To manage stress effectively, it is essential to maintain a healthy balance between rest and action. Stress management involves applying a variety of techniques and coping strategies to reduce overall stress levels, improve responses to challenges, and build resilience over time. It is also important to recognize that, in the short term, stress can sometimes act as a positive force—helping individuals stay alert, focused, and motivated to achieve good results. The key lies in learning how to harness this energy without allowing stress to become overwhelming.
Mindfulness practices and structured routines can help calm the brain’s stress response, improving focus and critical thinking in students. Relaxation activities that support stress management include drawing, art projects, mindfulness exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing techniques, and even simple methods such as dipping the face in cold water or taking a moment in a quiet space.
Providing both emotional and academic support enhances coping abilities and reduces stress. Safe and predictable environments minimize uncertainty and emotional reactivity, aiding cognitive regulation. Collaboration between subjects and co-planning of tests by teachers can play a key role in reducing stress by creating a more balanced and supportive learning environment. Additionally, teaching effective coping skills, study techniques, and planning strategies—such as breaking large assignments into smaller, manageable tasks and offering clear guidelines for homework—can make workloads feel less overwhelming.
Stress awareness is another critical component. Activities such as watching short films about stress, discussing the difference between eustress (positive stress) and distress (negative stress), and using tools like the Traffic Light Reflection and the Energy Wheel can help students reflect on different types of stress and explore effective recovery techniques.
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Raising awareness of mental well-being among teachers and students is essential for creating a healthy and supportive learning environment. When educators and learners understand the importance of mental well-being, they are better equipped to recognize signs of stress, build resilience, and adopt strategies that promote emotional balance and overall health.
Interprofessional collaboration plays a vital role in strengthening mental health awareness in schools. This approach can include lessons delivered in partnership with school nurses or psychologists, as well as organizing workshops for teachers that focus on mental well-being, identifying signs of mental distress, and understanding when and how to refer students to health professionals. Schools can also arrange theme weeks or special days aimed at reducing stigma around mental health and promoting open dialogue.
In addition, collaboration can support learning about promotion and prevention strategies such as resilience-building, self-help techniques, sleep hygiene, conflict mediation, group dynamics, nutrition, and understanding how the body responds to stress.
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Expressing feelings in words can be challenging for children, but providing alternative ways to communicate emotions can greatly support mental well-being. Visual tools such as pictures and drawings are particularly effective for this purpose, allowing children to express what they feel without relying solely on verbal language. Images are intended to facilitate discussion, not to replace meaningful dialogue.
Feelings can be conveyed through images, sketches, photos, or symbols like emojis, and even through an emotional weather chart where sunshine represents joy and rain symbolizes sadness. These visual approaches help children articulate emotions in a safe and creative way.
Other strategies include role plays or mindful conversations during activities such as reading fairy tales, watching movies, or playing games. Pair drawing activities—where students draw based on instructions or collaborate on a shared image—can also help develop listening skills and support emotional regulation.
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Values and goals act as an inner compass, guiding our decisions and actions in everyday life. They help us stay emotionally grounded, make wise choices, and maintain stability, while giving meaning to our efforts and activities. When we pursue goals that align with our values, we experience a sense of purpose and fulfillment—a feeling that what we do truly matters. Value education in schools aims to intentionally teach ethical and social values to promote respectful and empathetic behavior among children.
Values serve as a reference point for who we are and how we behave in different situations. With a clear sense of direction and by acting in alignment with our values, we are less likely to feel overwhelmed or lose focus during challenging times. Living according to our values provides resilience, clarity, and confidence when navigating life’s ups and downs. Emotional resilience developed through value education reduces psychological distress and supports overall mental well-being. A school environment that prioritizes value education creates a sense of safety and belonging, which is essential for healthy development.
Working with values, character strengths, ethics, and democracy can significantly benefit mental well-being by giving students a deeper sense of meaning and purpose-driven health motives. This can be implemented through workshops for students and teachers that focus on values such as empathy, honesty, fairness, kindness, respect, and exploring the meaning of life. Workshops that incorporate theoretical dilemmas to encourage critical thinking and discussion can also promote mental well-being.
Practical activities such as service-learning—organizing trash cleanup campaigns or community projects—can give students a sense of purpose and allow them to engage in something personally meaningful. Additionally, practices like gratitude journals can help students cultivate positive emotions and strengthen resilience.
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Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification (Vol. 1). Oxford university press.
Vuorinen, K., Erikivi, A., & Uusitalo-Malmivaara, L. (2019). Strength-based education and whole school approach: A Finnish case. International Journal of Wellbeing, 9(1), 1–21.
Hongell-Ekholm, N., Londen, M., & Fagerlund, Å. (2024). Supporting adolescents’ personal growth and well-being through the Study with Strength intervention. Cogent Education, 11(1), 2298596.