December 10, 2015
I’m sorry to be a “Debbie-Downer.” If you are a fan of Saturday Night Live, you know the skit I am talking about. Debbie-Downer is the family member who, in the midst of a joyful family occasion, drags down the mood by offering pessimistic and sad bits of information and news. Please forgive me for being a Debbie-Downer at this time of year but I’ve been troubled over the last several days after having read a recent article in The Atlantic magazine entitled “The Silicon Valley Suicides.” The article goes in depth to understand why there have been so many student suicides in Palo Alto, California. Why, in the cradle of innovation, creativity, and optimism, should young people be so despondent?
There are a number of reasons attributed to the terrifying reality, but two important factors have risen to the top: stress and parental expectations. There will always be stress in our lives and the lives of our students. The way we think about stress and what we choose to do about it can affect the impact of a stressful event.
A red flag has been raised that in our attempt to provide our children with all they require to be successful in life, parents have unintentionally been sending the message that our “love had to be earned with A’s and Advanced Placement tests and trophies.” Researcher Sylvia Luthar has found that many adolescents have a self-worth tied to achievement and are fearful of failure and being vulnerable.
As adults, we need to help children develop their strengths, learn coping skills, recover from setbacks and be prepared for future challenges. I’ve written before about the importance of failure in the academic, social, and emotional growth of young people and the need to teach non-cognitive skills alongside of a challenging academic curriculum.
This week, middle school students are taking the Mission Skills Assessment (MSA). The MSA is a scientific measure of six non-cognitive skills that research has shown to be critical for academic and life success. The six skills of the MSA are teamwork, creativity, ethics, curiosity, and time management. Over 87 independent schools and 16,000 students across the United States participate in the MSA.
MPA is in our third year of administrating the Mission Skills Assessment. The two-year longitudinal data we now indicate that students’ self-reported scores have increased in the areas of creativity, curiosity, ethics, teamwork, and time management. Overall, MPA students scored above the mean on four of the six constructs and was one of the top three schools nationwide in curiosity.
Resiliency is perhaps one of the most important skills in life and can help young people respond to multiple expectations and manage stress. The MSA defines resiliency as a student’s capacity to function effectively despite encountered difficulties or stressors. A highly resilient student successfully rebounds from pitfalls and failures and perceives setbacks and weaknesses as temporary obstacles. Students who score high in resilience tend to have higher life satisfaction, providing powerful incentive for developing resilience early on in students. Through the Mission Skills Assessment, we’ve learned that MPA students have high resiliency scores and self-report high life satisfaction.
Building upon the MSA, the Middle School faculty has spent a great deal of time this year discussing our own unique approach to fostering non-cognitive skills. Innovation, Perseverance, Work Ethic, Integrity, Courage, Gratitude, Respect, Communication, and Collaboration have been identified and are integrated throughout the MS curriculum and through Seminar and Advisory courses. By identifying what skills matter most and being intentional about where those skills are taught, teachers are holding themselves, and students, accountable for fostering these important competencies.
Several years ago, MPA had a marketing campaign with ads that said, “Competition belongs in the boardroom, not the classroom.” I like to think that holds true today. However, parents and teachers must be careful in the message we are sending our children. We want them to learn, to challenge themselves, to push their boundaries, to succeed. But, our love for them is not dependent on how well they score on an exam or perform on a stage, court or field.
The Atlantic article was sent to me by an MPA parent along with the words, “Reading this makes me very grateful to have my kids at MPA, for though we are a rigorous and competitive academic environment, we are also balanced and mindful.” By working together, we can provide our children with the tools they need to live, learn, and thrive in today’s fast-paced, high stakes, and often complex society.
