Publication Date: Wednesday, March 30, 2005
A step in the right direction
A step in the right direction
(March 30, 2005) Stanford's SOS project focuses on reducing school stress and enlightening parents
As co-chair of the Stanford University Stressed-Out Students (SOS) project, Mollie Galloway has heard her share of discouraging stories.
A parent once told her that it was better for a child to learn to be competitive in society than be happy. High school students have also said they're worried about shaming their families if they don't get into the "right" schools. Some parents think a choice in colleges means UC Berkeley or Stanford.
Through her work with SOS over the past two years, Galloway has spent time interviewing students and parents from various Bay Area high schools and communities, including Palo Alto. She has focused on finding the root causes of student stress, as well as its manifestations.
Joining SOS was a perfect match for Galloway. In high school, she took a job as a diving coach at her neighborhood pool. It was then that she knew she wanted to work with kids.
At Stanford, where she enrolled to earn a doctorate degree in psychological studies in education, she attended a presentation by Denise Clark Pope and was instantly drawn to her work on adolescents and stress.
In fall 2003, Pope and Galloway organized an advisory board of representatives from various areas at Stanford, including counseling, religious life and judicial affairs, to name a few, to dig into the issue of stressed-out university students.
The board decided to hold a conference and expand it to middle and high schools from around the Bay Area in hopes of shining a light on the problem and to hear students tell their tales of stress.
Difficult homework loads, tough competition for college admissions and rising academic standards from the state are a few of the causes of teen stress. Adding to the problem, Galloway said today's high school students are focused on achievement, rather than the learning process.
By taking the pressure head on, students compromise their sleep and develop poor eating habits. Some end up with substance abuse problems and disengage in school.
Galloway said the teen stress is not unique to Palo Alto. Affluent communities across the nation are dealing with the same issues.
In the last decade, students who live near entrepreneurial and lucrative hubs for innovation, such as the Silicon Valley, have started competing with each other in the classroom so they too can make a fortune.
That's why re-defining the meaning of success has become central to the work of SOS. Galloway and her cohorts want to put the fun back into learning by shifting students' focus from the outcome to education.
Since SOS started, 13 schools in the Bay Area, including Gunn and Palo Alto high schools, have joined the SOS project. Some have changed their homework and testing policies; others have looked into revamping the yearly calendar so the first semester's finals are completed before Christmas break.
Galloway said other schools are looking into block scheduling, which gives teachers more daily time with students.
"It's a step in the right direction," she said. "Schools are actively asking kids how they're doing."
In May, SOS will hold its second annual conference to hear from more students and to see how far the schools have come.
-- Alexandria Rocha
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