Being a middle school student isn’t easy, pupils attested during Thursday’s Choices program offered at Bellefontaine Middle School, as the early teenage years are filled with a variety of pressures, whether it’s dealing with the demands of homework and school requirements, to their own family dynamics or trying to fit in with their peers and find their places in the world.
Kelly Tracey from Logan County Job and Family Services shows examples of laughter being the “best medicine” Thursday during the stress management session of the Choices program that was presented to eighth-grade students at Bellefontaine Middle School. FRONT PAGE SLIDE SHOW PHOTO: Bellefontaine Police Department Detective Dwight Salyer speaks about the possible consequences of the sending of inappropriate pictures. (EXAMINER PHOTOS | MANDY LOEHR)
Speakers in one of the sessions —stress management — offered students with a variety of tools to help them navigate these issues in their day-to-day lives during the third annual program presented by the Midwest
Regional Educational Service Center with the help of a number of area agencies.
Choices is a day-long presentation aimed at helping students to make good choices and also included the topics of texting, social media, diversity, values, selfesteem/ self-confidence, opiates crisis and healthy habits.
Stress Management speaker Kelly Tracey from Logan County Job and Family Services said stress, unfortunately, seems to be an inevitable part of life at any age and can actually cause physical harm to the body, manifesting itself in a variety of symptoms, from an upset stomach to severe headaches and trouble sleeping.
However, Tracey noted that how one deals with stress can make a world of difference.
She shared that one of her favorite stress management techniques is quite simple — laughter and humor as “the best medicine.”
“Laughter has actually been shown to help relieve pain and also improve one’s immune system because it helps to increase antibodies,” she said, showing students examples of humorous posters that she displays in her office.
“Studies also have shown that healthy children laugh on average 400 times a day, while adults on the other hand, only laugh about 15 times a day. We all could use more laughter in our lives.”
Read complete story in Friday’s Examiner.
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