Teens today are different – and they are the same. So says Linda Gieda, who has been teaching and counseling high schoolers for several decades, including at Del Amigo and Venture. She “retired” from her full time counselor position at Monte Vista High in January, then returned as a part timer. Last week the counseling office was bustling but Linda took time to talk to me about what she has seen over the last few decades as a high school teacher and counselor.
Linda and I carpooled together before our sons – now 33 – were old enough to drive. Although we live in the same neighborhood, ours is a “bank-and-Safeway” relationship. She also taught a peer counseling class my daughter attended in 1997. So when I made an appointment to talk to a counselor at the high school, I was delighted when it turned out to be Linda.
It turns out that Monte Vista’s four-and-a-half counselors are very busy people. From the incoming eighth-graders to the outgoing seniors, they make sure everyone is informed as to choices in high school and what is needed to get into different colleges. They do all the class scheduling and the program planning, do guidance and career counseling, and interest inventories. They make presentations to all the eighth-graders, as well as presenting back-to-college nights, keeping abreast of changes in requirements at colleges and universities. “The Counseling Department makes the school run,” Linda stated. She is a licensed therapist, too, and teachers will send at-risk students to see counselors as problems manifest themselves on campus.
Linda said a lot of teen troubles are the same – relationships, peer pressure, eating disorders, family problems, trouble with school work. But she has seen teens develop higher stress levels over the last few decades, most of it due to the competition to get into universities. “I have kids coming to us and saying they’re all burned out,” she said, citing juniors taking as many as six Advanced Placement courses and trying to get A’s in all of them.
She said parents may add to the stress without even being aware of it, as students are becoming aware at earlier and earlier ages of what they need to get into colleges. “I don’t think parents realize the pressure they put on their kids,” she said. “It is really self-imposed.”
She said another big change is that students now use UC Berkeley as their backup as they apply to Ivy League schools as their first choice. Forty-two Monte Vista graduates were accepted into Berkeley this year but only 22 are going, she said. Berkeley has also changed its acceptance procedures, considering more than just grades and SAT scores. Each application is read twice and extracurricular activities, jobs and other interests are factored into the equation.
She also has noticed that although not everyone gets into his or her first choice of college, it all seems to work out for the best. “They find their niches,” she observed. “There are plenty of schools out there for everyone.”
One change she would like to see in education is technical schools with internships, so students who are not college-bound can be headed toward a career rather than end up with no skills at all.
Linda is especially grateful to the many active parents who give invaluable help through the booster clubs. “They are phenomenal,” she said. “I really appreciate that.”
She advises teens to keep taking school seriously but try to get a balance in their lives. “This is a time to grow as a person,” she said.
