Alex, a DC student participating in the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, was working on how to cook his favorite food - hamburgers - in space. Marsville, a colony he designed on the fourth planet from the sun, wouldn’t be complete without burgers. In order to solve this problem he began consulting with a British scientist. The scientist told Alex he would soon be visiting DC for a National Science meeting and suggested they do lunch. As Alex told his teacher this he began to cry. When she asked why he was crying he explained that he’d not told the scientist that he was only in the fourth grade and that he didn’t know what “do lunch” meant.

     In my time working with high school students I visited schools of varying socioeconomic statuses and demographics. One thing was the same across the board, a lack of emotional regulation training. Despite the incredible benefits emotional health has on us physically and psychologically this kind of education is sorely lacking in society in general. Regardless of one’s socioeconomic status, religious background, or home life most of us aren’t taught how to manage our emotions. Developing the skills required to regulate your emotions and take control of your feelings is not easy. And, like other skills, it requires time and practice. These are also immensely important skills to have in order to be successful in future personal and professional relationships and environments. For these reasons, Emotional Health should be a priority in our education system.

     Regulating our feelings and the thoughts that lead to those feelings is also known as self control. When you are able to control your emotions, your prefrontal cortex is more available for you to make good decisions.

According to countless studies, having self control correlates with: