Parent and Adolescent Wellbeing Seminars
Three workshops
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Creating a supportive environment for your HSC student (staff member)
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Managing Stress and Anxiety during the HSC year, Sleep Hygiene (school
counsellor)
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Safe partying, drug alcohol issues (life education presenter)
Information below could be put onto power Point presentations
Workshop 1: Creating a supportive environment for your HSC student
Introduction
It is not just students who can find the HSC year a very stressful and difficult
time. During interviews with students, teachers and parents it was suggested
that family members also need support during the HSC year. They want to help
but are often fearful of appearing to interfere.
This is frequently the year during which, in addition to sitting for the HSC, Year 12 students
may:
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lose interest in school
have no plans for after the HSC
develop an intense relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend
gain a driver's licence
experiment with legal or illegal drugs
have a part-time job
be a member of a sporting team
develop an eating disorder
suffer from depression.
All these are complications which can cause parents and caregivers additional concern. It is
important to be aware that you are not alone.
Helping your Year 12 student through the HSC
"The most obvious forms of support parents can offer are the practical, physical things:
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Provide a good place to study. Ideally it should be quiet, a comfortable temperature,
with good ventilation, good lighting, adequate desk or table space and free from
distractions such as TV, noise, a telephone, interesting conversations, little brothers
and sisters.
Provide good, balanced meals.
Encourage sensible levels of sleep and some form of regular exercise.
Encourage moderation in late night parties and alcohol consumption.
Less obvious but of equal or perhaps greater importance are the things you can do to provide
a positive and understanding emotional environment.
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Be supportive and encouraging.
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Highlight strengths and successes. Encourage your child not to dwell on failures.
Reframe failures as "mistakes" and encourage them to see mistakes as something we
can learn from, something that can give positive directions for remedial action.
Appreciate that most students will be experiencing quite a high level of stress,
frequently without any obvious indicators. Many fear that they might let their family
down. (Beware of setting unrealistic expectations). Others fear that they will not be
able to match the performance of siblings or relatives. There are also many pressures
other than examination pressures. Many students experience a sense of impending
departure: leaving home, leaving lifelong friends, the prospect of having to live in an
alien city environment.
Appreciate that it is normal for people under pressure to become supersensitive and
explosive from time to time. Family members are usually the first targets. Try not to
overreact to such outbursts.
Avoid confrontations especially over minor matters, like leaving lights on, leaving the
lid off the toothpaste and not doing chores.
Don't panic when they announce on the evening before the examination that they
know nothing. (Reassure them, even if you think they could be right. "Just do the
best you can. We know you're giving it your best shot." is a good standby.)
Avoid nagging. (That doesn't mean you can't give a nudge or gentle reminder from
time to time. Note that sometimes one parent can do this more successfully than the
other.)
Encourage confidence by reassuring them. If you have doubts, keep them to yourself.
Be realistic in your expectations as to where the HSC leads. For the majority of HSC
students, university study is an unrealistic option.
Encourage your child to seek help from teachers or the school counsellor if he or she
is having any difficulty with subjects, study organisation, stress or anxiety about
examinations.
Make reasonable concessions, such as release from some household chores as study
programs become more demanding. (However, you should only do this because you
want to, not as a means of "blackmail".)
Encourage a reasonable balance between work and leisure. Planned leisure periods
are an essential component of a good study program. An occasional total escape for a
few days may also be excellent therapy for a student who is feeling stale or
excessively stressed.
Take an interest in what your child is doing, if he or she will allow you to (some
won't). This can include the subjects or topics being studied, how he or she has
organised study timetables and programs and leisure pursuits. (Note: "Taking an
interest in" does not mean interfering.)
Remember the occasional hug and "I love you" do not go astray, even when they are
18 years old.
Encourage and allow your child to be as independent as you can possibly stand. The
more independent he or she can be in meeting the demands of Year 12, the better
prepared he or she will be to succeed at a tertiary level or in the workforce.
Having said all this:
Parents of Year 12:
Don't feel too badly when you forget not to nag, when you get picky, and complain bitterly
that your child has the time to attend the eighteenth birthday party of every Year 12 student
but doesn't have time to help with the washing up. As parents, we are only human and
because we can't help being over-involved, we also feel the pressure of Year 12 from time to
time.
