Increasing Levels of Emotional Impairment: Their Causes

Readers will have read about upward trends concerning depression, dysphoria, and anxiety among teenagers in the United States during the first two decades of the twenty-first century.

Special education teachers report that “emotionally impaired” (EI) students are an increasing percentage of their caseloads. Psychiatric medication and inpatient stays for mental health reasons are common.

Any exploration of the causes behind this trend will be complex and multifactorial.

Unlike learning disabilities (e.g., dyslexia), or developmental conditions (e.g., ASD), emotional impairment is significantly shaped by environmental factors.

To be sure, learning disabilities and developmental conditions are affected by environmental factors to some extent, and one should not overstate the impact of environmental factors on emotional impairment.

One way, among others, in which the social environment shapes emotional impairment is in the failure of micro-environment (nuclear family) or of the macro-environment (the larger community) to provide clear life paths and social roles for the individual.

The failure of society to provide these shaping forces is, by itself, not a cause of EI, but rather can be an occasion upon which EI will manifest itself in an individual who has other factors which predispose for EI.

Faced with a social existence in which expectations are unclear, absent, or only weakly reinforced, a latent EI may manifest itself. Developmentally, teenagers are asking about what they will be and what they will do.

If society fails to provide norms and standards for individual identities and life choices, then the individual is forced to rely more on internal personal strengths. If those strengths are lacking, or are misinformed, EI may emerge.

The rise in EI is coextensive with, and correlates to, a decline in clearly articulated social roles and expectations provided to the individual in the form of a normative life trajectory. As is well-known, however, correlation does not necessarily indicate causation.

Social norms are provided in the forms of propositional assertion about roles, norms, and life trajectory. But norms are also communicated by examples. Teenagers observe adults.

Individual stability is undermined, then, both by society’s failure to clearly state its norms and roles, and by adults who fail to function as examples. In such an environment, then, EI is more likely to emerge.

Accelerated Academic Trajectories: Too Much, Too Soon?

In the last decade or two, innovations have been introduced into the American educational landscape which allow high school students to earn college credit hours before matriculating at a university: dual enrollment has been made easier because colleges and universities have launched their own charter schools.

Even before these developments, there were other dual enrollment options, and credits given from Advanced Placement (AP) exams. The AP program dates back to the 1950s.

But the number, variety, and availability of these opportunities has increased significantly in recent years. Another option is credit hours earned by taking International Baccalaureate (IB) exams.

The result can be understood by a concrete example. A student who attended a charter school operated by a local community college was able to graduate, at age 18, with enough college credits so that she started at a local university the three months later as junior. After only two years at that university, she graduated with what is normally a ‘four-year’ degree.

The acceleration continued when she found a ‘twelve-month’ graduate program: a Master’s Degree which normally requires two full academic years can be earn in one calendar year.

At age 21, then, she entered the workforce with her newly-minted Master’s Degree. Under the traditional system, such a degree isn’t earned until age 24.

Parents in such cases are both proud of their child’s academic savvy and happy with the tuition dollars saved. But is there a downside to these types of programs?

Although the student avoided three years of time and tuition dollars, there is a question about life learning. Education can be accelerated; experience can’t.

Assuming that the education is the same, what’s the difference between a 21-year-old and 24-year-old? Ceterus paribus, three year’s worth of reality.

In professions related to healthcare, or in negotiating contracts, the three extra years of living might be an asset important to potential employers.

To be sure, there remains the question of student debt and three years’ worth of tuition. But there may be creative solutions.

A few semesters at a local community college can be had for a fraction of the cost of time spent at major universities. For the student who’s at risk for graduating too early, this might be a solution.

Another option would be part-time student status combined with a part-time job. This arrangement would provide some income to offset the extra years of tuition.

In any case, it’s worth considering that education is not simply a race to the diploma or a race to the job market. Maturation can’t be arbitrarily accelerated.

Physical Fitness: Possibly the New Sport?

There is little need to convince any reasonably well-read citizen that physical exercise is important for young people. We all know that students in both elementary and secondary schools should engage in some type of movement on a regular basis, preferable outdoors.

