(Special Note to Parents: It’s Time to Step Up to the Plate!)
Picture a high school gym where dozens of students lay on foam mats taking deep relaxing breaths to the cadence of their teacher’s voice. The class is Yoga 101 and it is the hot subject being taught from preschool to high school.
Educators are becoming increasingly concerned about how high stress levels affect students' emotional health and their ability to concentrate. They say students today are the most achievement-oriented batch yet. "Generation Stress" (as they’ve been nicknamed) is full of students that strive to be perfect, internalize everything, and don't know how to reduce their stress loads. To address these concerns, educators are offering stress reducers, such as yoga class, to help their students learn coping strategies.
But why are schools taking on the responsibility of teaching stress-reducers? Isn’t that the parents' job? Educators heartily concur, but are also quick to add a sad truth: Too many parents fail to recognize how just overwhelmed their children are.
Find out if your child is stressed.
A recent AP/MTV survey found 85 percent of teens say they feel stressed; 35 percent feel it in high dosages on a daily level. Girls (45 percent) seem to be even more stressed-out than the boys (33 percent). A Kids in Crisis Survey found that 85 percent of our kids worry about grades; 83 percent feel overwhelmed by homework. And stress is showing up in kids as young as three years of age. Enough!
I applaud educators for their efforts, but I also think it high time for parents to wake up and smell the roses. All is not well with our children's emotional health and well-being. They are smart, but they are troubled and sad. The research confirms it, and the stats get more troubling each year.
So please: watch your children a bit closer. Take their concerns seriously. Look closer at their schedules to ensure "downtime" is included. Do what you can to reduce some of that load, but also teach your children to cope with stress in a healthy way. I’m convinced that it's one of the skills our kids will need most to survive and thrive in today's pressure-cooker world. I'm also willing to bet a lot of teachers will applaud your efforts when you do, and your kids will thank you as well.
Not sure where to start? Use these signs to determine if your child is stressed.
译文:
为何要学校教育学生减压？
想像下一个高中体育馆里好多的学生们躺在泡沫垫子上，随着老师口令的节奏放松，深深的吸气，呼气。这便是瑜伽101，已经成为从学前到高中各年级学生热门的一项课程。
教育家们越来越多的关心高中阶段学生们的心里健康以及全神贯注的能力。他们认为当今的学生就是正走向成功的一代。“同龄压力”（就像他们被戏称的那样）所指的是大多数学生竭力的要使自己变得优秀，通晓事理，却不知该如何减轻自己自身的压力。为了减少学生的这些担忧，教育家们开始展开一些减压课程，例如瑜伽课来试图帮助学生掌握成功需要的策略。
但是为什么要让学校来负责为学生减压呢？这难道不该是父母们该做的吗？教育家们也是这样认为，但同时不得不承认的悲哀事实是：太多的父母根本就认识不到孩子所受的压力。
近来，美联社与音乐电视联合调查发现85%的青少年承认自己有压力感，35%感到每天的压力都很大。女生当中以45%的比率认为自己已经高度的活在压力之下，而男生中有33%同样这么认为。儿童个人危机调查机构显示85%的孩子担心自己的成绩，83%的孩子觉得被家庭作业所压迫。就连三岁的小孩也开始有了压力！简直太可怕了。
在我称赞教育家们对孩子的努力时，更认为该是父母们站出来做些什么的时刻了！孩子们的心理健康正接受压力的考验使他们并不轻松。他们是聪明的孩子，但他们同样会感到失败和沮丧。调查已经证实了这一点，数据显示他们的情况也在近年来越来越糟。
所以，请各位家长：更加关注您的孩子们吧！认真的考虑他们在乎的那些，必要的在他们情绪低落的时候更加的关心他们的生活！不但尽自己所能的减少他们的一些压力，还要教给他们用健康有用的方法来放松自己面对压力。我确信我们的孩子最需要的是在这个处处制造压力的世界中客服困难生存并立足于这个世界。我也同样确信，当您这么教给孩子的时候，他们的老师会称赞您，同样，孩子们也会感激您的。