By Daniel Anton
For students returning from Thanksgiving break, December marks a critical time. It is the month of college deadlines, SAT prep, new quarters and fresh chances. With this critical period in students' lives comes a large uptick in stress. So what is Nyack High School doing to help student mindfulness? According to students, very little.
Mindfulness plays a very important role in managing student stress. It is a person’s basic ability to be fully present, aware, and tend to overwhelming feelings. The Nyack School District has acknowledged a push towards mindfulness in their schools. However, implementation at the high school has felt sparse and far between.
An informal survey of Nyack High School students found that 50% of participants feel moderately stressed on a daily basis, while 50% reported feeling "very stressed" or higher. 65% of students attributed this stress to school, with the majority pointing towards homework and tests.
“Covid has had one of the largest impacts I’ve seen on learning,” said Mr. Bradley, the Dean of Students. “Effective communication has been hard when so many critical moments could’ve been hidden behind a computer screen."
Nyack High School has implemented some programs to combat this. On top of asking teachers to assign less homework, NHS English teacher Mrs. Vasquez said that the school has begun extended homerooms once a month, classes on stress management, and it now brings important faculty aboard to help with student mindfulness.
However, students believe this is not enough. 50% of students believe the school addresses mindfulness in some capacity, but only 46% believe the school commits to mindfulness throughout the school year.
The only mindfulness program students consistently mentioned remembering was the E Day with Homeroom. For this program, the school chooses the first E Day of the month to have a mindfulness homeroom. In this homeroom, teachers walk students through stress-reducing activities. Students go to all other classes afterwards, but they are significantly cut in time.
“It is important for students to really take these homerooms to heart,” said Mr. Bradley. “You might not use those exercises on that specific day, but there might be a time where you say, ‘I need that right now.’”
Despite being a unique inclusion that sets Nyack apart from other schools, one shortened class period splash may not be enough. By making the homeroom a first period activity, 50% of students surveyed reported not coming to the homeroom, and of the ones that do, 16% reported that their teacher does not communicate the mindfulness exercise. These mindfulness exercises are also part of a 30-day mindfulness journey, yet by doing it once a month the school effectively undermines a main portion of the lessons.
“They do not address the root cause of stress. These breathing exercises are not a cure-all” said Senior Idaya Lovo. Senior Molly Brown added, “They have implemented the homeroom mindfulness exercises, but they are too early in the morning to mean anything -- I'm practically asleep.”
“E Days fail to effectively handle actual mental health issues. We need more extensive mental health services,” said Senior Talia Reiss, who reported a GPA of 101, but higher stress levels as a result.
Where students feel Nyack High School really falls short is the month between homerooms. “I have had teachers that have walked classes through mindfulness exercises, but not any recently,” said Senior Janice Yohannan. “They did attempt to address it more during the pandemic. This was through Ms. Heineman coming to speak to classes on Zoom about mindfulness, and teachers encouraging it more often and being more conscious of the work they gave.”
Now, it seems like many Covid implementations students liked and attributed to an increase in mindfulness are being forgotten. The school mentions options like guidance counselors or the school psychologist, but these are options that are often overlooked.
“The introduction has been a positive,” added Mr. Bradley. “The stresses that student’s go through-- it’s a lot. With social and emotional learning, I think there’s always time for more.”
This rise in complaints highlights some key issues about Nyack High School. Students feel as if there is a lack of commitment to addressing mindfulness, and therefore do not participate in the activities if they feel it can be easily skipped or cheated. Nyack High School has accurately identified homework to be the main stress causer in students, yet suggestions made to teachers do not help the pressure teachers feel to complete their curriculum (especially in the math and science department), and make students feel as if the school is doing nothing. It’s as if the school is simply extending a hand, when really they should be grabbing on tight.
“It’s definitely a timing issue,” said Mr. Bradley. “There’s a ton of material that needs to be covered, so mindfulness is already hard to incorporate into a normal school day.”
Students want to see the school to take a confident stance in the direction of mindfulness, instead of only offering small lessons. One suggestion to modify the current mindfulness program is implementing these exercises more often. These assignments could be fully completed in half a period, and spread across departments so students could see these lessons at least once a week. While this may take some time out of teachers classes, per teacher it will amount to only slightly more time than a typical E Day with Homeroom and will make sure all students see mindfulness lessons throughout the month. However, this is only one idea in a larger discussion that needs to be had about effectively maximizing the time within the school day.
Overall, the best way to help address the lack of mindfulness is for the school to listen. Many quotes and data that were used in this article were from surveying students in the school. Nyack High School is unique because it does try to listen to its students, therefore creating a more vocal student body. We have seen these effects time and time again such as changing our schools mascot or listening to students when selecting our new superintendent. Creating a stronger bond with students, being more transparent, and conducting regular surveys like the one used for this news article will not only help the school understand certain issues to focus their attention on, but allow students to feel like their voices are being heard.
“I think our school really makes a big push to do the best that they can for our students”, said Mr. Bradley. “If there is something that is brought up we strive to make the best change we can. With anything, we continue to learn and reevaluate and improve. It’s a progression.”
Together, students and the school can take steps together to create a more positive, kind, and collaborative environment.