24 Hour Crisis Hotline/Listening Line | Need to talk? (401) 272-4044 or (800) 365-4044
FOR TEENS
“Don’t Stop Believing”
Empower Yourself: Learn To Cope
As a young person, you experience stress at at school, among friends and other activities. You also react to stress in your family. It is important to recognize this stress and adopt healthy coping strategies that will help today and in your life as an adult.
Generally, anything that may cause fear and anxiety can cause stress. This can include being away from home, going on to college or a job, moving to a new location, being separated from parents or caregivers, getting along with others or worrying about grades and worrying about your future.
Being Your Best
- Self Esteem Do you value yourself? While all of us enjoy receiving praise, people with a good sense of self-esteem know their own value and don’t always rely on others to tell them they are worthwhile.
- Life’s Challenges Are you able to “roll with the punches”? Successful people are able to handle challenges at each stage of life, even though they may be temporarily put off by them.
- Flexibility Are you flexible or do you always have to be right? Successful people are able to make mistakes, accept the as mistakes and not moral failings, and admit to them readily.
- Acknowledge Feelings Are you aware of your feelings? Do you allow yourself to experience them without judging them as good or bad? We all have feelings that sometimes seem irrational, but successful people are able to acknowledge them and move on instead of denying their existence.
- Accept Responsibility Can you accept responsibility for what you do or the choices you make? While it’s human nature to make excuses once in a while, successful people are able to accept responsibility for themselves and their actions. At the same time, they refrain from denying responsibility or blaming others.
- Ask For Help Can you ask for help? Sometimes it’s hard for us to admit we can’t solve a problem ourselves. Successful people learn to be successful by asking for and getting help if they need it.
Take our "Don’t Stop Believing" Pledge
Sometimes life hands us something that gets us down. When you’re knocked down, believe in yourself and keep trying. You can get back up. Maybe you won’t be pointed in the original path, but you can make new discoveries about yourself and your capabilities.
You possess amazing abilities and talents!
Concentrate on the areas where you have proven your capability. Dream, set goals, and work toward them because the successes and downfalls you experience in life will help to create who you are.
Appreciate every moment and take from it everything positive thing you can, for you may never be able to experience it again. Tell yourself you are a great individual by letting your spirit say, “I believe.”
PLEDGE
I pledge to be myself, follow my dreams, and always do my best.
I can make a difference! I promise to try.
I promise to live each day it to the fullest, realizing it can never come back again.
I realize this is my life, and I am amazing.
Help with Bullying
Dealing with Bullies
Notice: In all cases, if you or someone you know is at immediate risk for physical harm including suicide, please call RI Emergency 911 immediately and ask for help!
Are you or someone you know being bullied?
Suicide should never be the option to solving this problem. Learn more about the problem by reading below and linking on to this national website.
To deal with bullying in person or online, it;s imperative to learn more about what to look for and what you can do to prevent further victimization. Do not blame yourself or face this problem alone. Tell someone! Tell a trusted family member, teacher or professional at school.
A bully can use different types of bullying to intimidate another person. These include physical bullying, hazing, emotional bullying, verbal bullying, and cyber bullying.
THE BULLY
A bully hurts another person over and over. A bully is a person who purposely tries to hurt others by:
*Making them feel uncomfortable
*Hurting them by kicking, hitting, pushing, tripping, etc.
*Name-calling
*Spreading nasty rumors
A bully is someone who threatens you in person, through texting, or on-line.
What you can do if someone is Bullying YOU:
- Try not to let the bully see you are upset. Do not try to prove yourself, have confidence and do it with a smile.
- Be kind. Be outgoing. Try to surround yourself with friends and people who will stand up for you.
- Avoid areas where the bully feels comfortable picking on you, places where teachers cannot see you – such as lonely corridors, and behind large furniture in the classroom.
- Tell someone you trust about it… parents, teachers, professionals at school including school-based police or older friends. Bring a trusted friend with you.
- Do not let a bully threaten you or someone you love into keeping the bullying a secret.
- To help yourself and others being bullied - NEVER keep being bullied a secret!
What you can do if SOMEONE ELSE is being Bullied:
- Get friends together and TALK to the bully. Let the bullies in your school know that bullying is not accepted at your school.
- Don’t cheer the bully on or stand around to watch.
- If you see someone being bullied, find someone to help stop it. (Find the nearest friends or adults. Tell someone.)
- Befriend, include, and get to know the person who is being bullied. Persons being bullied needs to know someone cares about them.
What to do about CYBER BULLYING:
- Keep your passwords private… even from friends.
- Never give out personal information (address, schedule, school name, etc.).
- Document the occurrences by saving all emails and texts… Do not delete them.
- If you can block the bully’s messages… DO IT.
- Show any threatening messages to a trusted adult, school official, internet provider, or cell phone company who can take legal action to stop the bully.
- Do not respond to the bully.
- Tell someone you trust about it… parents, teachers, professionals at school including school-based police or older friends. Bring a trusted friend with you.
- Do not let a bully threaten you or someone you love into keeping the bullying a secret.
- To help yourself and others being bullied - Never keep being bullied a secret!
KNOW THE SIGNS
Is your friend Depressed?
Depression can affect anyone. There are many physical problems may present themselves as depression. Depression is one of the most common psychological problems, affecting nearly everyone through either personal experience or through depression in a family member. It can interfere with normal functioning, and frequently causes problems with social and family adjustment. It causes pain and suffering not only to those who have the problem, but also to those who care about them. It’s important to learn what depression looks like and what to do if you spot the warning signs.
It can be difficult to know the difference between having a bad day and needing to seek help from a behavioral health professional or counselor. But how would you really know that someone you care about needs to seek help from a professional?
The first place to start is to understand the signs and symptoms. These are widely varied, and some may not apply. However, if you are noticing that you or someone you love is experiencing symptoms that are occurring over a period of time (not just a day or two), and severe enough that they are causing problems in daily life, it is probably a good indication that you should tell a TRUSTED ADULT such as a teacher, parent, counselor, etc.
WHAT SHOULD YOU WATCH FOR
- Talking about, writing about, hinting at or threatening suicide (such threats precede four out of five deaths by suicide)
- Alcohol or drug abuse
- Drastic changes in personality (for example, a person might become rebellious or reckless)
- Losing interest in favorite activities
- Sleeping too much or too little
- No appetite or overeating
- Previous suicide attempts
- Giving away prized possessions
- Fatigue, lethargy or apathy
- Doing poorly in school
- Social withdrawal or isolation
- Drastic changes in appearance
- Feelings of hopelessness or helplessness
- Conflicts with friends and family
What You Can Do
Listen to your friend without judging,
Encourage them to tell you how they feel and what is on their mind.
Tell a trusted adult…parent, teacher, counselor, doctor. Bring a trusted friend with you.
Emergency? DIAL 911 immediately, explain the situation and ask for advice.
If you or your friend need to talk, learn more about Listening Line website page.
Call The Samaritans’ Listening Line at 401-272-4044.
