Are there particular stresses that kids face nowadays?
We’re working with a public school in San Francisco, so it is in an urban setting with some of the same stressors that any urban public school faces. It is also different because it is a very high achieving school, where students compete based on academic performance in order to get in, and then there is pressure to continue to excel. By eleventh and twelfth grade, students are taking six advanced placement classes. It is basically like going to college your senior year and this can be overwhelming. In addition to school, there are societal stressors and expectations to be smart, good looking and athletic, as well as stress associated with home and family. It’s a lot for teens to handle. Although the positive emotion skills we are teaching aren’t a cure-all, we believe they can help kids cope with that stress. What do you see as the potential benefit? I’m a stress and coping researcher who is interested in understanding the stress in people’s lives and how they cope with it. Through CE
