Managing
Stress in the Road of Life
Adolescents have many stressors in their
everyday lives: school demands and frustrations, negative self-image, body
changes, problems with peers, relationship problems, tensions with family,
unsafe living environments, death of a loved one, moving, parental divorce,
financial struggles, participating in too many activities, and more.
Unfortunately, many teenagers have not been trained on how to adequately deal
with these stressors which can then lead to an overload of stress. “When it happens, inadequately managed
stress can lead to anxiety, withdrawal, aggression, physical illness, or poor
coping skills such as drug and/or alcohol use,” (AACAP, 2013).
Therefore, adolescents need to learn how to handle their stress in a healthy
way. This lesson is particularly designed for AP students who often take on
heavy course and activity loads. These
students are often left under the radar in schools because they do fine
academically. Because of this, these students often get forgotten when it comes
to their personal/social problems, however, many of them can benefit from
learning stress management techniques so they can handle their course and
activity load in a healthy manner.
The following are ASCA National Standards
covered in this lesson
A:A2.3 Use
communications skills to know when and how to ask for help when needed.
A:B1.4
Seek information and support from faculty, staff, family and peers
PS:A1.5
Identify and express feelings
PS:B1.4
Develop effective coping skills for dealing with problems.
PS:B1.5
Demonstrate when, where and how to seek help for solving problems and making
decisions.
PS:C1.5
Differentiate between situations requiring peer support and situations
requiring adult professional help.
PS:C1.6
Identify resource people in the school and community, and know how to seek
their help.
PS:C1.7
Apply effective problem-solving and decision-making skills to make safe and
healthy choices.
PS:C1.10
Learn techniques for managing stress and conflict.
Materials
White
board
Markers
Masking
tape
1
balloon/student
Blindfold
Objectives
1. Students will identify life stressors.
2. Students will recognize that everyone
has different stressors and deals with stress in different ways.
3. Students
will learn techniques for managing stress.
Introduction Activity
1. Tell the story about how stress
impacted your life or the life of someone you know.
- Exp. I shared a story about how stress led a
friend to attempt suicide.
2. Have students list stressful situations
in their lives. As they share, list stressors on the board.
3. Lead a discussion asking questions such
as:
- Why might that be stressful for you?
- What differences are there in the way
that students feel about this stressor?
4. Point out that everyone responds to
stressful situations in different ways. One thing might cause one person a lot
of stress but might not bother someone else at all. That is because it is out
thoughts about situations, not the situation itself that leads to stress.
5. Find one student who found one
situation very stressful and one who did not find the same situation stressful.
Ask them why the same event led to different reactions in both of them.
Activity
1. Create a
large rectangle out of masking tape on the floor; this rectangle represents the
road of life.
2.
Have students
write their top stressor on a blown up balloon. Place all of the balloons
(stressors), which represent potholes in the road of life, into the rectangle.
3.
Blindfold a
student and have them walk through the road of life alone. Point out that,
without help, the potholes (stressors) get in the way frequently.
4.
Next, allow
the student to select a friend to help direct them through the road of life.
5. F
inally, have
the student go through the road of life with their supporter. In addition,
split the rest of the class in half. Have half of the students yell encouraging
and helpful things. Have the other half of the class shout distracting
things.
Ask students to relate this experience to real life.
-Who
are the supports?
-Who
are the distractors?
-Who
can you go to for help to avoid stress?
Video
Discussion
Facilitate a discussion with students which may ask
questions such as:
What are unhealthy ways you or other teens deal with
stress?
- Examples: Unhealthy eating (irregular eating,
over-eating, under-eating), drugs, alcohol, anger, procrastination, seclusion,
spending too much time watching TV or planning video games.
What are healthy ways you know how to deal with
stress? Provide any answers students do not come up with.
-Ask for help. You do not have go through everything on your own. Talk to
people you trust and find good listeners.
-
Breathe deeply. This simple act can lower your anxiety level.
- Eat three healthy,
balanced meals a day.
- Get plenty of
sleep. Stress is easier to manage if your body is well rested.
- Make time to relax. Take a break from a stressful task to do something
you enjoy. Take a walk, go for a run, listen to music, do yoga stretches, etc.
You will be able to work more effectively after a short, relaxing break.
Schedule this break if you feel you need to follow a set schedule.
- Exercise regularly; even just 15 minutes a day can help, but more is
always better.
-Daily Burn, YMCA, Gym
class before or during school, etc.
- Break tasks down into smaller, more manageable tasks.
- Make a must-do and a want-to-do list. Be okay if you only get your
absolute must-do list finished.
-Avoid excess caffeine intake because it can increase the feelings
of anxiety.
-Decrease
negative self-talk. Work on changing negative thoughts into neutral or positive
thoughts. For example, “My life will probably get better if I work at it and
get some help.”
-Learn to
feel “good enough” rather than always trying to be perfect.
Closing
Remind
students that stress is normal. Tell them to use the healthy ways we discussed
to reduce their stress. Advise student to not be afraid to ask for help and
talk to someone—school counselors can always provide additional resources to
help reduce stress.
Helpful
Hints
-This can
also be done with Freshmen level classes to prepare them for the stress of high
school.
-Provide
students with a list of the stress management techniques you discuss.
-Give
students a time management sheet if they find that lack of time is what is
stressing them out.
-If you have
time, consider practicing a meditation technique in class.
References
Yoga classroom [Photograph]. (2014, May 22). Retrieved from http://teachlikeachampion.com/blog/managing-emotions-dan-cotton-strong-voice/
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