Leonard Sax in The Epoch Times, 2021-08-21, asks an important question for every parent, "Which school is the best school for your child?" He points out that most patents tend to define the "best" schools in relation to the kind of universities that their graduates attend. However, he then looks at the research of the past 40 years. In the 1980's the "common sense" expectation was that attending schools in low-income communities increased risk for substance abuse, anxiety, and depression. In the late 1990's it was found that the results "had flipped" so that affluent kids were now at higher risk than low-income kids. More recent research has found that risk associated with affluence doesn't come from the household income itself, but from the type of school that they attend. "High-achieving schools connote risks for adolescents" seems counter-intuitive, but constant comparison with others and measurement of self-worth by accomplishments creates a toxic environment that hinders long-term success. Followers of Christ should not be surprised that prioritizing character and conscientiousness over performance produces the best chance of graduates being healthy and happy decades after graduation.
