids are constantly rewarded for stuff that they don't deserve or are simply so they don't feel bad while their peers get straight A's and they don't. Give little Johnny a trophy...he has been a good student despite getting all C's. Johnny would be better off with a tutor and some expectations. The home has changed since. It is one thing to support and express positive feelings for improvements (regardless of what level; D to C or B to A) but it is another to do the work for your child or not care at all about grades and academic and athletic achievements.

There has to be a balance.....and that balance is gone for too many kids. Suddenly, they are thrusted into the real world and they are lost and, for the first time, someone says "you failed" and they can't handle it.

No.... I disagree a bit. Stress can be introduced throughout life so that we learn how to receive, adjust, adapt, and move forward....even if we have to move backward a couple of steps before going forward. The phrase 'what doesn't kill you will make you stronger' seems to be gone.

[Unregistered]

I agree finding the right balance is difficult but it definitely is needed. Kids are way too stressed out; I see it in my own kids and their peers. Teen suicides are on the rise. Even the simple things that can help reduce stress like physical activity has been cut from school curriculums - little to no recess at the younger ages, little to no PE at all ages. Every class they take has to have some kind of purpose so there's very few fun classes left to take. At one point there was talk of scaling back our school's elective requirements to even less than it is now. Kids need mental health breaks, be it an art class, music, shop etc.

Meanwhile parents do have to stop being so over-protective and over-involved. Stop putting them into five activities. Your kid doesn't need to be a blackbelt in karate by 4th grade. If your kid got a C- in history chances are he/she deserved it. Stop harassing teachers and checking powerschool every day. Life won't end if they don't get into a "top" school. Let your kids figure it out on their own, handle teachers on their own, find friends who are good at a subject to help them instead of hiring at tutor at $100/hour. Give them non-negotiable chores from an early age. In HS push them to get a job, any job instead of handing them cash all the time. Most importantly know your kid - some kids can handle stress well, some can't. If they're not handling the stress well help them find coping skills. They'll need it since life only gets more stressful from here on out.

rant off ;)

[Unregistered]

Good piece on school pressure written by a teacher.
There is no room for ‘average’ students these days. Here’s why that worries me.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...at-worries-me/

[Unregistered]

Oh my GOD! Will someone else PLEASE commit somewhere, anywhere. Stop these two nitwits from babbling about safe spaces in school. I'm begging you.

[Unregistered]

Good piece on school pressure written by a teacher.
There is no room for ‘average’ students these days. Here’s why that worries me.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...at-worries-me/

To counter this article, many good colleges are now test optional.

[Unregistered]

To counter this article, many good colleges are now test optional.

Yes, nearly 1000 are now. But if you go that route you need to have a higher than average GPA for that school since now they have fewer data points. One of my kids has LD issues and is horrible at standardized tests, despite having well above average intelligence. We've been through this. The good news is once they find their thing they can thrive but the process to get there is stressful. HS can really suck azz for some kids.

[Unregistered]

Yes, nearly 1000 are now. But if you go that route you need to have a higher than average GPA for that school since now they have fewer data points. One of my kids has LD issues and is horrible at standardized tests, despite having well above average intelligence. We've been through this. The good news is once they find their thing they can thrive but the process to get there is stressful. HS can really suck azz for some kids.

Honestly that person is right! STFU and get a room!

[Unregistered]

Yes, nearly 1000 are now. But if you go that route you need to have a higher than average GPA for that school since now they have fewer data points. One of my kids has LD issues and is horrible at standardized tests, despite having well above average intelligence. We've been through this. The good news is once they find their thing they can thrive but the process to get there is stressful. HS can really suck azz for some kids.

My daughter got into a very good test optional school with a 3.0 GPA when the average GPA of accepted students was around 3.5. She did very well in the interview, had decent ECs and wrote a great essay- I think these things played a big role as well. Also got about 50% of her total costs in aid grants.