Year 12 students:
Try to understand when we behave in a less than supportive and encouraging way. Chances
are that it stems from the fact that, as your parents, we care too much.
Some rationalisations
Finally, it is inevitable that some students or parents will be disappointed when the HSC
results finally arrive and the Year 12 student fails to achieve as well as he or she had hoped.
Should this happen in your family some of the following rationalisations may be of help:
1. Tertiary education is not the only path to a successful and fulfilling life.
2. Look at how much growing up you've managed to do over the last two years. You are
much better prepared to leave home and go out into the world now than you were
two years ago. It certainly hasn't been a waste of time.
3. If you really want to go on to tertiary education later there are many other pathways.
Interestingly, the success rate of mature age students is much higher than for those
who go straight from school.
4. Once you've got yourself settled into a job or a training course somewhere you'll
probably never look at your HSC again; it'll probably just sit in the bottom drawer and
gather dust."
Workshop 2: Managing Stress and Anxiety during the HSC year
Sleep Hygiene
Anxiety and Stress explained.
Apps to assist students and parents
HSC stressless App
A new app that helps HSC students manage stress by teaching them mindfulness meditation
techniques. Free app
Project leader Dr Rebecca Sng from UOW’s School of Psychology, said many of the young people
presenting at mental health services in the Illawarra describe their final year of high school as
“extremely stressful”.
“We know from previous research that mindfulness meditation can assist with managing stress as
well as symptoms of issues such as anxiety and depression,” Dr Sng said.
“In the simplest terms, mindfulness is the art of ‘intentional attention’. That is, being able to step
back and observe, in a non-judgemental manner, our inner sensations and experiences. The app
aims to provide this resource to young people in a form they were very familiar with.”
Dr Sng said the app contains a series of audio-guided meditations that allow a student to build up
their “mindfulness muscle” so that they are better able to "unstick" from stressful feelings. She
noted it also contains a number of short videos made by the Year 11 students explaining mindfulness
and how it might be useful, as well as a reminder system that prompts students to practice their
mindfulness skills.
Dr Sng, a practicing clinical psychologist is passionate about helping young people and their families.
“We know that mental health difficulties in adolescence often lead to difficulties in adulthood if not
treated. Mental health issues are so incredibly common and cost our society such a lot in terms of
not only distress but also resources. It just makes sense to try and help young people gain the skills
they need to manage these issues early.”
“I found students had trouble remembering to practice the skills between program sessions so I
thought this app would help them do that,” she said.
Dr Sng said the HSC has the potential to bring to a head a number of other stressors for young
people, whether that be problems with relationships or “ideas about having to be perfect to be
valuable”, but every student has a different experience depending on their circumstances.
“Just because you’re all doing the HSC the year doesn’t mean you’re all the same. Everyone has
different challenges and goals. Everyone has different resources available to them. The aim of tools
like the HSC Stress-Less app is to give you the skills and space to think clearly about your priorities
and values, so that you can decide how you would like to live them out.”Dr Sng and her team plan to
analyse the app’s usage data – how the students use the features of the app – as well asking users to
rate their mood before and after using the app in order to evaluate the app’s effectiveness.
Smiling Mind App - Smiling Mind is modern meditation for young people. It is a unique web and Appbased program, designed to help bring balance to young lives. Free
It is a not-for-profit initiative based on a process that provides a sense of clarity, calm and
contentment.
Headspace App - Headspace is your very own personal trainer, here to help you train your mind.
First 10 sessions free
Deep Sleep App- This application is a guided meditation intended to help you overcome insomnia
and get to sleep. $3.79
Sleep Problems in Adolescents
Example: Kelly was 13. Her cousin Ben was 16. They would talk on the phone until late at night. They
would always get into trouble but they said they were just not tired. They had a lot of trouble getting
to sleep and getting up in the morning was always hard - sometimes too hard. Ben would often fall
asleep in science class in the morning.
Sound familiar? Adolescents can have delayed sleep phases. That is - they get tired later than they
did before. Their bodies are not ready to sleep when the clock says it is time.
This is due to both hormonal changes and social pressures.
