No ?Kid?ding . . . Did You Know? // Helping Teens Cope with Stress ...

Based on the results of the ?2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) for Boulder County, agencies and organizations chose mental health and emotional well-being as one of three priority areas to focus on. High school students in Boulder County continue to struggle with feeling sad and hopeless and knowing how to positively deal with stress. The good news is that parents, educators, and non-profit program staff can do many things to help high school students with their emotional well-being. Did you know:

- Over a quarter of St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) high school students (26.3%) reported feeling sad or helpless almost every day for two or more weeks. This percentage is slightly higher than BVSD, Colorado, and U.S. averages (24.0%, 25.4% and 26.1%, respectively).

- 11.2% of SVVSD and 11.1% of BVSD high school students reported planning suicide in the last 12 months (the Colorado average is 11.0% and U.S. average is 10.9%).

- A 2011 survey of college freshman found that the emotional health of college freshman has declined to the lowest level in 25 years.? According to The New York Times, more students are depressed, under stress and using psychiatric medication, even before they come to college.

- Female youth tend to have a less positive view of their emotional well-being than male youth.

- As documented in a 2010 documentary film, Race to Nowhere, youth feel stressed and under pressure to perform perfectly in order to be successful.

- Research has shown that some youth turn to prescription drug abuse to ?manage? their lives and to cope with their stress. Poorly managed stress can also lead to anxiety, withdrawal, aggression, physical illness, and abuse of other substances.

- Adults in youths? lives can help! Parents and guardians can help youth lessen and learn to manage their stress by:

• Letting kids have time to just be kids.
• Protecting a youth?s schedule and helping a youth find a healthy balance of school, sports, and other extracurricular activities.
• Being aware of stress in a teen?s life. Is stress affecting your teen?s health, behavior, thoughts or feelings?
• Listening! Listen to a youth and watch for signs of overload.
• Helping and supporting a youth in activities that are a stress outlet. These activities might be sports, cooking, writing, dancing, singing, etc.
• Make time to connect with the youths in your life. This might be at regular family dinners or weekly ?dates.?
• Do what you can to help your child feel connected to you, to other positive adults, and to positive peers. Kids who are stressed may feel isolated and turn to substances for ?comfort.?
• Keeping communication open in the family. If your family is facing a challenge, talk with your kids in an age appropriate way about the situation. Keeping secrets can be stressful.
• Helping youth manage transitions (i.e. new schools, new grade levels, moving, family changes), which can be especially stressful.
• Discover, demonstrate, and share how you handle stress. Ideas include exercising, eating well, avoiding substances (even caffeine) to feel better, learning practical coping skills, learning relaxation exercises, using positive talk, and building a network of friends.
• Teaching a tween or teen how and when to say ?no,? as well as that it?s okay to say ?no.?

As the adults in a tween or teen?s life, we can help youth learn to manage stress better so that they can lead healthy and complete lives. You can find more information about helping youth cope with stress at the following websites:

Helping Teens Cope with Stress
Helping Teenagers Cope with Stress
Keeping Watch Over Your Child: The Basics of Monitoring
Race to Nowhere
Stressed Students: More College Freshmen Feeling Overwhelmed

Note:?The above is provided as information and does not indicate an endorsement by Alternatives for Youth of the listed websites. You can find past No ?Kid?ding . . . Did You Know? articles on our blog site by ?clicking here. ? ?

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Source: http://alternativesforyouth.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/no-kidding-did-you-know-helping-teens-cope-with-stress/

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