Street Smart
Book Review of Chaos to Clarity by Marci Hopkins
by Hank Bitten, NJCSS Executive Director
As a history educator I am more comfortable with writing book review about historical events and biographies than I am about the personal struggles and accomplishments of ordinary people. The story in From Chaos to Clarity might best be understood from the pen of a social studies teacher as one from continuity and change over time.
The private lives of our students are often hidden from the smiles in the classroom, demonstration of skills on a test, clothes, or the extracurricular activities they participate in. Many who are victims of what is called a ‘mental health crisis’ are savvy at disguising what is deep inside of them. Although someone in the school community is likely to be the first responder to a student in crisis, the role of the classroom teacher is critical. The realities of food insecurity, divorce, emphasis on perfection, feelings of guilt, contribute to stress, alienation, and frustration. Chaos to Clarity provides a perspective on the life of a child, high school teenager, college student, young professional and parent in upscale suburban communities. Let me begin a review of this insightful book with three points that changed my way of thinking about children and teenagers.
- Are educators contributing to the mental health crisis children are experiencing? In my college psychology classes, we debated if nature or nurture had the greater influence on the development of children. I sided with the behaviorists and understood the implications of my classroom environment, emphasis on test scores, comments supporting perfection and excellence, and how I might be influencing the way students studied history and valued or feared homework. As a teacher, I was committed to changing behavior; especially how students understood government, immigration, civil rights, their carbon footprint, and much more.
As an educator I am committed personally and professionally to the wellbeing of my students. In fact, I took a pledge committing to in locos parentis when I received my license to teach. I operated in the absence of parents to protect my students from fights, two fires in schools, several medical emergencies, on their bus ride to school, and on overnight school trips within and outside the United States.
After reflecting on the lessons in Chaos to Clarity, it was likely my body language, comments on tests, and hidden messages that could be perceived by students differently than my intention depending on their family and/or home environment. This message is clear and concise in the personal story of Marci Hopkins regarding divorce, alcoholism, anger, physical abuse, fear, anxiety, stress, and peer relationships. Teachers may not create stress for students but they are contributing to their stress with expectations of perfection, excellence, demanding assignments, preparation for college, and the inherent values of academic success as a desired and necessary path to a career. These are commendable values and are important to every child’s education. The messages in Chaos to Clarity provide insight into the importance of communicating them in a sensitive and encouraging voice that builds self-confidence rather than threatening it.
2. How is the school environment contributing to the mental health crisis children are experiencing? The school environment begins in the home with breakfast and likely continues, especially with middle school and high school students into the evening or late into the night. Chaos to Clarity provides an understanding of the importance of nutrition, love, and self-confidence.
There are an increasing number of students who experience food insecurity, lack of sleep, parents who put their own needs before those of their children, and angry or disappointing comments about schoolwork and grades. The walk or ride to school may be lonely, impacted by bullying, and/or a time of personal reflection about unrealistic aspirations. The ride or walk home is likely more stressful because the experiences of five or more academic classrooms emphasizing content standards and cognitive thinking, only one activity-based period without instruction, and lunch may also contribute to a negative emotional health of children. The daily routine, placement levels for reading and math, assessments that are well-intentioned but poorly designed each have a way of sending negative messages to the brain, with a permanent impact. Unfortunately, even for the most academically successful students, unlocking the door to an empty home after more than seven hours in school is one of disappointment and an opportunity for supporting addictive behaviors with time spent before a digital monitor providing dopamine to the brain with the viewing of photos, videos, or playing games. Although none of this is intentional, it is consistent and inherent in our home, culture, and educational environment.
3. How are students contributing to their own mental health crisis? The personal story of Marci Hopkins is one of addiction to alcoholism that first appeared in high school and continued for two decades. It is a disease of the brain and one where the symptoms can be disguised. I often think of addictive behaviors as starting with a specific event when someone is introduced to nicotine, alcohol, harmful substances, or caffeine. Each person’s body reacts differently to chemicals making the signs difficult to see.
Chaos to Clarity provides a perspective on addiction that changed my perspective. The signs of how we escape from the harmful consequences of academic disappointment, losses in athletic and academic competitions, escape from angry and loud parents, binge streaming for entertainment, seeking emotional happiness from the people we influence through social media, or desire for sexual intimacy contribute negatively to a child’s mental health. Instead, parents, educators, and friends need to bring awareness to the dangers of an indulgence that is pursued to fill the emptiness of acceptance and self-confidence.
The personal story of Marci Hopkins continues into college, her first jobs, marriage, relocation, and family. Her story is a roller coaster of starts and stops, curves and wrong turns, and crises and resilience. Although the message in Chaos to Clarity emphasizes her personal journey through spiritual and emotional development, the point of this review is to learn from her experiences as a child and teenager that contributed to her addiction and personal crisis. The mental health crisis in our society is real and serious. It contributes to loss of employment, divorce, and fractured relationships. The people in crisis are our students, nephews and nieces, and neighbors. While our sociological environment encourages us to be a bystander, our dedication to in loco parentis requires us to be observant, mindful of how our voice and behaviors might be harmful, and to report symptoms to administrators, counselors, and mental health professionals in our schools as soon as is possible.
Are we able to teach children how to be “street smart” in a time of helicopter parents, artificial intelligence, and complacency in society? When one is ‘street smart’ they understand people, the behaviors of people, the ability to know who they can trust, how to overcome challenges and disappointments, and seizing opportunities. It is an intelligence that develops from perspective, diversity, and experiences. Although the first lessons of being ‘street smart’ should begin in the home, they are most likely first learned in kindergarten as children are placed in a community of classmates from diverse cultures, homes, incomes, abilities, and multi-sensory experiences. Being ‘street smart’ is also understanding and learning how to survive in an environment that is constantly changing, filled with violence, war, disease, and destructive behaviors, and a civilization facing the existential threat of a changing climate, collapse of institutions, and unprecedented poverty.
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