Teen Stress / Childhood Stress
Why Are Kids So Stressed Out Today?

How Can You Help Children and Teens
Manage Everyday Stress?

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Childhood and teen stress has reached epidemic levels in today's world. We must work hard to teach children and teens to recognize the causes and symptoms of stress and to counteract them with relaxation techniques and other stress management skills.

We must regularly schedule and make available opportunities to teach children and teens about stress. The following skills can be taught to help children learn how to help themselves:

Deep Breathing - Slow, deep regular breathing relieves tension and anxiety. Draw air slowly through the nostrils until the lungs are filled, and slowly exhale. Continue this exercise for 2-3 minutes;

Stretching - Demonstrate simple stretching exercises to relieve muscle tension;

Progressive Relaxation - Childhood and teen stress can be reduced using this relaxation technique that includes all the different muscle groups in the body;

Imagery - Imagery has a calming effect and enhances positive feelings. Ask children and teens to close their eyes and picture in their minds a special place where they feel happy, comfortable and relaxed. Notice and discuss the sights, sounds, smells and touch of this special place and enjoy the peaceful feelings;

Teach A Strategy For Dealing With Problems - Children and teens who are taught a problem-solving method cope more easily with stressful situations:

1. Relax.
2. Think out loud about the problem.
3. Consider alternative Solutions.
4. Encourage creativity.
5. Consider consequences. Will it help or not?
6. Choose one solution. Try it. Evaluate it.
7. If it doesn't work, try another;

Peer Pressure - Help children recognize that they have more than one strategy to use when dealing with pressure from friends and to try and find alternatives;

Encourage Positive Self-Talk - Help children and teens to recognize, listen to and evaluate their own "self talk." Encourage them to say, "I can calm myself down," "I have another chance," or "I have done lots of things well," "I just need a little more time to work this out." A well-known quote by Thomas Edison, the person who is credited with the invention of the light bulb and hundreds of other inventions, is as follows:

Edison said, "I have not failed 10,000 times, I have successfully found 10,000 ways that do not work."

If children and teens can be taught to think like Thomas Edison, then childhood and teen stress will likely become much less prominent in our society;

Discourage Negative Self-Talk - Help children and teens to avoid criticizing themselves. Negative statements such as "I can't," "This is driving me crazy," or "I never do anything right," can and do lead to bad feelings about self;

Avoid Using Labels - Labels such as "Klutz, dummy, lazy, careless, shy, selfish, forgetful" stick in a child's mind and children identify with these negative labels. Help children realize we all (adults included) act like this sometimes, but that we act in many wonderful ways too. Point out some of the positive things they do;

Encourage Sharing, Listening and Participating Skills - These skills encourage children and teens to interact cooperatively with others and learn to see things from someoneelse's point of view;

Assertiveness - Teach children to be able to speak up for themselves;

Creative Outlets - Encourage children to develop their ownpreferred interests. Hobbies and sporting activities, creativeactivities (drawing, building things, painting, drama, making upstories) and play help release tension and encourage relaxation;

Share Humor - Have fun, laugh and play together. Collect favorite jokes and cartoons. Share funny incidents from your life. Create a humor scrapbook. Record pictures and descriptions of funny events that have happened in your child's life. Make sure the items in the scrapbook are funny to the child and that they don't stir up embarrassing memories for your child that may have been funny to you and others. Humor helps keep things in perspective when it comes to childhood and teen stress;

Healthy Lifestyle - Children thrive on the security of predictable routines. Provide regular vigorous physical exercise, regular balanced meals, fresh air, and a regular bedtime to ensure sufficient sleep;

Relaxation Techniques - These can help children relax before going to sleep; and

Physical Activity - Some young children need to do something physically active to release pent up tension and frustration, e.g., running, punching a pillow, jumping up and down, throwing a ball. Help them choose appropriate activities. Other children need to be quiet and look at a book, color a picture or just daydream.

Adapted from: Ontario Health Promotion E-Bulletin

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Find out about Dr. Peter Benson and the Search Institute's and the 40 Stress Management (Developmental) Assets for Kids.


More thoughts on teenage stress.


Learn about childhood stress, nutrition and disease from best-selling author and pediatrician, Dr. Christine Woods.







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