There are three major takeaways for me in this article. First the danger of over-bearing parents and misunderstanding failure, sexuality, and false images of perfection.
The article very heavily addresses helicopter parenting in the second half. Many parents think that they show their love by being over-involved in their child’s life, but the article says this can be very harmful as it places a lot of pressure on students and leads to them taking every disappointment as a major failure. As a teacher it is important that we can help students understand how failure is an important part of the learning process and that getting an A on every exam is not the most important thing in life. Many students lack the tools to be successful in college because of parents being to controlling of their future, it is important that our students know what they want to do rather than their parent. This also plays heavily into another big portion of the article, sexuality.
Obviously sexuality is in heated debate in the US and nontraditional identities are still faced with misunderstanding and anger. Especially in high school being a homosexual can be difficult as there is a negative stereotype for homosexuals. When I was younger the primary adjective for anything we thought was stupid was gay, “oh we have a quiz today? That’s so gay.” Or “I can’t believe you got in trouble for that, that’s so gay.” It isn’t something kids say out of hate for gay people, but it is harmful for students who are. Teachers need to be sure that identity is not something a student should be ashamed of. They never should have to worry about being bullied because they’re a girl but also like girls. Not only is it important that homosexual students know it’s okay to be attracted to whatever gender they like, it is also crucial that all students know that it is okay and are accepting of this.
The last one is about social media, something that the article argues contributes heavily to depression. It makes sense, when you fell down and go on Instagram and see smiling seemingly happy people it brings you lower. Your students need to know that everyone has issues, that behind every expression is a lifetime with many problems. Some of your students may seem to have less severe circumstances, but it is vital for you and your students to recognize there is many different pitfalls in life and that everything effects people differently. It would probably be helpful to explain to students that people present their best image on social media and that there is sometimes more going on behind the scenes.