6 . Students who are better able to understand and manage their emotions effectively, a skill known as emotional intelligence (EI), do better at school than their less-skilled classmates, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

“It’s not enough to be smart and hardworking. Students must also be able to understand and manage their emotions to succeed at school,” said Carolyn MacCann, lead author of the study. MacCann and her colleagues analyzed data from more than 160 studies, representing more than 42,000 students from 27 countries, published between 1998 and 2019. The students ranged in age from primary school to college. The researchers found that students with higher EI tended to get higher grades and better achievement test scores than those with lower EI scores. This finding held true even when controlling for intelligence and personality factors. What was most surprising to the researchers was the association held despite different ages.

As for why EI can affect academic performance, MacCann believes a number of factors may come into play. “Students with higher EI may be better able to manage negative emotions, such as anxiety, boredom and disappointment, which can negatively affect academic performance,” she said. “Also, these students may be better able to manage the social world around them, forming better relationships with teachers, classmates and family, all of which are important to academic success.” Finally, the skills required for EI, such as understanding human motivation and emotion, may overlap with (与……重叠) the skills required to master certain subjects, such as history and language, giving students an advantage in those subject areas, according to MacCann.

However, MacCann cautions against widespread testing of students to identify and target those with low EI as it may stigmatize (给……打上烙印) those students. Instead, she recommends interventions that involve the whole school, including additional teacher training and a focus on teacher well-being and emotional skills. “Programs that integrate emotional skill development into the existing curriculum would be beneficial, as research suggests that training works better when run by teachers rather than external specialists,” she said. “Increasing skills for everyone — not just those with low EI—would benefit everyone.”

To act with honesty and good faith was such a habit with Susan that she had never before thought of examining the Golden Rule:” All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” But the longer she thought about it, the more seriously she doubted that she did not always obey it. So she asked her mother about its meaning.

“It implies. ”said her mother, “in the first place, a total destruction of all selfishness (自私): for a man who loves himself better than his neighbors, can never do to others as he would have others do to him. We are bound not only to do, but to feel, toward others as we would have others feel toward us. Remember. it is much easier to blame others for their selfishness than to overcome temptation (诱惑) when we face it. ”

Susan thought carefully and seriously about what her mother had said. She told herself that she would remember and follow the Golden Rule.

It was not long after this that an opportunity to test Susan’s principles occurred. One Saturday evening when she went, as usual, to farmer Thompson’s hotel, to bring back the money for her mother’s washing for the boarders, which amounted to five pounds. She found the farmer in the yard.

He was apparently in a terrible rage (勃然大怒) with some horse dealers with whom he had been bargaining (讨价还价). He held in his hand an open handbag, full of banknotes, and didn’t see the child as she made her request, except to blame her, as usual, for troubling him when he was busy. After that, he handed her a banknote. Glad to escape so easily, Susan hurried out of the gate. and then, pausing to put the money safely in her pocket, she discovered that he had given her two banknotes instead of one. She looked around: nobody was around to see her discovery.

“It is mine, all mine.” she said happily to herself. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Suddenly she turned around and rushed along the road with breathless speed. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . A program at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is hoping to fight against loneliness brought on by the pandemic by forming friendships between students and seniors in the community. They’re making it possible through weekly calls.

“It’s been a thing I look forward to every week,” Miranda Savioli, a VCU medical student said.

The program is run by students involved with the American Geriatrics Society and pairs medical and health science students with seniors in the community.

VCU education administrator for the School of Medicine, Chuck Alexander, says it was formed to fight against loneliness and give students valuable interaction with that age group — something that’s been missing since training programs stopped earlier this year. “It’s mostly just social — just chatting,” Alexander said. “A lot of times they just need someone to talk to. A lot of times they feel that they have a connection with someone younger who is just entering a new phase in their career and that they have some wisdom to impart to them — medically and socially as a friend.”

So far, the volunteer program has paired around 40 students with seniors.

Every week, Savioli video calls retiree Joan Kerby, who lives in a retirement community in Henrico.

“It’s a really good connection because in lockdown you really don’t have long conversations with anybody,” Kerby said. Those long conversations soon turned into a visit. The two participants decided to meet in person back in November and Kerby said it was a special moment. “We talked for two hours. We probably could have gone on longer but we had to stop,” Kerby said.

Savioli says they plan to keep the program going, and encourages others to pick up the phone and call a loved one who may be isolated. “It was developed to help seniors with isolation, but mean, we all got isolated during this pandemic,” Savioli said. “It’s been nice to talk to someone every week.” The group has no plans to stop the program. “We’re going to keep the program going and as for Joan and I, we’ve established ourselves as lifelong friends,” Savioli said.