pressure

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
1

<p>I thought this group of parents might like this NY Times article on how different children handle pressure. It’s a bit too long (NYT, after all) but I found it quite interesting. But then, I’m kind of a nerd.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/magazine/why-can-some-kids-handle-pressure-while-others-fall-apart.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=general&src=me[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/magazine/why-can-some-kids-handle-pressure-while-others-fall-apart.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=general&src=me&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

2

<p>Wow. If I had my way - I’d do away with these tests. There has to be a better way to assess a student than fuel a multi-billion dollar test industry that is one size fits all.</p>

3

<p>I read the article a couple of days ago… so my memory might not be quite sharp. What’s interesting about this article was not that it provided a biological basis for why some smart kids melt down under pressure, which is widely known, but that anxiety-related underperformance can be remedied by training. In other words, while it’s in your DNA, it’s not your fate; it can be fixed. Whether you like it or not, the world is full of jobs (I’m not talking about mere tests, but real jobs.) requiring performance under pressure. Kids should learn to adapt, not to avoid.</p>