What's Best For Kids?

The classroom has become a minefield as teachers are confronted with strong opinions, misinformation, polarized rhetoric, social media and parent criticism.  How do teachers manage this onslaught, and what can we do to help them avoid these new dangers?

The pressure to get into college is immense, and college acceptance rates have never been lower. Families start focusing on building a college transcript while kids are still in kindergarten, so is it any wonder that by the time they get to high school kids are stressed and depressed? We need to rethink the messages we send our kids about college and accept that it’s not right for every student. H...

What started with the Seattle school district last year has now grown to 40 states joining the lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The claims are damning, including evidence that Meta knowingly acted in ways that damaged teen mental health. Is this the tobacco litigation all over again? Will schools see any of the money so they can address the growing needs of their...

We typically have a new episode every other week, but there won’t be a podcast this week. The terrorist attacks in Israel and the ongoing conflict in Gaza have deeply affected Torrey Pines High School and our community. As principal of the school, it’s critical that my attention stay focused on supporting our students and staff at this time. Don and I will be back with a new episode as soon as pos...

Guest : Brennan Dean, Varsity Head Coach Girls Volleyball, TPHS The demands on the modern coach are immense. Some are devoting their lives to developing world class athletes, and others are devoting their lives to saving their sport. What are the challenges a modern coach faces, and how do they help student-athletes respond to the pressure they feel to succeed on and off the court. Special guest B...

Advanced Placement classes that were once designed for a select few who wanted to challenge themselves academically have become de facto requirements for college admission. High school students are piling on what are supposed to be college level courses in a desperate attempt to out-perform the competition. But are these classes helping students learn content on a deeper level, or are they teachin...

Guests : TPHS Administration Team - Rebecca Gallow, Tracy Olander, Robby Shockney School safety has dominated the conversation about school improvement for more than two decades. The rhetoric has done little to change the reality. Too many stakeholders are taking cover behind talking points that make them feel like they're addressing this crisis, but are failing to address the issue in an obje...

Artificial Intelligence is the latest in a long string of technology innovations that have created hyperbolic panic for parents and educators. Is it the world ending scourge that doomsayers warned us about? Or is it just another tool we all have to manage like the internet, cell phones and social media?

It’s been two years since education returned to normal after the pandemic, but as parents and teachers will tell you, things are definitely not normal. School closures have been blamed for everything from failing grades to suicide, but rather than creating problems, the pandemic exposed many of the problems in education. What’s really going on with our students in the aftermath of the most signifi...

Frequent guest Don Collins is joining the podcast as a full-time co-host! This season, Don and Rob will tackle many of the complex issues facing parents and educators in the 21st century including artificial intelligence, school safety, dress codes, student discipline, teen suicide, the pressure to get into college, and many more. The first episode of the new season will drop on Friday, August 11t...

Guest: Don Collins - Retired Educator Increasingly, schools are being tasked with fixing problems that didn’t exist even five years ago. Teachers are expected to address suicide prevention, drug addiction, bullying, mass shootings, racism, social media, political turmoil, world conflicts, vaping, artificial intelligence, and oh, yeah, somehow teach their core subject and prepare students for succe...

Guest: Katie Wallace-Coppo - Youth Theatre Director In our never-ending pursuit to make sure our children experience everything life has to offer, parents are increasingly pushing their kids to sign up for multiple organized activities so that they can find “their thing.” When does dragging kids to ballet and soccer and karate and violin lessons cross the line from helping the child be well rounde...

Guest: Traci Acers, Parent It’s never been harder to be the parent of a teenager. More parents than ever work outside the home and they struggle to stay connected in an increasingly busy world. Unlike previous generations, today’s parents also have to navigate their teens’ access to screens, the influence of social media, and their response to violence on campuses all over the country. All this wh...

Guest: Christina Scherr - Athletic Trainer, Westview High School High school athletics have become increasingly competitive as student-athletes vie for a coveted college scholarship. With increased competition, some students are specializing younger and younger, which can lead to repetitive motion injuries, and the higher level of skill for some players can create dangerous situations for less ski...

Guest: Julie Union - School Board Member, Solana Beach School District School Board meetings were once quiet, formal, and let’s be honest, boring. Over the last ten years, school board meetings have become a flashpoint for communities, and with live streaming now the norm, they’ve turned into reality TV. What is the role of a school board and its members, and why have they become such a focus in l...

Guest: Todd Cassen - Assistant Commissioner, CIF San Diego Section Out of control fan conduct is a world-wide issue, so it’s no surprise that we’re seeing a rise in bad behavior in high school athletics. Unlike professional sports that have police, security, and team personnel to respond to incidents, high schools have limited staff to manage large crowds. Are high school athletics at a tipping po...

Guest: Don Collins - Retired Educator The Seattle School District recently took the bold step to sue social media app creators for contributing to the mental health crisis facing teens. Is this a cynical chess move to draw attention to the need for more mental health support in public education, or is it a legitimate attempt to hold content creators accountable for their impact on our youth?

Guests: Sgt. Garrick Nugent and Det. Steve Dickinson There is a tremendous amount of data about the negative impact of cell phones on the mental health of our kids. But there are hidden dangers in devices that kids and parents sometimes overlook. Every post, every picture, every comment can expose students to a dark world that can have lasting consequences. When we share our private lives, they ar...

Guest: David Jaffe - Principal, Vista High School What is the role of a high school? High schools used to be focused on preparing kids to leave the house and start their adult lives. Now, high schools are buried under the weight of expectations around college acceptance, mental health, and increasingly individualized learning paths. In this episode I talk to David Jaffe, a veteran principal with e...

When we say Uvalde, Sandy Hook, Parkland, or Columbine we all know exactly what we’re talking about. School safety continues to be a seemingly unsolvable problem. There are things that feel like the right thing to do, but are they? As the debate rages, schools continue to live with this reality as educators look for ways to protect kids. In this episode, I sit down with Robby Shockney, an Assistan...

Don Collins is back on the show to talk about the impact of smartphones on the current generation of students. We are finding more and more that students expect the world to adapt to them rather than the student learning how to adapt to the world around them. Just like YouTube adapts to your views, kids think we will all adjust to their needs and likes so any minor challenge creates anxiety. Anxie...

When you think of a school principal, what comes to mind? Richard Vernon? Ed Rooney? Seymour Skinner? There isn’t a lot of truth in the pop culture stereotype of a principal, but we can’t seem to shake it. The job has changed profoundly over the past decade, but many still have an image of a mindless bureaucrat in a short-sleeved dress shirt. In this episode we explore what the job of a high schoo...

Guest: Charlenne Falcis, Athletic Director, Torrey Pines High School What was once a fun way to get involved in school and make some lasting memories has become a simmering, high stakes cauldron of stress, pressure and manipulation. How and why did youth sports get so complicated, and what can we do to make it more fun?

Guest: Charlenne Falcis, Athletic Director, Torrey Pines High School What was once a fun way to get involved in school and make some lasting memories has become a simmering, high stakes cauldron of stress, pressure and manipulation. How and why did youth sports get so complicated, and what can we do to make it more fun?

Many parents have an understandable tendency to protect their kids from any potentially negative experiences. But we have to ask, does this do more harm than good? If students don’t experience the highs and lows of life they won't know how to overcome obstacles and develop a sense of pride in solving problems on their own. In this episode I talk to Don Collins, a veteran educator and father of two...