© YFC Schools Resources, 2004 - 2010
YFC Schools Resources is managed by British Youth for Christ - Registered Charity No. 263446, SC039297 and is also a company limited by guarantee (No. 00988200). For more information, please visit www.yfc.co.uk.

Assembly for GCSE/Standard Stressed out!

Topic:

Life & Living (Friendship, Trust, Choices)

Theme:

What is stress? How do we deal with it before it deals with us?

Plan:

ILLUSTRATION: Balancing act

Resources: glasses/beakers (x6), trays (x2), obstacles (e.g. plastic boxes), jugs of water, blindfold

Note: If you choose to run this illustration, keep it away from electrical equipment.

Invite two volunteers to the front – the more competitive the better. It may add to the enjoyment to involve an adult: a team member or a teacher to ‘play up’ the competitive edge.

Explain the challenge: to get from A to B and back again carrying a glass of water on a tray without spilling any. Whoever completes the challenge the quickest wins.

Round 1 (easy round): Glass is half full – there should be no spillages
Round 2 (slightly more pressure): Fill the glass up almost to the top
Round 3 (more difficult): Three full glasses on each tray – students can only use one hand to carry the tray
Final round (hardest of all): