June 21, 2023

This article by Alden Blodget is the first in our summer series about the findings of neuroscience, their connection to meaning-making, and how we apply this new knowledge to meet the present and future needs of our kids.

“I’m walking. I’m walking right out of the door. I won’t ever be back.”

The gray-haired teacher who was filmed during her classroom meltdown shouting those words to her students and doing exactly what she said became an instant nucleus of condensation for the torrent of frustration and stress felt by thousands of teachers. The number of psychologically exhausted educators that are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore is increasing. Teachers are looking for more tolerable jobs, while fewer of the best and brightest want to enter the profession in the first place.

And the mental health of the students also reflects stress and despair. Rates of teen depression and suicide continue to rise, along with an increase in “acting out,” which seems a woefully inadequate description of student behavior that includes violent acts of stabbings, shootings, and fights that have resulted in students being body-slammed and handcuffed by “resource…