9781422273838

Stress, worry, sadness, and even despair are common emotions; they aren’t any fun, but they are deeply human. The ability to experience frustrations and failures but bounce back from them is known as resilience . In the words of the great teacher Jaime Escalante, “Life is not about how many times you fall down. It’s about how many times you get back up.” These days it seems like resilience may be in short supply at many high schools. Anxiety and depression are on the increase among teenagers. According to recent studies, about 30 percent of kids are affected by anxiety and 20 percent by depression at some point before they turn 18. We don’t know exactly why anxiety and depression are on the increase, but there are plenty of theories. Maybe it’s poor parenting. Toxins in the environment may play a role. Perhaps it’s the Internet’s fault. But there’s probably no single culprit. What is more likely is that a combination of factors are working in concert. “Most experts would agree with me that there is more stress today than in previous generations,” says author Therese J. Borchard, adding that “lack of community and family support, less exercise, no casual and unstructured technology-free play, less sunshine and more computer [all] factor into the equation.” On the other hand, maybe teens aren’t actually more stressed out and bummed out than before—maybe they are just more honest about it. All we know for sure is that anxiety and depression are common among teens. That’s the bad news. The good news is there is also more support available than before, and young people are more

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