Look at the problem not the symptoms: A school stress related plea

To the Nebo School district,

Let’s talk about why my sister for all of last week stayed up past 11 and got up before 5.

She did this to work on a homework assignment.

This was for a class she was worried about failing.

She was worried because she miss two days.

The class has a very strict attendance policy.

Even for spots excused (SCHOOL excused) activities.

The teacher for said class is the athletic director.

She would be gone the same two days.

There was still no leniency.

Shake well with her giving out a six-hour plus assignment for that one class plus homework for seven other classes and everything equaled out to a crying fourteen-year-old` who had never gotten a grade lower than an A- in her life and was too tired to go on but too anxious to go to sleep.

There is a concept known as sprezzatura that was first conceptualized back in the enlightenment it is the idea of putting forth your best self. My sister and thousands of other students all over the country are starting to break under the constant stress of being their best and being unable to be less.

As time has gone on we’ve seen periods in western culture that have been able to see focus on the group as a whole, to focus on the community as it were.

And then there were times like the renaissance and the reformation where a more focus on the individual was felt.

I don't think we are in either type of period. We are not completely focused on the individual and we aren't completely focused on the community and we are suffering from the pressure placed between these two mindsets.

My sister's experience is not unique to her. In fact high schools all over the country are reporting more and more unhealthy behaviors and while there are people who are going out and teaching wonderful stress relieving techniques we as a whole are addressing the symptoms not the problem itself.

Back to the concept of looking good as a whole: We as a nation want to look good in the eyes of the world as shown by various laws put into place. Yet we are stressing our individuals to stand out and be their best self by themselves. We aren't considering what it takes to really be successful and aren't providing a safe place to fall.

When studying this topic I found plenty of places to improve school culture for teachers and for faculty but that's not what I want to see.

I want to see students who aren't punished for getting sick.

I want to see teachers who accept excuses AND help put in a plan for the future.

I want to see my sister not be afraid to talk to her teacher.

There are ways to improve. Perhaps we can start on a smaller level I am writing to the school district as a whole in hopes that something can be done. Not just for this ONE teacher in this ONE class. But to be looked at as a whole consider attendance policies, consider ways to make the material available for students online who were unable to come to class, consider other ways to take the stress off of the students.

Focusing on the whole by putting pressure on the individual is not helping and I don't want to see any more of my siblings break.

You can do better.

We can do better.