Environmental factors:
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Consumption of caffeine drinks too close to bedtime
Teenagers have a lot more going on in their lives (jobs, social activities, school, sports, more
homework, worry)
Lots of media and screen use before bedtime (TV, gaming, mobile phones)
These all compete for sleep - sleep is low on the priority list and is often given up for these
other things.
Circadian (sleep/wake) rhythm factors
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During adolescence there is a delay in the time when melatonin (one of our sleep hormones
which makes us sleepy) is released from our brains to our bodies.
Therefore adolescents are not tired until later in the evening
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So their bodies are not ready to fall asleep until later - so they do things to stop being bored
(TV, phone).
They find it hard to get up in the morning because they fell asleep later and have not had
enough sleep.
As a result, adolescents are usually very sleepy during the week as they miss out on a couple of
hours sleep per night. By the end of the week they may have a 'sleep debt' of 10 hours. They may
sleep in on the weekend to catch up that 'debt'. Adolescents are sleep deprived - How can they learn
like that?
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
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Don't let the weekend or hoilday bedtime get TOO late . This will push the body clock further
forward and make it harder to get to sleep earlier when school or work starts again.
Be aware of the signs of fatigue in young people during the day (withdrawal, anxiety,
depression, aggression, poor learning and attention)
Be realistic with bedtimes.
Napping 20 minutes at about 4 PM is better than sleeping in TOO much on weekend to pay
back sleep debt
Promote good sleep hygiene
Information sheet for Parents
Why is sleep important?
Sleep is important as it plays a role in the proper functioning of ALL body systems. Although we don’t
really know exactly the reason, we know that we must sleep or we can become very ill. Sleep is
important for physical and mental health and without it, all body systems that are involved in either
physical or mental health, do not function well. If you stop sleeping completely, you will eventually
die. There is a sleep disorder called, Familial Fatal Insomnia, where the individual cannot sleep and
eventually dies. Fortunately this is very, very rare. Sleep is important for the body to rest and repair
its systems. This happens in two stages, Non Rapid Eye Movement Sleep and Rapid Eye Movement
Sleep. Non REM sleep occurs in four stages and is vital to get the body systems back to being rested,
this process is called homeostasis. For 2 example, when someone is tired their communication and
immune system decreases in efficiency, therefore, they are more likely to become sick and perform
badly. Non REM sleep allows for these things to be repaired back to normal after each day. A
growing Hormone is also produced during Non REM sleep, which causes children to grow and
develop. REM Sleep allows us to dream, and studies have shown that dreaming allows us to learn.
We find that people who don’t dream or get REM sleep, will not learn as efficiently.
What are the effects of getting a bad nights sleep?
These can be divided into 4 main areas:
1. Physiological (body systems, like cardiovascular and endocrine systems and physical health)
2. Psychological (emotional and mental health)
3. Psychosocial (behaviour, peer relations, family relationships)
4. Cognitive (learning, attention, problem solving)
Why do sleeping patterns change during the teenage years?
Two main reasons
1. Social changes and pressures. Teenagers have a lot more going on in their lives (phone, TV, jobs,
social activities, school, sports, more homework, worry). Sleep is low on the priority list and is often
given up for these other things. These all compete for sleep and teenagers go to be later
2. Circadian (sleep/wake) rhythm factors. During adolescence there is a delay in the time when
melatonin (one of our sleep hormones which makes us sleepy) is released from our brains to our
bodies. Therefore adolescents are not tired until later in the evening. So their bodies are not ready
to fall asleep until later - so they do things to stop being bored (TV, phone). They find it hard to get
up in the morning because they fell asleep later and have not had enough sleep.
Is sleep just as important for teenagers as it is during other stages of life?
Short answer absolutely. In fact more important because of the pressure of schooling. Research says
that teenagers actually need MORE sleep than younger and older people. But they usually don’t get
it.
How many hours of sleep per night should teenagers by getting?
The current thoughts are that teenagers need about 9 hours per night. Most teenagers across the
world get between 7-8 so they are in ‘sleep debt’.
If people find it hard to get to sleep or to get enough sleep, what are some techniques they could try
to improve this?
First of all try and establish what is contributing to the problem.
