It’s a tricky time of year for me, this ‘back to school’ season in August. For decades I was an educator who abhorred late summer because the days were long as teachers, staff, administrators did the gearing up dance for a new school year. Summer’s so fleeting and the heavy shift from less encumbered summer days to alarms, schedules, obligations was difficult.
Now? I hate August, just a little less. I’m aware of the transition – both from a practitioner and parenting perspective – but I now enjoy a seat on the bench. Not on the field. I have other interests; I love my consulting and counseling practice and the opportunity to write. I can boldly proclaim I have no ‘back to school blues’. With one exception.
This time of year, I’m often flooded with memories of students. Those who touched my heart because of their growth and those who stick with me because of the lack thereof. It’s a privilege to be a helper but the inability to peek into the future can be a troublesome, mixed bag. How did their stories unfold? Question marks remain. Tiny imprints on my heart, despite the gloriousness when some students stay in touch.
Counseling types seek supervision and support from colleagues as professional practice. I think it’s a massively overlooked aspect of what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ for those who care for others. Support and supervision go together – the time to dialogue with trusted colleagues about precious humans in our care while addressing our human reactions to providing support. Similar opportunities can and do exist in our “real”, non-therapeutic lives, but we don’t seek them out in the same intentional way. We should. We can. Empathetic listening ears can make a difference.
August summons worries about disordered eating, the back-to-school stress carried by students (generally) and especially student athletes as they ‘return to sport’ and find themselves confronting the duality of loving, and sometimes loathing their bodies with the start of a new school year.
I’ve written about disordered eating in the past – both from the vantage point of my own family and concern for others – but something about August brings the ghosts. Memories of those who identified as student athletes and struggled to excel in sport while keeping secrets. Potentially deadly secrets.
And…as if we needed more to worry about, it seems social media and AI/Chat GPT are promoting scurrilous, destructive messages about healthy eating. (I know you’re not shocked.) Have you seen the Washington Post piece from Geoffrey Fowler on this topic? Here’s a snippet:
The internet has long been a danger for people with eating disorders. Social media fosters unhealthy competition, and discussion boards allow pro-anorexia communities to persist.
But AI technology has unique capabilities, and its eating disorders problem can help us see some of the ways it can do harm.
The makers of AI products may sometimes dub them “experiments,” but they also market them as containing the sum of all human knowledge. Yet as we’ve seen, AI can surface information from sources that aren’t reliable without telling you where it came from.
Indiscriminate AI can also promote bad ideas that might have otherwise lurked in darker corners of the internet.
AI content is unusually easy to make. “Just like false articles, anyone can produce unhealthy weight loss tips. What makes generative AI unique is that it enables fast and cost-effective production of this content,” said Shelby Grossman, a research scholar at the Stanford Internet Observatory.
One of the most offensive examples mentioned in the article is an AI exchange on Snapchat – a query about quick, extreme weight loss methods. The bot-generated response? Try a tapeworm diet…swallow a tapeworm egg and it will eat the food in your stomach for you. Et Voila – weight loss.
Oh my. And then some. If you, or someone you care about is struggling, the NEDA – National Eating Disorders Association – is a great, initial, go-to resource (see links below). And if you have a few minutes more, my post on Heart of the Matter explains why I’m heavy-hearted this week. Thank you for reading – here and there. I appreciate you.
-Vicki ❤
In the U.S. If you or someone you love needs help with an eating disorder, the National Eating Disorders Association has resources, including this screening tool. If you need help immediately, call 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting “NEDA” to 741741.
NEDA 2023 Back to School | National Eating Disorders Association
Recovery Tips to Include in Your School Backpack | National Eating Disorders Association
Victoria Ponders 
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