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   From: absolute-boneheads@washingtonpost.com   
      
   For many middle- and high-school students, giving an in-class   
   presentation was a rite of passage. Teachers would call up   
   students, one by one, to present their work in front of the   
   class and, though it was often nerve-racking, many people claim   
   it helped turn them into more confident public speakers.   
      
   “Coming from somebody with severe anxiety, having somebody force   
   me to do a public presentation was the best idea to happen in my   
   life,” one woman recently tweeted. According to a recent survey   
   by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, oral   
   communication is one of the most sought-after skills in the   
   workplace, with over 90 percent of hiring managers saying it’s   
   important. Some educators also credit in-class presentations   
   with building essential leadership skills and increasing   
   students’ confidence and understanding of material.   
      
   But in the past few years, students have started calling out in-   
   class presentations as discriminatory to those with anxiety,   
   demanding that teachers offer alternative options. This week, a   
   tweet posted by a 15-year-old high-school student declaring   
   “Stop forcing students to present in front of the class and give   
   them a choice not to” garnered more than 130,000 retweets and   
   nearly half a million likes. A similar sentiment tweeted in   
   January also racked up thousands of likes and retweets. And   
   teachers are listening.   
      
   |???????????|   
   stop forcing students   
   to present in front of the   
   class and give them a   
   choice not to   
      
   |___________|   
   \ (•?•) /   
   \ /   
   ---   
   | |   
      
   — leen (@softedhearts) September 8, 2018   
   Teachers, please stop forcing students to present in front of   
   the class & raise their hand in exchange for a good grade.   
   Anxiety is real.   
      
   — amberlicious. ?? (@DAMNBlEBERS) January 30, 2017   
   Students who support abolishing in-class presentations argue   
   that forcing students with anxiety to present in front of their   
   peers is not only unfair because they are bound to underperform   
   and receive a lower grade, but it can also cause long-term   
   stress and harm.   
      
   MORE STORIES   
      
   When Anxiety Hits at School   
   LUCY DWYER   
      
   A New Kind of Social Anxiety in the Classroom   
   ALEXANDRA OSSOLA   
      
   Is Anxiety Overdiagnosed?   
   LINDSAY ABRAMS   
      
   Surviving Anxiety   
   SCOTT STOSSEL   
   “Nobody should be forced to do something that makes them   
   uncomfortable,” says Ula, a 14-year-old in eighth grade, who,   
   like all students quoted, asked to be referred to only by her   
   first name. “Even though speaking in front of class is supposed   
   to build your confidence and it’s part of your schoolwork, I   
   think if a student is really unsettled and anxious because of it   
   you should probably make it something less stressful. School   
   isn’t something a student should fear.”   
      
   “It feels like presentations are often more graded on delivery   
   when some people can’t help not being able to deliver it well,   
   even if the content is the best presentation ever,” says   
   Bennett, a 15-year-old in Massachusetts who strongly agrees with   
   the idea that teachers should offer alternative options for   
   students. “Teachers grade on public speaking which people who   
   have anxiety can’t be great at.”   
      
   “I get that teachers are trying to get students out of their   
   comfort zone, but it’s not good for teachers to force them to do   
   that,” says Henry, a 15-year-old also in Massachusetts.   
      
   To the thousands of teens who support the effort to do away with   
   in-class presentations (at least enough to like a tweet about   
   it), anxiety is no small issue. Students said they understood   
   why older people might tell them to “suck it up,” but that doing   
   so was unproductive. Some responses to the most recent viral   
   tweet, though, noted that giving a presentation in spite of   
   anxiety might reduce a student’s fear of public speaking.   
      
   Just so you know, “Exposure therapy” is commonly used amongst   
   psychologist as a behavior therapy to help treat anxiety   
   disorder. So your point about “ it can’t be cured facing your   
   fears.” Is just false.   
      
   — Mightykeef (@MightyKeef) September 10, 2018   
   Being a high schooler in 2018 is more stressful than ever.   
   Academic demands on students are high, kids participate in more   
   extracurricular activities than in the past, and they are   
   saddled with extra hours of homework.   
      
   “Kids doing sports don’t get home till 7:00 p.m. I get home at   
   5:30 p.m. tonight but it’s going to get worse,”  Bennett says.   
   “Kids ... can’t be holed up in their room every night till 1:00   
   a.m. finishing homework on their third Red Bull.” These   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)