Chill Out Kid

Needham High School has the right idea. The principal, Paul Richards, has formed the Stress Reduction Committee. This new movement occurring all over the country is aimed at reducing the stress of high school students. In Needham, a couple years ago, four students of the town committed suicide. This led the town to investigate whether the school work was too much on the students. The results of the investigation did not necessarily lead to stress as the cause, but some educators still want to take action.
Some ideas for the stress reduction include a yoga class for seniors, not posting the honor roll list in the newspaper and having the parents' permission to take an advanced placement course. Also Richards is having teachers designate ome weekends and holiday as work free. The students have a mixed response. Some are worried that there is no time to fit this in. Other who have been attending the yoga class don't notice a change in stress levels. Other students are looking forward to the work free weekends so they could catch up on other works.
Only time can tell whether or not Richards' new approach to this matter is successful. Student having been dealing with stress more and more for decades, maybe even centuries now. Perhaps local schools, like Pope John in Everett should take a look at what Richards has to say and jump on the bandwagon with helping students deal with stress.