|
Pep rallies? Student government? School spirit? That’s not for Jordan or his friend Amber, who both say when class is over, they’re gone. “There are some students that are into the school, but largely I’d say not many are,” says Jordan, 15. Amber, also 15, adds, “I feel like they don’t need me if I get up in the morning and go to school. All they need is the funds and everything and the money.”
According to research published in the Journal of School Health, about half of all high school students describe themselves as disconnected, or “chronically disengaged,” from school. “Kids just don’t feel cared about, they feel that they’re just a number. They feel that their grades matter, (but) that they don’t matter,” says learning specialist Bonnie Cohen-Greenberg.
Experts say when kids feel they don’t matter, they’re more likely to engage in risky behaviors; sex, drugs, alcohol. “If you go to school, and you have an attitude (that) nobody cares if I’m there or not, you’re going to be thinking about ‘well, 11 o’clock I can go to the restroom and smoke a cigarette.’ Just your whole attitude, your whole outlook on life is going to be totally different,” says Cohen-Greenberg.
Experts say parents can help by doing two things. First, encourage your child to join some kind of school club where they can contribute. “You’ll be missed if you’re not there. That’s very essential for a child to feel that they matter, and they’ll be missed,” says Cohen-Greenberg. Second, parents themselves should get involved by volunteering and by getting to know their child’s teachers. “I think they’ll meet their child’s lit teacher once their child is failing literature. I think it’s really important to get involved in the beginning,” says Cohen-Greenberg.
She says once teachers know you care, they’ll care more too. “They need to be more into our lives and more connecting with us on a friendship level instead of a teacher-student level,” says Amber.
|
By Amye Walters
CWK Network, Inc.
While your teen might consider the coolest “School Spirit” to be the track on Kanye West’s latest album, research shows school spirit might be more essential to a child’s wellbeing than once thought. When students believe the adults in their school care about them as individuals and their learning, school connectedness exists. Researchers have studied the concept under a variety of names: school bonding, school climate, teacher support, school engagement. Recently, educators and school health professionals are touting this concept’s importance. It can reduce a child’s risky behavior and also increase academic success.
- Research shows 40 to 60 percent of all students, regardless of demographics, are “chronically disengaged from school.”
- Emotional connections between students and their school can improve the student’s commitment to education.
- Connectedness is important for youthful behavior.
- Further, emotional connectedness can enable a child to resist health-compromising behaviors like smoking, drug use, obesity and even suicidal thoughts.
- The Commission on Children at Risk reports that children develop best in authoritative and caring communities.
|
By Amye Walters
CWK Network, Inc.
Interpersonal relationships can get lost at large schools, especially those with more than 1,000 students. Should parents and/or educators place an unrelenting focus on academic productivity, school disconnectedness can increase. Likewise, a focus on achievement testing can be especially problematic for school connectedness. Within the community-wide scope, risk factors for weakened school connections may include:
- Community disorganization
- Lack of community bonding
- Lack of cultural pride
- Lack of bicultural competence
- Community attitudes favorable to drug use
Encourage your child’s participation in school by suggesting he or she:
- Start a school tradition. Consider making a senior class addition to campus; engraved plaques, trees or benches give both exiting seniors and incoming freshmen a concrete object of pride.
- Incorporate themes within school activities like homecoming, dress-up week, dances, etc.
- Place school paraphernalia at your home, in the yard or on the family vehicle.
- Also, parents should visit the school during open houses and for parent-teacher conferences.
|
