Kids today face a lot of stress. The pressure of school, fitting in with their peers, social media, bullying, the up-and-down hormonal balance in young developing minds and bodies…
Last year, students in Grade 7 at St. Angela Merici Catholic Elementary School in Bradford West Gwillimbury participated in a public health program that explored mental-health issues.
This year, those same students – now in Grade 8 – approached mental health from a slightly different perspective.
Through a six-week program, recommended by school counsellor Carole Lowther, the students were tasked with researching the various causes of stress, and discovering a toolbox of coping mechanisms that can help overcome those stressful situations.
They presented their findings at a Chill Fair, held in the portable of Grade 8 teacher Greg Ellis on April 10.
“They have done an amazing job,” said Lowther, touring the Chill Fair. She praised the students for the depth of their investigations, and their understanding of the issues. It is also, she said, “nice to be able to send them off to high school with some coping strategies and knowledge.”
Most of the displays were interactive. Grade 8 student Abby researched singing as a stress-reliever, and she brought along a karaoke machine as part of her display.
“Singing relieves stress,” she explained. “There is a hormone in your brain that’s a happy hormone, and when you sing, it releases that – especially when you sing in a group.”
One group of students researched the use of a punching bag to relieve stress and aggression – again, inviting visitors to try it out. Another student researched the impact of meditation, especially when surrounded by nature.
Dance, painting, even laughter were all possible stress busters.
“If you’re stressed, a good laugh can relieve your stress hormones and can improve your mood,” said Marissa. What she enjoyed most about putting together her display for the Chill Fair was “finding the jokes, making the poster, and realizing how much laughter is important,” she said.
Several of the presentations looked at video-game play as a stress reliever. “It works because you’re focusing on the games and not what’s causing the stress,” said Amanda.
Christos suggested that games, like God of War, could provide relief for some of the top stressors that students face, including exams, deadlines, poor time management, leaving assignments to the last minute, and his own biggest fear: “Speaking in front of your class.”
That is, of course, as long as the video games don’t get in the way of homework and study: the students recognized that some of the coping mechanisms could have a downside, and even contribute to stress.
“Hearing your favourite singer on the radio can help you feel happy,” said Grace, who invited visitors to play a keyboard - but learning to play new music can be frustrating, playing music too loud can cause hearing loss, and listening to sad songs or lyrics that focus on loss, pain and suicide can have a negative impact.
For Dimitri, playing baseball is a stress reliever, but he acknowledged that baseball players can become stressed because of the pressures of the game. “If you make a bad play, you disappoint your coach and your team,” he said.
So how does he fight that stress? “You think it through. You make a better choice next time,” Dimitri replied. “Baseball players also chew a lot of gum!”
Students identified the connection between nutrition and health, the importance of sleep, the arts and mindfulness to combat stress, as well as the science behind the stress-busting, focusing on activities that promote the production of endorphins and other hormones that help mind and body to cope.
Teacher Greg Ellis said he was impressed by his students’ efforts, and the Chill Fair.
“It’s amazing. People are loving it, how interactive it is, and how these kids are prepared,” he said. “They’ve done their research.”
As students from other grades toured the fair, Ellis said, “This is way better than I envisioned it. Everybody was engaged, everybody did it, everybody was prepared.”
“Our students face many pressures on a daily basis from a number of different sources: the pressure to do well academically, the pressure to make a team, the pressure to fit in socially – in person, or in the online community (social media),” said school principal Joe Almeida. “The list goes on. Add to that, the personal struggles that some may face.”
Almeida noted: “Our instinct as educators is to want to help and to support. The best way to do this is to give our students the tools they need to be able to identify and then deal with these stresses. This Chill Fair was a great vehicle for students to engage in talk with our counsellor, Carole Lowther, and to do some research.
“Being able to share what they learned with other classes helps the whole school!”
