Teenage Stresses at School

Today stress makes up an impor­tant part of our lives. A lot of infor­mation about it is available. More­over, every time stress is mentioned the first thought that occurs in our minds is that stress is always some­thing evil that does harm to a per­son. And it certainly does at times.

The negative impact of stress might cause diseases such as ner­vous breakdowns, migraines, eating disorders, asthma, hay fever, depres­sion, heart disease, eczema and many other medical and social prob­lems. Nevertheless, at the same time it can play a very important role in our lives making us stronger and helping us to overcome numerous problems.

H. Selye, the author of stress theory first used the term "stress" in 1936. This meant "unusual reaction to a special request".

He described the posi­tive and negative influence of stress and its three main stages: "anxiety", "resis­tance" and "exhaustion". At the stage of "anxiety" there is a sensation of ex­citement and increased mental concentration. The person feels exhilarated.

Sometimes during the first stage stress-related illnesses such as migraines, hay fever and heart dis­ease appear. The disease can return in the third stage of stress, when it is quite serious and might threaten one's health or even life.

In case the stressor is extremely strong, the second stage comes -"the stage of resistance". The per­son adapts to a stressful situation and changing circumstances, however this causes exhaustion. One doesn't feel as well as during the Ist stage.

There is no excitement or increased mental concentration.

We all have to face the need to overcome these two stages quite of­ten. However, if a person is under stress for too long his psychologi­cal and physiological defenses break down. He is extremely tired and has no energy. The person is not able to cope with difficulties and solve problems. This can lead to a psy­chological dis­ease or a psychosomatic illness. That is why this stage is called "the stage of exhaustion’’.

However, in spite of all the negative effects sometimes stress can be positive. For example, it might aid people in getting to the top of their pro­fession. In the initial stages of stress, as mentioned above, there is a feel­ing of excitement and increased men­tal concentration.

Nevertheless, too much stress is negative. It is harmful for an indi­vidual, and especially for a child. We can't suppose that only adults suf­fer from stress. So what can be done in order to help children fight stress? Recognising the fact that nowadays young people are under more pressure than ever before is the first step to take. Usually they are subjected to stresses at school, at home and when having compli­cated relationships with their friends. Also the peculiarities of the teenage period, which is usually considered to be full of different conflicts, should be taken into account. The next step is to determine the main reason for the stress.

In order to find out the most stressful situations for teenag­ers we have done research, in which 112 teenagers took part. They were asked to describe their emotions in 16 different situations, connected with their school life. Their answers were divided into 3 groups: the nega­tive emotions, which might cause stress; positive and neu­tral.

According to the results the most stressful situation for teen­agers are the following: when the teacher shouts at them (85%) or if he/she is unfair (83%), when they are not prepared for the lesson (70%), before a test (69%). Pupils' positive emotions and im­pressions are connected with the mo­ment they come to school and meet with their friends (28%) and when it is five minutes until the end of the lesson (62%).

There are a lot of situations when an attentive and experienced teacher is able to reduce the harmful influ­ence of stress on children or even to avoid its negative consequences. However, according to the results of our research, the relationships be­tween teacher and pupils are still complicated and this problem de­mands further investigation.

Impressions about practice

1. The first practice is always a great epi­sode in the life of a student; it is the mo­ment when theoretical knowledge finds its application in a real situation of life. As an activity, practice is typical for the system of higher education; but I believe that prac­tice at the teachers' training institute is something really specific. Students can easily imagine what the work of a teacher is be­cause they have school experience as pu­pils. But practice helps to observe the situation from a different angle, to feel the essence of the profession, to form one's attitude towards one's future job.

The following essays are written by the stu­dents of the Faculty of Social Pedagogics. First-year students share their impressions about their first practice at school.

At the beginning of my story I should confess that before the practice started I had a strange fear: I was afraid of children. I thought that it would be too hard to communicate with them. But on the first day of my practice I understood that children were nice and at­tractive and easy-going. It was interesting to work with them. We were working with the 3rd form. I remember the most interesting but at the same time the hardest moment during our practice. It was a psychological training "My Feelings". We were sitting in a circle and talking about different kinds of fears and happiness. We asked the children how to make their mother, friend or teacher happy. They answered that to make somebody happy was easy: just tell pleasant words or give a present or flowers. Then we gave cards with the pictures of different animals to the children and asked them to imag­ine the way those animals could laugh. The children made really funny sounds of animals' laughter. At the end of this training we wished each other only happi­ness. Summing up, I can say that pedagogical practice was an exciting, full and dynamic event in my life. It was a positive experience.

2. My practice took place at school No. 626 named af­ter N.I. Satz. This school is related to a theater and the children get certain artistic skills. On the first day we had a meeting with the headmaster. She told us about school rules and traditions.

Then we met our class. It was the 1 st "B". At first my friend and I were confused because we didn't know how to begin. But the children helped us out. They were not confused, came to us themselves and began to talk. All the children were friendly and sociable. They asked many ques­tions. One of the tasks was to carry out an individual investigation of a pupil. The object of the investigation was found at once. The little girl Olga I attracted my attention. When I saw her for the first time, she was sad and didn't smile. But when I came up to Olga and began to talk her mood became better. She was upset because her parents punished her. We spent much time with Olga. I got to know her better. The ten days of my practice were bright and happy.

3. We are only first year students and the practice was a very unexpected event for us. But it was so new and interesting that everybody wanted to have it as soon as possible. Our practice took place at school No. 188 which specializes in economics. At our institute teachers offered us many techniques of working with small children and we were also given forms to fill in the results of our investigations. Then we were asked to choose the children for our tests. Svetlana, Alex and I chose the children from the 3rd form. Alex and I chose the twin girls because it was interesting for us to com­pare the results. The tests and the techniques were rather simple for us and for the children, so we did everything quite successfully. When the practice ended we com­pared our results and they were different. So we were impressed by our practice very much.

4. When I was told that we would have practice being first year students I was surprised because we were supposed to work with children at school. But I was sure that I would cope with it. Most of all I was afraid of the new atmosphere, but after several days I began to like it. I was given the 5th form. The children were very friendly and kind. It was very interesting to the children to work with us. Two weeks of our practice were so busy that the time seemed to just fly. It was sad to part with my class. As for me, I liked it very much and I would return there with great pleasure.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-25