Edutopia – Sarah Gonser
When people experience stress, the hormone cortisol is released in the body, producing the fight, flight, or freeze impulse. Some stress may be useful in preparing kids for challenging tasks like tests and performances. “This is the limbic system in the brain at work—attention, concentration, focus, memory, preparation,” writes Cantor. But persistently high levels of stress can become toxic, affecting attention and memory. The hormone oxytocin, however, can help protect children from these harmful effects. “Relationships that are strong and positive cause oxytocin’s release, which helps produce feelings of trust, love, attachment, and safety,” Cantor writes. “This not only helps children manage stress, but also offsets the damaging effects of cortisol and produces resilience to future stress.” As students head back to school this fall with the possibility of hybrid learning models and rolling school closures, educators and parents will play an important role in helping to “inoculate us against the intolerable stress of the scary, uncertain world we now live in,” she writes. Cantor suggests adults focus on a new take on the “Three Rs”: relationships, routines, and resilience.