Intense emotions are part of every teen’s life. Too often, however, these emotions spill over into “dramas” with groups of kids reacting to and escalating the impact of the drama. The by-product is a ripple of emotional chaos that extends beyond the group members and can negatively affect the atmosphere of the school. Using four “real life” scenarios, the program enables viewers to recognize emotional “drama” and helps them find legitimate ways to handle intense emotions. In one scenario, news of Jenna and Kyle’s break-up travels through the school via cell phones, blogs and gossip. Jenna goes ballistic as groups of friends take sides and escalate the problem. Each scenario is used to underscore teaching points and strategies for coping with strong emotions, to understand why drama often overwhelms an emotionally charged situation, and to learn “drama avoidance” skills.
Includes:
video, plus teacher’s resource book, student handouts and pre/post tests in digital format
Awards
Columbus International Film & Video Festival: Honorable Mention
Reviews
Highly Recommended As the student presenters say in the introduction, this film “explores what happens when teens don’t know how to handle strong emotions constructively. We’ll see how when the drama takes over, the issues get lost and teens end up with hurt feelings, angry friends and sometimes they can even get into trouble at school.” The realistic scenarios illustrating “drama queens and tough guys” and the effective use of student commentators create an excellent film that relates to teenagers as they observe the interactions of other teenagers with their friends and fellow students. There are tips to avoid drama and fighting in relationships with the use of creative graphics to help discuss specific points to handle emotions. In addition, the resource guide for teachers summarizes the film and includes varied and creative student activities.
Although this film is not a part of a series, one additional videocassette (Surviving Peer Pressure), and the DVD (Open Arms? Open Eyes!), both distributed by Human Relations Media, will complement this videocassette and provide additional information for areas of interest and importance to teenagers. A good choice for high school collections as well as university and college collections in psychology and social work. Highly recommended!!
- Carolyn Walden, Mervyn H. Sterne Library, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO)