【推荐1】Leisa Duckwall has worked for four years as a food nutrition service worker at the school, serving students breakfast and lunch. But not once had she ever seen a student say “hello”, or “good morning”, or even “thank you”, Duckwall is deaf. But now, the entire school is learning sign language, the students specifically to better communicate with Duckwall. No more point-ing, now, there are words, including “hello”, “good morning”, and “thank you”. When asked how it’s made her feel, Duckwall got straight to the point. “Happy,” she said.

Before spreading to the entire school, it started in Kari Maskelony’s fourth-grade classroom. Maskelony grew up with hard-of-hearing family members. She knows sign language, but throughout her life, she has witnessed her loved ones’ frustrations when people are unable to understand them. “I noticed that all the kids realized that Ms Duckwall couldn’t hear them,” Maskelony said. So she asked her students, “Do you guys want to learn how to sign to Ms Duckwall what you want for lunch instead of pointing?” They said yes. The class started with the basics of what they would need to know for interactions with Duckwall. They started with the main dishes, learning the sign language words for chicken, fish and other typical school cafeteria cuisines.

Next, the students learned to sign letters. It didn’t take long before principal Janet Wright Davis heard about what was going on. “Is it just Ms Maskelony’s class who are doing it? Let’s teach the whole school,” Janet said. “Let’s teach the whole school sign language.”

“Not only is it great for the kids because they can learn a new skill that they can carry with them and actually use with other people that they meet, but I think it is great because equal inclusivity (包容性) and equal access is so important,” Janet said. “It’s just something that we don’t often see.”

The teachers claim their students love sign language. The adults claim the kids think it’s “fun”, and they agree. Every single fourth-grader in Maskelony’s class gave sign language a positive review. And they all liked their collective hard work, if for nothing else, to make Duckwall feel included.

【推荐3】For college-bound students, leaving home and moving into a new environment can be a stressful experience. As for the students with anxiety, the transition can be more challenging.    1    . They may feel it complicated to share a space with unknown roommates. But with your proper supports in place, they can work through these challenges.

Make preparations ahead

When a student with anxiety is unprepared for the stress of being away from home, combined with the need of independence, can cause a false belief that the transition is simply too hard to handle. This can result in an anxious thought pattern, making his college life a nightmare. When he is prepared for it, on the other hand, all the challenges can be solved practically.    2    

Discuss appropriate expectations

Establishing healthy expectations can help cut down the pressure. Parents and rising college students might approach the transition with a hope that things will be better in college.    3    . Quite different from high school in academics, even a straight-A high student is likely to experience an academic roadblock during college.

Create a support plan

If your college-bound student is currently working with a therapist(治疗专家)for anxiety treatment, chances are the therapist is helping him prepare for the transition and figure out a support system.    4    . Talk it over with your teenager before he makes the transition.

    5    

While making your teens aware that they can cope with their anxiety independently, you are to ensure that help is available on campus. Establish a weekly check-in to catch up and provide support. Encourage him to seek out help on campus if his anxiety increases. By enabling them to use the resources available in his new environment, you send a positive message to them: You can do this.

【推荐1】Hangzhou Asian Games are defined as a great success. For 16 days over 12,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions across Asia competed over 480 events, broke 13 world records and shared unforgettable moments in Hangzhou. It is worth mentioning that in this 19th edition of Asian Games break-dancing and e-sports made their debuts as official medal sports.

In Asia, e-sport games are more popular than traditional sport, making it the leading region for e-sports and, within Asia, China is undoubtedly the region leader as well as the largest e-sports market in the world, accounting for “34% of global industry income in that category, Asia combined takes 53%”, says Niko Partners in their market research reported by MIT Technology Review.

Within China, e-sports are run like any popular sport and have been for a long time: there are regional clubs, each with its home stadium; competitions featuring different levels of talent make it possible for the industry to evaluate the players (and also for the players to make a living); and in recent years, star players have even been marketed like celebrities, attracting crazy fan groups.

For the first time in history, the Asian Games included e-sports as medal-earning event, with over 20 countries competing in seven e-sport games making it the “highest-stakes mobile game match that’s ever been played” according to MIT Technology Review: “Of all the competitions taking place, e-sports is the only one in which arena(竞技场) tickets were sold on a lottery(抽签) basis because of skyrocketing demand. There were over 5 million lottery buyers for all the e-sports events; each had a 0.5% chance of getting a ticket.”

The reason for such popularity has been identified in the drive of the major Chinese tech companies promoting the rise of mobile gaming in China and making the e-sports more accessible to people who don’t have computers or consoles(游戏机). The popularity of e-sports is particularly intense among young people, for this reason brands like Disney or Nintendo are recruiting companies like Tencent to make their mobile games.

【推荐3】Not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep is not a disorder in itself but a sign of some other problems, often a physical one.

If you have trouble sleeping, the American Sleep Disorders Association suggests that, for a week or two, you put down the time you go to bed, get up, exercise, and drink coffee, tea or wine. The purpose is to find the habits that may affect your sleep.

Then: a. Don't drink coffee in the six hours before going to bed.

b. Stop smoking and drinking at bedtime.

c. Don't sleep during the day.

d. Go to bed at the same time every night. Set your alarm clock for the same time every morning and get up at that time, whether or not you sleep well.

e. Use the bedroom only for sleep. Read, watch TV, eat and talk elsewhere.

f. Take sleeping pills according to your doctor's directions and don't take them for longer than three weeks at a time.

g. If you haven't fallen asleep within 15 minutes of going to bed, don't turn over worrying about it. Get up and read or watch TV until you are sleepy, then return to bed.

If you continue to have trouble sleeping, ask your doctor for help or go to a sleep-disorders center.

【推荐1】Rising parental expectations and criticism are linked to an increase in perfectionism among college students.     1     They may include depression, anxiety and self-harm.

    2    Prior research has shown that perfectionists become more neurotic (神经质的) and less careful as they get older. Perfectionism also can pass through generations, with perfectionist parents raising perfectionist children.

Three types of perfectionism were increasing among young people. Self-oriented perfectionism involves perfectionist standards about the self.    3    That is to say, someone expects others to be perfection. Socially prescribed perfectionism is the perception that other people and society require perfection. The three types of perfectionism interact and even worsen the effects of each other in negative ways.

Parental expectations had a larger impact than parental criticism on self-oriented and other-oriented perfectionism.    4    Parental expectations have a high cost when they’re perceived as excessive. Young people take in those expectations and depend on them for their self-esteem. And when they fail to meet them, they’ll be critical of themselves for not matching up. To compensate, they strive to be perfect.

Parents can help their children navigate societal pressures in a healthy way by teaching them that failure, or imperfection, is a normal and natural part of life. Another method is to focus on learning and development, not test scores or social media to help children develop healthy self-esteem.    5