Into the backpack: Books, pens, worries

By Emily Richmond

Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Adults tend to idealize the back-to-school rituals — the new clothes and friends, the fresh starts and high hopes that come every fall.

But many Clark County adolescents who return to the classroom today appear far from carefree.

“It’s all about the drama with the girls,” said Kaitlin Steiner, an eighth grader at Jack Schofield Middle School. “They make stupid comments about kids to feel better about themselves. They pretend to be your friend, and then stab you in the back.”

Is it really that tough?

Kaitlin nods, indicating she’s serious.

But don’t worry about Kaitlin. She has a plan to deal with the pressure: keep her head down, ignore any attempt to pick a fight and focus on academics.

“I’m going to school to pay attention to my studies and learn,” Kaitlin said. “The rest of the stuff isn’t worth it.”

The Sun spoke with a cross section of students about their concerns as they prepared to return to school. Their worries included dodging fights, dealing with bullies and the effect of budget cuts on their favorite school activities. They also ranged from parents losing jobs and families losing homes to choosing a career or college — and finding ways to pay for it.

The fears these teens expressed are “developmentally appropriate,” said UNLV professor Christopher Kearney, a clinical child psychologist who specializes in youth anxiety disorders.

“A 7-year-old might be afraid of thunderstorms and snakes,” he said. “By the time you get to middle school, it’s social situations that can be a trigger. High schoolers tend to be more anxious about things related to current events, their career choices and who they can rely on to help them make decisions.”

Take Cory Askin, who starts his senior year at Cheyenne High School today. He’s a popular athlete and a good student, but that doesn’t make him invulnerable.

Askin knows this better now than he did a week ago. One of his best friends was struck by a car and killed while riding his bike near campus Tuesday. Keanu Davila was 16.

“I worry about kids being safe on the roads,” Askin said as he helped out with a barbecue welcoming freshmen at the North Las Vegas campus last week. “I keep thinking about how people don’t pay attention when they’re driving.”

He’s also concerned about how he’ll do this academic year. He needs to get good grades to win an athletic scholarship. Askin would like to attend Penn State, but without a scholarship, paying for college will be difficult and he’ll have to look at smaller, less expensive schools.

Christine Steiner, a senior at Silverado High School, knows she will soon begin discussing postgraduate plans with her school counselor, and that’s creating a whole new kind of stress.

“I don’t know what I want to do,” she said. “I don’t want to choose something and end up not liking it. When you make a decision, you can’t go back.”

Her more immediate concerns included arranging her school schedule. Chorus practices overlapped with advanced placement classes and Steiner, who is considering a career in medicine, didn’t want to give up either. She made four trips to a guidance counselor before her schedule was settled.

Steiner said she had trouble last year balancing academics and her personal life.

“I withdrew from everybody,” she said as she ran back-to-school errands in Silverado Ranch. “I’m just starting to hang out with people again.”

There are other worries on students’ minds, such as the effect of cuts to Nevada’s education funding.

Askin, a member of the school’s wrestling team, isn’t too concerned about sports programs because he knows athletes pay for some of their uniforms and raise money to help cover costs. But he wonders about other extracurricular programs.

“I worry they’re going to take out orchestra or band,” said Askin, who plays violin. “That’s how a lot of kids stay out of trouble. You keep busy.”

Kearney, who runs a clinic for students dealing with issues that interfere with school attendance, said it makes sense that some parental anxiety related to the region’s shaky economy is rubbing off on school-age children.

“Children are very perceptive about changes in their family environment,” he said. “If parents are fighting more, or even if there are subtle changes, like the family is going out to dinner less often, kids certainly pick up on that.”

He recommends parents have daily conversations with their children about school. Ask about homework, their social lives, who they talked to, hung out with, and whether anything made them nervous or upset, he said.

“They don’t have to be rapid-fire questions,” Kearney said. “So long as the child knows their parents are going to be asking about these things every day, and they can express what they’re feeling, it’s less likely a problem will fester over time.”