University of Utah "Cry Closet" lets students "just let it all out" during finals

I don't know you but I'd be willing to say that your kids are probably very lucky to have you and that most kids will not ever get that kind of teaching from their parents. a reply to: Xtrozero

a reply to: Xtrozero

I tell my kids the same, the biggest downside though is that they will be the ones footing the bill for the dope smokin' safe space dwellers with their taxes.

a reply to: Boomy327

If you teach a kid to quit when he/she faces adversary, what do you think the kid is gonna do.

*THIS* right here is why I found a sport for my kid to do that he enjoys. Nothing teaches you how not to quit when facing adversity like a sport. It's nothing but adversity from the word go, even when it's fun.

Hey man you don't need to tell me that I'm already there. I have been looking at myself more than ever and part of that has been staying away from the Internet, and sadly, ATS as much as possible.

I'm posting from the perspective I had for most of my schooling and from the perspective of all of the people in the situation the OP is talking about. Just trying to bring some perspective into this thread because I saw it going horrible awry very quickly. Sorry if that was unclear.
a reply to: ketsuko

Agreed! Completely!

a reply to: ketsuko

a reply to: ketsuko

My son played football and my daughter was in competitive dance and gymnastics. They honestly don't understand many of the kids from their age group who just say "I can't do ..." and give up.

In my day we never cried.

Unless we killed a commie.

Then those were tears of joy.

"Kill a commie for mommy", is what we'd say. Then wipe a tear of joy from our eyes when they died.

*sniff*

I miss the good ol' days.

originally posted by: DAVID64
a reply to: ketsuko

My son played football and my daughter was in competitive dance and gymnastics. They honestly don't understand many of the kids from their age group who just say "I can't do ..." and give up.

Mine is the sort who tends to pick things up quickly and then wants to move on.

So he's learning that sometimes, there is immense value in doing the same thing over and over because sometimes just having something basically learned isn't good enough; it could be better.

On the other hand, if he tries and doesn't get it right away, he does tend to want to say he can't. He's learning that if he wants to progress, he needs to persevere with things he doesn't always pick up on the first shot because they will often come.

But with the second thing especially, we couldn't get him to go back to academic concepts. With the physical stuff we can.

originally posted by: Boomy327

Furthermore, it's a matter of perspective. YOU brought that up and somehow dont even actually understand the concept. To these people this # is very much something to cry over because of the perspective they have, that they were given, that they were taught.

a reply to: underpass61

Okay, to be clear I meant a matter of changing your perspective. You're an intelligent, educated person, try looking at the bigger picture. You're still living in the greatest country on earth, and you don't have a gun in your back working in an Afghan poppy field. Things could always be worse. Deal with what you got and be grateful that it pales compared to others. You can do it man, things always get better.

a reply to: Bluntone22

originally posted by: Boomy327
Things are changing now... so very many of us now are in a position where primary schooling has failed us. We have no idea what we want to do, and are pressured into going to college. Then, we go to a school that is run like a business, the college doesn't care about us, the media is polarizing and forced onto us at every turn. Our political situation is an absolute disaster. The only food many of can afford is unhealthy and the school itself is filled with Panda Express and Carls junior, etc.. There was a damn giant McDonalds double arch sitting back above the speakers during our graduation.

We spend most of our time learning about the immense problems our generation faces and how we need to come up with a way to fix it. Yet many of us are still stuck in a grade school mentality, sitting here thinking, "wait... you never taught us how to live "real" life in the first place. I don't know how to do my taxes but somehow my generation is supposed to save the world? Huh". If you aren't blessed enough to have the tools to take control of your life, you are very much screwed. Problem is, we aren't ever given these tools or taught how to use them unless we are lucky, smart, or blessed, etc..

I'm sure not everyone has this experience but everyone around me,personally, has. On top of everything kids are given iPhones in grade school now. When they become older they will be utterly addicted to screens and will be inseparable from them.

It's hard not to have crippling anxiety when all of this is going on and then you have to memorize and regurgitate chemical equations so you can pass a test that has no bearing on what you actually learned about the subject.

Obviously I should not have gone to a state college, but this is where most students go.


a reply to: dug88

Hmmm yup sounds a lot like what I did. I didn't have a #in clue, I still don't. School ended up being not entirely worth it. The whole time I was in school different industry people and government officials came to tell us about all these awesome jobs they would not be hiring us for because I happened to start school in 2008 just in time for the economy to collapse and everyone decided there was no more money for environmental work. I did still learn a lot and I apply things i learned in school to my current job and life on general every day. And I did get to spend three years doing what I went to school for and I may still do so in the future.

