Communication

I periodically listen to interviews conducted by Marissa Streit, a former classroom teacher. The title of this one caught my eye so I listened. As I did, I noted down some near quotes that I hear. These are not polished…. but give you an idea of the discussion. I didn’t agree with everything said, in particular, the parts about allowing children to walk home alone from school (or have I been affected by the hype?)…. But she kinda answers a thought I’ve had….. Why did we not have these problems, at least as pronounced, when we were kids? I don’t ever remember ‘mental health, PTSD and therapy being nearly as prominent as they seem today. I don’t intend to read the book, but parents of young children my gain from hearing this interview.Before you attack one of the comment/notes, listen to that part of the podcast and think critically about why you want to say what you want to say….and thank you for that.

from the podcast….. Listen/watch the podcast HERE

Have America’s Classrooms Become Profit Centers for the Mental Health Industry?

Why does every child talk about having anxiety?

Why are our children swimming in mental health therapy?

1 in 4 young people identifying as trans. (Girls 7th grade).

Everybody needs therapy.

Everyone is broken.

A generation that is in profound distress.

The largest patient pool for mental health therapy are from the public schools. (CA)

Trams-informed care.

Every child has emotional damaged.

Instead of sending kids to the principal, they are now sent to the counselor.

Schools as a mental health ward.

SEL Social Emotional Learning  Trojan house.  Teachers are not therapists.

How are you feeling? Think of a time when (pain).

Trauma informed care.

Being born black means you’ve been traumatized.

Break the family

Over medicate children

If you wanted to break them down, there would be no better way than what is currently being taught in schools under the heading of mental health.

But… we have to keep them from suicide. How to find the line.

…the child who has never thought about it is forced to think about it.

…the child who HAS thought about it….

Does your child have a serious problem you cannot fix by changing their environment? If you cannot stabilize them that way, then yes. Therapist….but research the therapist the way you would research a surgeon.

Reset the default. Step 1 should not always be therapy and medication.

Some will need it and they should get it, but we are overreacting every child  creating mental disorder.

Hardship can be good for you. Certain kinds of adversity is really good for kids. Tell them the truth…that resilience is the story of the human condition. Most kids will emerge resilient. Tell them their parents went through hard things. Their grandparents went through hard things. Most will recover….a small percentage will really need professional help.

We don’t teach history so much as we’re teaching victim-hood. We don’t even teach them their own history. We need to connect them to their grandparents…what they went through. What their family, their ancestors went through.

You can get through it…because the vast majority will.

Feelings are always front and center. Being crushed under the weight of their own feelings.

PTSD traumatizing.

There are people who need help.

Kids need authority, community, independence. I can walk home from school… or to the store…or cook dinner.

I’m not shy. I have social depravity.

I’m not worried….i have anxiety.

Once you have anxiety, you need an expert to help you and you need a drug.

“You can’t say that. “

Disagreeable personality.

Don’t let someone diagnose them unless they really have a problem.

Terminology

SEL (Social Emotional Learning). Everything is a psychological program and requires  group (classroom) therapy.

Memory poker (as in the game). Group setting, kids trying to “1 up” each other. Exaggerating and talking yourself into the idea that you have been traumatized.

And all this is happening instead of academics.

Parentify. Parental abuse. Why do immigrant kids do so much better? Strong parenting. Chores and helping family and community are expected. Immigrant kids running toward adulthood and American kids staying home on mamas couch because they’ve been traumatized. The world is against them.

Trauma. There are traumatized kids, but we apply it to everyone.

There is a reason why we didn’t hear these terms as children.

Trust “Parenting expert”….only if he/she raised good kids to adulthood. Not a book learned only. Books by parenting experts who have never had children. (I remember thinking this way about the college professors in the Education School who had never been away from the college campus telling us how to teach.

…and more.