Two of the most prominent leaders of the charge against the arms race that has become college admissions are Julie Lythcott-Haims (author, parent, and former dean of freshmen at Stanford) and Lloyd Thacker of the Education Conservancy. They are both featured in this article, Reducing Student Stress: 6 Ways Parents Can Help High School Students, offering these tips that can be so easy to forget under the pressure of the college admissions process:
“Spend time together where no one is focusing on grades or their college application essays. ‘Kids in this demographic feel that their worth as a human is based on how well they do in school,’ says Lythcott-Haims. ‘I try to let my kids know that I love them when they get A’s. And I love them when they don’t.’ Thacker adds that it is vital to allow high school kids to live a life where the stakes are not always high. ‘Allow them to make mistakes, allow them to play,’ he says. ‘Love your kids enough to let them to be kids.’”