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Perspective: Surviving The September Stresses

Sydney Rae
/
Unsplash

September has arrived and another new school year is underway for everyone -- from pre-school through graduate school. If you’re a student or a parent, it may seem that the number of hours in the day just shrank from twenty-four to “almost enough” or “not nearly enough,” depending on your workload.

If you’re feeling unsure about how you’re going to handle everything on your plate, you are not alone. A Google search analysis revealed that September is the month that people MOST frequently Google the word, “uncertainty.” We’re all a little more anxious these days, according to big data sets. Whether it’s the economy, public safety, or the tendency for the media to sensationalize the bad news and gloss over the good, it’s normal to feel a little stressed out about things we just can’t control.

There’s some good news, though, that might leave parents feeling better about what they actually can control.

Researchers found that when parents make the effort to stay engaged with their children’s school activities and their children’s teachers, their kids fared a lot better in the classroom -- academically, behaviorally, and socially. That was true for elementary and middle school students.

While none of us really enjoy adding things to our too-long to-do lists, sometimes it’s worth it to invest in the future of the planet by doing what we can to positively shape the next generation. So when the school bell rings this year, all of us -- parents or just caring adults -- should show up every now and then and invest our energy in the kids who will eventually be making decisions that will affect us all.

I’m Suzanne Degges-White, and that’s my perspective.

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