But there is reason to challenge the common assumption that being part of a high school athletic program is good way to get exercise.

Being part of a team often, although not always, ensures some amount of physical fitness. The delivery of that benefit can, however, be enormously inefficient.

A student may spend several hours a day in, e.g., a football or basketball practice. But that does not mean that he’s spending several hours in strenuous physical exercise.

In such teams, players might sit for a long time on bleachers, listening to the coach talk about strategy and tactics. They spend time standing line, waiting for their turn at various drills or relay activities.

During practices, players receive instructions from athletic trainers or physical therapists about injury prevention, and they spend time organizing fundraisers. They may have to wait to use various pieces of exercise equipment.

A three- or four-hour practice does not, therefore, mean that a student had three or four hours of physical exercise.

By contrast, a merely 20 to 30 minutes of running, swimming, or bicycling is a much more time-efficient way to deliver physical fitness. Likewise, a similar amount of time spent in calisthenics is an effective program to obtain a significant amount of exercise in short period of time.

Perhaps the time has come, in the culture of American secondary schools, to place more emphasis on physical fitness and less emphasis on organized team sports.

Loosely Related Outcomes

Secondary education is a patchwork of various objectives. To the question, "What is the purpose of a high school education?" there is a smorgasbord of answers.

First, there is the learning of content - amassing the skills and knowledge base of various academic subjects: mathematics, foreign languages, history, literature, etc. After completing four years of high school, it should be said of students that they "know something about" these various bodies of knowledge, and that they have the skills to work within them.

Secondly, there is the matter of earning good grades, accumulating scores from standardized tests, and generally attempting to impress the admissions officers at some college or university.

Thirdly, there is the somewhat more ambiguous matter of developing one's intellect: being able to think critically, being able to explore texts and academic disciplines.

Fourthly, there are the "soft skills" and "life lessons" of being able to work with people: punctuality, politeness, and simply being able to walk into a room, look someone in the eye, say "Good Morning!" and offer a hearty handshake: the social skills of silently allowing offense to pass when one's views are contradicted by another, of honoring freedom of speech, and of finding the appropriate moments at which to express one's views.

Fifthly, there are those skills which are more directly and narrowly related to some future employment, i.e., job and workplace skills.

Sixthly, there is the matter of understanding one's role as a citizen, or as a resident alien, inside the nation-state. What are the duties, privileges, obligations, and rights of a citizen? Of a non-citizen resident alien?

In addition to these six, there are doubtless others.

It is important to note that the relationships, if any, between these are loose. One can learn much, and yet receive a rather low grade. One can learn little, and yet receive a good grade.

While educational systems strive to establish some correlation between grades and content mastered, such a relationship is, at best, always indirect. A student who has learned relatively little can get a better grade by means of "busy work" or "extra credit" or "effort and participation" or simply cheating.

Likewise a student who's learned much, but fails to motivate himself to complete certain key assignments, may receive a low grade.

[Andrew Smith has taught at Huron High School, Pioneer High School, Tappan Middle School, Scarlett Middle School, Clague Middle School, Slauson Middle School, and others. Andrew Smith has served as a German Teacher and a History Teacher, with occasional stints in other academic departments.]

That Pesky Latin Phrase – in loco parentis

The role of the notion that a school, or an educator, acts ‘in place of a parent’ – in loco parentis – has changed over the decades.

This Latin phrase is used by lawyers. It indicates that an individual or an institution has the rights, privileges, duties, obligations, and responsibilities of a parent.

A century or two ago, this concept was applied in relatively broad way. Schools and teachers could administer rewards and punishments as they saw fit, and instruct students on all types of moral and personal matters.

Slowly, some aspects of in loco parentis have eroded over the decades. Most public schools no longer administer corporal punishment and decline to comment on moral or religious topics.

Because public schools are extensions of the government, the concept of in loco parentis was perceived as granting the government the power to reach into people’s private sphere – a power which people did not want the government to have.