No one taught me to do taxes...one day I found out I needed to do them so I learned how...it's really not that difficult...and honestly there's a million and one places that'll do it for you if you can't be bothered to learn. I've gone through times of not much money for food and not having to worry about it. I made the choice to learn to cook so whether or not I have a lot of money for food I can still eat decently. Cooking is great I highly recommend learning. A while ago I realized media is nonsense. I don't watch the news, I don't watch TV or movies really because most of them suck and I feel like i've spent more than enough time in my life doing such things. Instead I have hobbies and do things. This is also pretty great...again I highly recommend doing this.

There are no magic tools people get to take control of their lives. You can have aboslutely nothing or all the wealth in the world and in either case it's still up to you. Taking control of your life doesn't mean getting whatever you want....it means making the most of whatever situation you happen to find yourself in in life and doing what you can to either improve or make the most of your situation. Here's a secret....eveyone is just as confused, is just as scared, has no idea what's the point of life, what choices to make. Nobody has it figured out. Everyone just does the best they can no matter how old or how much experience they have. And even if someone else does seem to have things figured out...chances are it's totally different to you.

You're not supposed to save the world. You're supposed to try and make it better. Everyone really should honestly. If people just spent a little bit of time making their own lives and the world around them just a little bit better instead of acting ridiculous or sitting there self pityingly the world would be a far better place with so much less bull#. Just chill out, relax a little bit...you're not responsible for any more than the things you can directly or indirectly influence and as long as you're doing the best you can with the tools you do have...you're doing alright.

They gonna make em change the name. They supposed to all be coming out of the closet, not climbing back in.

Thinking about this thread I think the problem I have is not that I disagree that the idea of a "cry closest" sounds pretty dumb rather it is how some members seem to equate stress and anxiety with being a weakness.

Now don't get me wrong, kids in London have far less to get anxious and stressed about than kids living in Syria however that should not be used to belittle their emotions and I think this idea that stress and anxiety is somehow a weakness only makes things worse. We have a epidemic in the west of young men killing themselves and I think that this idea that if you show emotion your less of a man, this idea that admitting your stressed, anxious or just not feeling right makes you weak to me is a big part of the problem.

If this is how some kids want to deal with their emotions then as stupid as I might think it is, if it works then more power to them. I am not going to make fun of them, I am not going to call them pussies, cowards or whatever other insult you want to through at them. A cry closest might sound stupid but its better than turning to alcohol, drugs or these young people just suffering because the generation that came before them thinks of them as weak if they try to deal with their emotions creatively.

meh.

I think this thread is pretty much what I expect from a lot of ATS members these days, there is a noticeable lack of empathy in this thread.

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin
Thinking about this thread I think the problem I have is not that I disagree that the idea of a "cry closest" sounds pretty dumb rather it is how some members seem to equate stress and anxiety with being a weakness.

How its delt with determines if its weakness or not. Class inst timeout cry & pout time.

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin
Thinking about this thread I think the problem I have is not that I disagree that the idea of a "cry closest" sounds pretty dumb rather it is how some members seem to equate stress and anxiety with being a weakness.

How its delt with determines if its weakness or not. Class inst timeout cry & pout time.

Agreed and I think using art to express and deal with those emotions is a health way to do it that's not weak in anyway.

would you disagree with this if so why?

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

They can cry into their pillow at night. Get this crybaby crap out me classroom its cluttering and a distraction. Might as well put a portajohn in there next to it.

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

They can cry into their pillow at night. Get this crybaby crap out me classroom its cluttering and a distraction.

So you think they should bottle up all their emotions and not talk about them or deal with them, just cry into a pillow at night.

Like I said, there seems to be a lack of empathy in this thread.

originally posted by: IgnoranceIsntBlisss
a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

They can cry into their pillow at night. Get this crybaby crap out me classroom its cluttering and a distraction.

So you think they should bottle up all their emotions and not talk about them or deal with them, just cry into a pillow at night.

Like I said, there seems to be a lack of empathy in this thread.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

How they gonna talk out the stress if they hiding in a closet?

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

For the average person with the average course load, finals is stressful, yes, but it shouldn't be so bad that you are ready to collapse into tears. It really shouldn't.