• Reports of anxiety are over twice as high among females as males and increase during middle school
• 16% of students report feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge on at least half the days in the past two weeks; 11% feel unable to stop or control worrying.
• After decreasing from 16% in 2006 to 10% in 2016, reports of life being very stressful are notably higher at 19-21% in 2016-2018.

• 7% of students reported experiencing depressive symptoms
• 7% of students have engaged in self injury
• 8% of student have seriously contemplated suicide; 3% have made a suicidal attempt.

• Appearing dysregulated in class - shutting down or crying more frequently,
• Constantly asking reassuring questions, seemingly unable to proceed without having, them answered immediately
• Struggling with task initiation,
• Engaging in perfectionistic behaviors such as repeatedly erasing and redoing to get it “just right,”
• Avoiding less preferred tasks - trips to the bathroom, fountain or nurse,
• Arriving late to class, school or having many absences, or
• Looking great at school and then falling apart at home.

• Living in a post - 9/11 world sets parents and children on edge,
• Experiencing the intensity of our 24 hour news cycle can be fear inducing, 
• Living in an affluent, high-performing community can create excessive pressure,
• Social pressures lead some to think they need to do it all - be attractive, achieve academically, athletically, musically…,
• Some students appear to be over-scheduled (homework, plus several sports, plus music lessons plus religious ed plus…) leading students to be exhausted and struggle to make decisions themselves,
• Living in a high tech world with constant input from screens (social media, video games) doesn’t allow for down time, restorative outdoor exploration, or even skills for navigating boredom or relaxation, or
• Some parent’s inability to bear their children’s upset/distress leads to parents fixing things for their kids and children don’t develop distress tolerance skills or see themselves as capable of solving problems (of course it is always our fault as parents 😊)

• Approach the anxiety rather than avoid it (this is critical)
• Develop coping strategies → “I can manage these strong feelings”
• Come to believe that the feared outcome probably won’t happen.

• Is this a helpful thought? 
• Is there another way it could turn out?
• What would you tell a friend who was thinking this?
• Is the thought helping you move closer to your goals?
• What does prior evidence show? “In reality I got A’s and B’s on my last three assessments.” 

1. Join the WMS PTO Closed Facebook Group. We will include weekly updates in the Monday Morning Minute, but further details, photos and videos are shared on Facebook. Stay in the loop!  
2. Register to access our free, all district family directory, Membership Toolkit. You must use the email address the invitation from Wayland PTO Directory was sent.