Other aspects of in loco parentis, however, are still quite in vogue. While public schools have fewer rights and privileges vis-a-vis the students, they are still held liable for duties, obligations, and responsibilities toward the students.

In fact, schools in many respects are held even more responsible and liable. Litigating schools is a popular pastime.

This shift has, therefore, left schools in a position in which they are held responsible for more, but given fewer powers with which to meet those responsibilities: an unenviable position.

The situation is different with private schools.

Because they are not part of the government, private schools are granted whichever roles parents choose to give them. Enrollment in a private school is a contract of sorts, and the understanding of the school’s role is determined by mutual agreement between the parent and the school.

Among private schools there exists, then, a broad range: from schools which have no trace of in loco parentis to schools which embody a robust understanding of in loco parentis.

Being disconnected from the government gives private schools, and parents, the freedom to explore various arrangements.

The public schools, meanwhile, labor under the burden of ever-increasing expectations regarding their duties, obligations, and responsibilities to the students, and to the parents, while having ever-fewer rights, privileges, and powers with which to fulfill those expectations.

The Age of Majority: Re-Thinking Adulthood

In the late 1960s, a political movement in the United States succeeded in largely establishing the age of adulthood at 18 years. At this age, one can now sign most legal documents, vote, own property, and be treated as an independent agent in court. Similar movements achieved similar results in other nations.

Since that time, advances in neurophysiology and psychology have led to a consensus among researchers that the human brain is not fully formed until the age of 25 or 26, on average.

The physical formation of the brain correlates with the faculties of decision-making, judgment, and choosing response over reaction.

These findings from the academic world are confirmed by the experiences of those who work on a regular basis with teenagers.

Allowances must be made for the fact that these are statistical averages. There are certainly some 17-year-olds who demonstrate great maturity, and some 35-year-olds who are quite immature.

Because we must deal with averages, however, it is clearly a mistake to call a 18-year-old boy a "man", and to call a 18-year-old girl a "woman."

It's time for our nation to revisit the age of majority.

If legal adulthood were recognized only when one reached, e.g., the age of 21, the benefit both to society and to young people would be immense.

Many 19-year-olds are making disastrous decisions which harm themselves and others, decisions which, however, the current legal system is obliged to acknowledge and even defend.

Parents, lawyers, physicians, psychologists, police, counselors, and other helping professions are not able to offer curbs to the wilder instances of excess because these children are legally considered adults.

Minimizing College Debt

Naturally, it's the best and wisest course of action to keep your debt as low as possible. How can you do that? Universities and colleges are so expensive these days!

There are different ways to keep your debt low. It depends on your situation, and your family's situation. Every family is different.

Some parents have been able to save a little cash for future college education, others have not. Some families are able to keep a college-age child at home, other children must establish their own residence when they graduate from high school.

Here are a few tips:

• Start at a local community college. It's often possible to complete the first one or two years of a four-year degree at a community college, and then transfer to a four-year institution.
• Programs like AP and IB allow graduating high school students to earn university credits by taking tests.
• High school students can take college classes while in high school, either by attending classes at a local college, or online. Often the tuition is less for high school students.
• Compare costs: some universities have lower prices than others. Shop selectively, not only for tuition prices, but also where the student will live during college. Which is cheaper - a dormitory or an apartment?
• If it's possible, students can live at home with their parents for some or all of their college careers. This won't work for every family, but if it works for yours, you can save a lot.

By the time you're reading this, it's probably too late to begin a savings program. But if you have a small child or a baby, or if you're pregnant and expecting a child, open a college savings account.

Not only can you start saving money while your child is still a baby, but you will pay fewer taxes to the government as well.

There are a variety of tax-deferred or tax-free educational savings programs: Coverdell Accounts, 529 Accounts, UTMA, UGMA, and local pre-pay tuition plans. Some of the details vary from state to state.

Naturally, the very best possible outcome is to graduate debt-free. That's a lofty goal, and sometimes an impossible one.

But you can help yourself greatly by keeping your debt as low as possible.