Tag Archives: mental health
Reintroduction to the CVU Phone Policy
BY Filip Popa
HINESBURG, VT–CVU’s new phone policy has gotten students startled. “I feel like I’m not able to text my parents if I have a family emergency,” said a CVU Junior who wishes to keep their name anonymous. With the start of the new school year of 2022, CVU started re-inforcing a school policy that requires students to either put their phones in their bags or in a designated “pocket” in the classroom. This rule has been off the grid since 2019’s COVID-19 when students were encouraged to go on their phones to keep avoid speaking and potentially spreading the virus.
The idea behind this policy is that students are better off focusing without their devices on their bodies. The majority of the classrooms have a poster with a quote that CVU uses as a motive for their policy. The quote reads, “A world full of attention-deprived citizens… will be a world of cascading crises where we can’t get a handle on any of them.” – Johann Hari. CVU is enforcing these policies backed up by scientific research saying student learning will increase if phones aren’t present during class in the learning environment. However, the policy allows students to access their phones after class and during passing periods.
Arthur Chiaravalli, the Fairbanks house administrator, agreed with the change, “I feel like I’m getting to know my advisory a lot better, I’m connecting with them, there’s not that distraction of “I’m just gonna zone out.”
On the other hand, a senior at CVU who did not want to have their name included, answered that they think, “No, I don’t think it’s helping me, it actually makes me feel more conscious about my phone,”
So overall, the responses coming from the CVU faculty and the students vary and opinions are mixed. Many of the students “don’t care” as Chiaravalli pointed out, while others claim against it and say it’s not helping.
McKinley Martin, Junior, said, “I realized that not having the access to check in with my family and people that I need to be able to talk to has induced more stress on me than actually helping my learning.” On the other hand, Aidan Militello, Junior, felt that “the phone policy allows me to honestly stay focused and not worry about any notifications that might interrupt me.”
With this policy being reinforced freshly this year after many years of no enforcement, there isn’t enough data to prove if this policy has been making a positive impact or not on the school. What do you think? Fill out this google form and tell us what you think in regards to the effectiveness of this policy, you can do so by clicking here. The answers to the survey will be used to create an updated piece in the near future. If you’d like to be interviewed, leave your name in the survey.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeaWZSiGjoBsNKrgjxE9SJWxDuQKv0_2es8h2vWe-OycxWGPg/viewform
Can Hiking Help Your Mental Health?
By:Katrina Kajenski 5/4/2021
Hinesburg-This pandemic has taken a toll on student’s mental health. Without sports, and an overall lack of access to exercise, student’s mental health has certainly suffered. Studies from the Primary Care Companion Journal, show that lack of exercise can decrease mental help substantially. A senior from CVU in Hinesburg Vermont, Charlotte Couperthwait is a mental health advocate from Bring Change to Mind Club, and a two-varsity-sport-athlete. I spoke to her on May 4th about how mental health and exercise/sports correlate.
When asked about how the pandemic has affected her mental health, Charlotte said that, “Covid definitely took a toll on my mental health. My anxiety was heightened dramatically and it was really hard to handle sometimes.” One strategy she recommended to the CVU community that helped her was to go outside on a hike with her family. In correlation with exercise and mental health, she said that “exercise can help. For me, it makes me feel productive and puts me in a growth mindset which I think is eneficial for mental health.” One thing she also wanted to share with CVU is to recognize that, “everyone is struggling right now, especially with the pandemic going on, but really try and focus on yourself and make sure you are doing stuff you enjoy. Look at the little things that make you feel better and try and do it more frequently.”
A study done by the Primary Care Companion Journal of Clinical Psychiatry claims that just a short walk can affect brain function. The study states that, “thirty minutes of walking can reduce anxiety, depression, and negative moods… This is done by improving self-esteem and cognitive functions.” Covid-19 has put many students into a “slump” and a great way to get over that hump is to start going outside. Listed below are some places in each town where you can go on a hike or a bike path. See you outside, CVU!
Willison: Williston Community Park/Cross VT Trail Location
Hinesburg: Geprags Community Park Location
Shelburne: Shelburne Bay Park Location
Charlotte: Mt. Philo State Park Location
Coping with Stress and Anxiety: You Are Not Alone
Ms. Greta Powers, Reporter-at-Large
With finals just around the corner, there is a lot of stress to be found at high schools everywhere, and CVU is no exception. Although students are salivating at the sweet realization that the school year is almost over, there can still be anxiety about final grades, schedules, and the future. This stress can quickly become overwhelming. It’s not just high school students who are feeling the pressure; parents can get caught up in stress about their children’s tests and futures, too. Not to fear though because there are specialists on just this problem that students and parents alike are facing these days.
Lynn Lyons is a nationally known expert on anxiety. She has written three books detailing how to cope with anxiety for parents and children, and has appeared on NPR, in The New York Times, and on Katie Couric’s morning show. More and more high school students are suffering from anxiety, and Lyons teaches how the large, heavy mass that is stress can be relieved.
Author and therapist Lynn Lyons and one of her books
Lyons provided a view into why high school students are more anxious than ever. “I think it’s that this generation of parents are the post 9/11 generation and one of the things that makes children more anxious is when parents perceive the world as a dangerous place,” she states. “Since 9/11 there has been a lot more talk about danger of the world, danger about childhood, danger about adolescence, and danger of becoming of an adult,” she continues. This, of course, is true. The world can seem like an awfully dangerous place, and when parents reinforce this perilous perspective on their children, an already scary world can seem downright nightmarish.
A unique attribute of “Gen-Z” is the abundance of technology at teenagers’ fingertips. Technology at one’s demand means news, data, and facts at one’s demand, also. “Anxiety demands certainty, and with technology and social media there is this weird dichotomy of believing you can know everything ahead of time and at the same time getting too much information that is really hard to process.” Today’s teenagers are a generation in the midst of school shootings, and a confusing, controversial political environment where any sort of certainty is less achievable than ever. With heartbreaking tragedies popping up on the news frequently, it’s easy for one’s mind to be uncertain whether they are safe or not. Anxiety can creep into a constant restlessness that can translate into a lot of worries about one’s state of being.
Approaching Anxiety in School
Ms. Alexa Uline
Teachers continue to try and ease anxiety within schools.
The American Psychological Association (APA) defines anxiety as, “An emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure”, but a high school student might label it as “homework”.
There’s no doubt that high school can give students anxiety, whether the class is advanced placement or just a typical elective. According to Stan Williams, college applications create another level of stress for graduating students. “That press for self achievement is keeping people from doing things that really make them happy and that’s leading to a lot of anxiety and a lot of depression.” Williams explains that colleges are realizing that the additional pressure from the college process creates an unhealthy environment for high school students.
