Helping Students Manage Stress

We at PLS extend our deepest sympathies to the families, friends, and colleagues of those whose lives were lost in the September 11 tragedies in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C.

Performance Learning PLUS is a monthly e-newsletter by Performance Learning Systems (PLS), a comprehensive educational services company that has provided a full spectrum of programs, products, and consulting services for educators and business professionals since 1971.

This issue focuses on HELPING STUDENTS MANAGE STRESS.

Tips on how to help your students during times of stress:

The events of September 11 are a recent and major source of stress that we all share. However, stress is ever-present; it is a part of our daily lives. The ideas and suggestions below can be applied not only to students' stress resulting from recent events, but to other sources of individual and collective stress as well.

For Younger Students

The transition from parent to teacher is an important one. Often mornings are extremely stressful for families. Children may have been yelled at, hurried, and given breakfast in the car. A warm smile or hug as a child walks in the door can go a long way to help a child feel accepted and wanted.

Even if it's just for one or two minutes, get down on the child's level, make eye contact, listen, and watch.

Children learn to value themselves through the eyes (and words) of others. What you say (or don't say) to a child has tremendous impact.

• GREET EACH CHILD WARMLY.
• SPEND TIME WITH EACH CHILD EVERY DAY.
• VALUE EACH CHILD.
• ELIMINATE STRESSFUL SITUATIONS FROM YOUR CLASSROOM AND ROUTINES.

• Is my room arrangement simple and easy to move through?
• Are activity areas clearly defined (e.g., art area, block area, reading/quiet area)?
• Do I have a balance of noisy areas (e.g. blocks, dramatic play), and quiet areas (books, manipulatives)?
• Have I planned my day so that it alternates between active and quiet activities, organized projects and free play?
• Do I stick to routine as much as possible so that children know what to expect each day?

Ask yourself the following questions:

For Older Students

In the event of a community stressor (e.g., a natural disaster or a death in the school community), encourage students to discuss their reactions and/or personal experiences. This reduces each individual's feelings of isolation, reminding students that theirs is a shared experience.

Give your students the opportunity to write journal entries, short stories, or articles about the source of their stress. Writing allows students to express their emotions and process them.

In addition to writing, students can reduce their stress by releasing their emotions through drawing, painting, sculpture, dramatic presentations, and other forms of personal expression.

Though it's important to give students an outlet for expressing how they feel in stressful times, it's also important to emphasize the positive. Once students have had an opportunity to articulate their upset, encourage them to take an active role in problem-solving. If a community has a collective source of stress, have students brainstorm ways they can help (e.g., leading a fund-raiser or volunteering for disaster relief projects).

• ENCOURAGE GROUP DISCUSSION.
• HAVE STUDENTS EXPRESS THEIR FEELINGS THROUGH WRITING.
• DO A VARIETY OF ART PROJECTS.
• FOCUS ON WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO TO IMPROVE THE SITUATION.

Source: University Extension in Columbia, Missouri (1993). Stress and coping with disaster. Adapted by Karen DeBord, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service (Electronic version). Retrieved September 21, 2001.

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