Recently, I read a blog from Pat Basett. Pat is the President of the National Association of Independent Schools. Pat recently was asked to sit on a panel of College Presidents, including the Presidents of Georgetown and Stanford. His blog struck me.
He posed the question to the various colleges presidents: what can our Independent Secondary Schools do better with respect to preparing our students for college? Pat went on to say, he fully expected them to come back with a variation of his 5 "C's", Critical Thinking, Communication, Creativity, Collaboaration and Character. And, although they acknowledge those as being important skills to develop, they were unanimous in stating the crisis in college students today is emotional maturity/resiliency.
They cited statistics such as: 30% to 40% of undergrads are on anti-depressants (some I am sure, are self medicating to deal with stress), 10% of college females are suffering from eating disorders, and finally the problem of rampant alcohol abuse on college campuses (drinking for the purpose of getting drunk). These are sobering statisitics and facts.
It seems to me, that as important as the ABC's and Math Facts are, we should acknowledge that a child's emotional well being (happiness, confidence, maturity) is of equal or greater importance.
