One of my students just had a breakdown. Not an "I'm so spoiled and unhappy with this B" breakdown, but a genuine, "I can't handle life anymore" breakdown.
Not in my class, but it easily could have been.
He's been a little...off...all semester. And getting progressively more frustrated, more agitated, more angry...leading to more frequent outbursts that disrupt class...but only momentarily. He has cried several times out of anger and frustration at the start of the daily quizzes because he wasn't as prepared as he knew he needed to be.
This is the first time I've encountered this situation and it is disturbing. I care about this student, so I called counseling services when the behavior started and after-class conversations contained phrases like "ready to throw my desk across the room" and "I'm on the edge" and "I don't want to do this anymore." The counselor advised me to suggest to this student that he visit the counseling center for a chance to vent and talk to someone privately who can help with coping skills and just be a kind ear. But if the student's behavior escalates, well, the counselor said...professors have been known to walk students over to the Center.
Tuesday in class, this student was more disruptive than he'd been before. Physically slamming his books, marching across the room in front of me to loudly and angrily sharpen his pencil, making gestures and facial expressions that were angry and agitated. Interrupting other students, making conversational asides that didn't make sense, and contributing almost nonsensical comments to the conversation, causing his classmates to smirk or look at him in confusion.
I didn't know what to do. Should I have dismissed class and walked him to the counseling center? The outburst lasted only ten minutes total and I have 25 other students to consider. I chose to ignore the outburst as best I could and once he calmed down, then I did call on him during the in-class discussion portion. As usual, his offerings were just a bit...off. Not quite on target. But I accepted his contribution and other students picked up the threads and continued discussion.
Moments ago, one of his other English professors came into my office. He had a breakdown in her class this morning. She drove him to the counseling center. We discussed granting him extensions for his work, which I am going to do. We also discussed this strange phenomenon that seems more acute this semester - students under extreme stress and in over their heads. She's seeing it more this semester than ever before (she's been teaching for two decades). I'm noticing it more as well, even being relatively new to this side of the desk.
It is easy for us to dismiss these students as privileged, entitled, lazy, and incapable-by-choice. But my student who finally broke down is not lazy, or privileged, or incapable - he strives for perfection, he has a job and is taking a full and strenuous course load as a senior in order to set himself up to hopefully get a good job post-graduation. He has family problems, one of which is the extraordinary pressure that he perceives his family is putting on him about finishing college. He worries about everything. His performance in class. What his professors think of him. Whether his level of engagement and participation is enough. Whether he is making the right choices.
Perhaps my student is the exception and not the rule. But another of my students in the same class is having severe family issues that is causing her undue distress and is distracting her from her work - and she is most decidedly an A student. And she failed the last quiz outright. Zero questions answered.
I'm beginning to wonder if the economic realities and conditions in our society are increasing the stress on these capable young people. They want so badly to do well and succeed, but they see an untenable future before them, even as they push themselves to work harder, faster, better in order to compete.
I don't know what the root cause is...or if there are multiple causes working simultaneously, but I just can't dismiss this idea that our current economic situation and social attitudes are having a negative effect on our youth.