Is it:
1. Psychological (are they worried, stressed, anxious or depressed?). This can be addressed with help
from a psychological professional, school counsellor or even a good friend. Relaxation and exercise
are excellent ways of learning to relax the mind and the body so sleep is easier.
2. Physiological (body and physical health). Are they sick? If so, it is important to see a health
professional.
3. Environmental and behavioural: is the room too dark or light or noisy or hot? Have they drunken
too much coffee or watched too much TV that can keep them awake?
-Once you have decided what the problem is, it is easier to choose one of these solutions.What is the definition of Sleep Deprivation?
The guidelines of Sleep Deprivation are very vague, meaning that it is different for each person.
Therefore, when a person experiences a loss of sleep which results in them being tired, they have
experienced Sleep Deprivation. Some people call it sleep loss, sleep deficits of reduced sleep
duration.
What are the effects of Sleep Deprivation?
There are two types of effects; physical and psychological.
The physical effects of sleep deprivation include:
• An increase in accidents, resulting from clumsiness
• Increase in obesity; lack of sleep mixes up your appetite hormones so you feel hungry when you
shouldn’t
• Sickness; the immune system cannot be repaired and rested, resulting in decreased efficiency.
The psychological effects include:
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Mood swings and changes
• An increase in frustration
• The decreased ability to concentrate, which results in the decreased ability to learn.
In Adolescents who experience Sleep Deprivation:
• Sleep pattern changes
• Depressive nature increases, along with tiredness
• Negative mood changes occur.
After many years of Chronic Sleep Deprivation occurring, like in shift workers, studies show that the
risk of cancer and heart disease increases.
How do these effects influence the schooling life of adolescents?
When adolescents experience a lack of sleep, there are three ways that this can affect their
schooling life.
1. Sleepiness: Sleepiness results in the decreased excitement and willingness to learn, as the body
can only focus on being tired. This results in loss of the ability to remember things, like studying for a
test or completing an assignment. These effects are cumulative, meaning that a person will not just
suffer from one effect of sleep deprivation, they will all pile up, decreasing their knowledge base.
2. Prefrontal Cortex: The prefrontal cortex is an area in the brain that controls important tools in the
body that affect learning. This particular part of the brain needs lots of sleep to function efficiently.
When the prefrontal cortex is affected by a loss of sleep, these things are affected greatly.
• Behaviour
• Mood swings
• The ability to regulate learning decreases
• The ability to regulate how you feel
• The ability to plan your school work
• Frustration with school work
3. Motivation loss: The prefrontal cortex cannot cope with a continuous loss of sleep, so it loses its
ability to control the learning processes. This stimulates a feeling of frustration in students in
relation to schoolwork as they get so behind, that they just feel like giving up.
Why are so many adolescents sleep deprived?
The melatonin surge in the body is delayed in adolescents, meaning they will not feel sleepy enough
to fall asleep until later at night. It is for this reason that so many adolescents are sleep deprived
because they fall asleep later at night, but still have to wake up early in the morning in time for
school, loosing valuable sleeping hours. Adolescents are also very busy people; they juggle
homework, part time jobs, sporting commitments and social lives which displaces the importance of
sleep on their list of priorities. This means that the quality and duration of their sleeps decreased,
meaning that adolescents are one of the most chronically sleep deprived people in the world. Are
there any preventative measures that combat these effects? Adolescents need to be sensible about
sleep. For example, they should be planning their sleep adequately on school nights and weekends.
Keeping a regular sleep time throughout the weekend and the week will help keep the bodies sleep
pattern regular and allow it to remain in a constant rhythm. Adolescents should not be sleeping in
too much on weekends to recover their accumulated sleep debt from the previous week. Sleeping in
will only make the body less tired at night time, which will again cause adolescents to stay up later,
resulting in more hours of lost sleep. Instead, I would recommend taking short 20 minute naps
during the afternoon, as this is proven to provide the body with enough energy to get through the
remainder of the day.
Sleep hygiene and routine is also important; adolescents need to establish a regular and relaxing
routine that they practise before bed each night, to help them fall asleep easier. They should not be
drinking caffeine or playing video games/going on the computer straight before trying to get to
sleep, as these activities keep the brain wired. Exercising every single day, but not straight before
bed, will also help with this.
Workshop 3- Safe Partying. Drug and Alcohol Issues