School charging $65,000 a year allows students to take day off if they’re stressed over election

The Ethical Culture Fieldston School criticised for letting pupils stay at home without homework during ‘high-stakes and emotional time’

Pupils at an elite progressive school in New York City will be given the day off after the election to cope with “emotional stress”.
The decision was announced to parents by Stacey Bobo, principal of the upper school at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School.
According to an email, seen by The New York Times, Ms Bobo said: “This may be a high-stakes and emotional time for our community,” adding that the school would “create space to provide students with the support they may need.”
This will include counselling as well as allowing students to stay at home if they felt unable to “fully engage in classes”.
They will also be spared homework.
The school, which has around 1,700 students, prides itself on “fostering intellectual curiosity, ethical responsibility and social justice.” Teaching costs $65,540 a year.
Jerry Seinfeld had two sons at Fieldston, but transferred his youngest boy to another school.
“This is why the kids hated it,” he told The New York Times. “What kind of lives have these people led that makes them think that this is the right way to handle young people? To encourage them to buckle.
“This is the lesson they are providing, for ungodly sums of money.”
The comedian and Democrat donor has frequently railed against “political correctness” which he blamed for television no longer being funny.
However, another parent, John Couchman, who has two daughters at Fieldston, defended the move.
“I think it’s absolutely the right decision,” he said.
“These students are very astute. I think their rights are on the line, whether it’s on election night or in five years, and they know it.”
It is not the first time this year that the school has encountered political problems. Divisions over pro-Palestinian activity led to the resignation of the school’s head, Joe Algrant, in August.
The school is not the only academic institution to be worried about “election anxiety”.
According to a poll conducted earlier this year, a third of students at Harvard, America’s oldest university, said they felt uncomfortable sharing their view on campus.
A few months earlier, the Journal of Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology warned of “sociopolitical stress” during the election season, writing: “Our findings showed that groups of young people were distinct in their sociopolitical stress trajectory over an election season, and those who manifested the most elevated sociopolitical stress experienced the worst psychological well-being.”
Another elite institution, Stanford University in California, published a guide for its 16,000 students on how to cope with election stress.
“Difficult conversations with peers, family, and community members can leave us feeling more stressed than before,” they were told.
“Striking a balance between fruitful discussion and divisive dialogue can be tough, but it’s important to find outlets that help you lessen your mental load, however, that might look.”
Tips included practising “self-compassion”, choosing “empowering actions” – including “respectfully” spreading awareness and unplugging from social media.
“Social media and online forums can generate extreme anxiety. If you feel overwhelmed and overstimulated, it’s okay to log off.”
The Telegraph has approached Ethical Culture Fieldston School for comment.