Educating Students About Drug Use and Mental Health - Grade 12: Expectation 4

Grade 12 Overview

Exp 1

2

3

4

5

(HL3.04)

Describe the importance of relationships and communication with others to mental health.

Bold text between orange lines is an excerpt from Grade 12 Open PPL40 Healthy Active Living Education Public Course Profile, Unit 3: Activity 3

Teaching/Learning Strategy 1:

Students complete a review handout where they identify the characteristics of a mentally healthy and unhealthy person. Students add at least four more characteristics of a mentally healthy person and unhealthy person to this handout. The following is an example:

 

Characteristic	Mentally Healthy Person	Mentally Unhealthy Person
Responsible for own personal behaviour	X
Inability to manage stress effectively		X
Lack of support network		X
Seeks help/advice when needed, etc.	X

Hot Tips for Teachers

As taught and discussed in Grade 11, there are several good mental health definitions that you can use when working with your students. Please refer to the teacher background section to access these definitions. As a general rule, it is better not to categorize people as "mentally healthy" or "mentally unhealthy", as people can move in and out of these states throughout their lives depending on what is happening. Everyone will experience periods of time in their lives when they feel "good" (mentally healthy) and others times when they feel "not so good" (mentally unhealthy), and then discuss the corresponding characteristics or feelings that may accompany each.

Alternative Activity

In a drawing of any kind (picture, chart, collage, graph, or whatever else the imagination may create), have the students depict their perceptions / ideas / understanding of the key elements in a person's environment that would enhance or deter from positive mental health. This could be drawn from personal experience or simply be fictional. These may include, but are not limited to, health, income, employment, good family relationships, a positive view about school or work, outside activities, friends or spirituality.

This activity could be completed individually or in groups and depending on the comfort level of the students, the artwork could be displayed in he classroom or school for Mental Illness Awareness Week which occurs in annually in October or Mental Health Week which occurs in May of each year.

In small groups, students sort cards created by the teacher that describe communication strategies that have been used in various relationships. Relationships could be between parents, siblings, friends, teachers, partners, or employers. Students sort cards under two headings, Effective Communication Strategies and Ineffective Communication Strategies. Strategies may include:
 

Effective Communication Strategies	Ineffective Communication Strategies
- Listening attentively - Listening between the lines - Listening without judging - Understanding what is being said before you respond - Speaking clearly and assertively - Understanding feelings of other person	- Non-attentive listening - Interrupting while someone is speaking - Not getting the whole situation/story - Sarcastic responses - Slouching, pointing - Emotional/overreacting - Defensive behaviour

Students work in small groups brainstorming the consequences of effective and ineffective communication in relationships as it relates to mental health. They record this chart in their notes. The list could include some of the following:
 

The teacher and students then come together as a large group and discuss their findings. The teacher gives verbal feedback to the students as to the validity of their responses. The teacher continues by further discussing the effects on mental health and the students' note-take.

As a homework assignment, students use a worksheet to observe and assess the communication strategies used in relationships and their impact on one's mental health. Observations can be made from television, the cafeteria, at home, or in the mall. The worksheet includes the following guidelines: who is involved, description of situation, communication strategies used, outcome of situation, impact on mental health. The teacher assesses the students' homework assignment describing the importance of relationships and communication with respect to mental health using a communication rubric.

Homework Assignment Worksheet
 

	Who is involved?	Description of situation	Communication strategies used	Outcome of situation	Impact on mental health
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

Alternative Homework Activity

Students write two versions of the same short story or play. The first depicting examples of good communication strategies and the resulting positive impact on the mental health of the characters, and then the second time, using poor communication strategies and the resulting negative impacts on mental health on the characters.

This activity could simply be handed in as a written assignment, or done as a dramatization (role play) for the class.

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