My work over the last decade has grappled with one central question. Could attachment security be getting compromised at schools with high turnover?
Attachment security is linked to long-term health. Securely attached people are healthier than their insecurely attached counterparts in every domain of human functioning—at home, at work, in relationships, and in terms of physical health.
At international schools, what happens when you constantly have to move away from people you care about? What happens when people constantly leave you?
Wouldn't that do something to you? Wouldn't you naturally become warier of making long-term deep connections with others?
That wariness is one of the very hallmarks of attachment insecurity.
If such a negative effect is happening to the youngsters growing up on our watch, don't we have an ethical obligation to do something about it?
The SPASIS study is measuring the extent of this problem. Future updates will tell you what I and a few incredibly talented colleagues at SPAN are doing about it.
Be on the lookout for Part V of this update!