Coping Skills for Students’ Fears

So many of our students’ securities and routines have been stripped away within a matter of a few days. We’re left wondering, “Did we equip them with enough coping skills to handle these changes?” Use this free lesson and these tips to teach coping skills from a distance.

Which Coping Skills Do My Students Need?

You may be asking which coping skills students need right now. To answer that question we need to consider what changes and possible emotions our students are facing and feeling.

• The loss of familiarity- Grief: Our students may seem to hate school while it’s in session so this may seem strange. But students, in general, need and want routine and structure (whether they realize it or not). Not to mention in many states school has ended for the year. This sudden change has left students and teachers without the usual closure they get at the end of the year. In some ways this can feel similar to a sudden loss one might feel when a loved one unexpectedly dies. My go-to for grief is The Invisible String. Try listening to this podcast episode to hear how we use this book in a grief session. (Listen to the whole thing or fast forward to 22:30 where we start talking about The Invisible String.)
• Anxiety: Our students may be overhearing conversations their parents and guardians are having about the economy, loss of jobs, lack of savings accounts, etc. Breathing techniques are my favorite coping skill to use for anxiety. I love to tell students that humans are the only species that can regulate our emotions through deep breathing! This lesson gives them my favorite deep breathing technique.
• Fear: Let’s be honest, many of us are fearful right now. Whether we’re scared for our health or the health of our loved ones, the fear in the air is palpable. This lesson deals with various fears without specifically naming the pandemic we’re facing across the world. It addresses “sickness,” but we feel this lesson is good for right now as well as years from now when this issue is behind us! This lesson helps students focus on what they CAN control right now, rather than worrying about the things they can’t.
• Isolation: Students are having to stay away from friends and family members in an effort to stop the virus from spreading. In explaining why they can’t visit loved ones, we sometimes unintentionally stir up fear. Fear and loneliness are a scary combination for school counselors, am I right?! This lesson helps them figure out what they enjoy doing. Did you ever think we would be encouraging them to play video games? And yet, that’s a way for students to interact with their friends while still maintaining a safe distance.

How Can I Help From a Distance?

We recently learned about Screencast-o-matic. This download allows a person to record a lesson while using Powerpoint to conduct a lesson. Here’s an example video of how I shared the fear lesson with the students at my school. I put it on our school Facebook page. Parents were sharing it and even interacted with me in the comments. It actually healed a little piece of my heart to get to interact with the students in this way!
You could also send a recording of yourself doing this lesson to the teachers to put in their Google Classrooms.

What Age Group?

I really believe this lesson would be appropriate for a variety of age groups. We work with students all the way up to 8th grade, and I think they would enjoy this lesson as much as your Kindergarten students!
As adults, don’t we sometimes feel fear? I could certainly use the reminder to take a deep breath every now and then. So in saying that, I believe this lesson transcends age groups!

How Can We Help You?

During this time we want to help however we can. If there is a specific lesson, podcast guest, or blog topic you need from us, please let us know! We have a Counselor Accents Facebook page where you can ask questions and see what we’re up to. We would love to have you join!