Gordon, Certainly there are heroic people doing great work in public schools. I’ve never said otherwise. But as a large scale system it no longer allows the flexibility needed to create healthy environments for teens. Certainly some smaller districts do, both rural and urban. Certainly some principals do and some teachers do. Certainly back before the school centralization movement in the 50s and 60s it was more common, before the federal control of education began in the 60s, before teachers unions created additional rigidity in many states and municipalities, and before the standards movement of the 90s culminating in NCLB even further reduced flexibility.
Of course human connection in the family is important. Again, the CDC data cited shows family connection and school connection as two leading risk factors in adolescent dysfunction. But schools-as-we-know-them are definitely part of the problem, and a big part. We need to allow for the creation of thousands of new schools so that those teens and families who are suffering can escape ASAP.
Since publishing the article above I’ve added another one which goes into the analysis more deeply, “Evolutionary Mismatch as a Causal Factor in Adolescent Dysfunction,”
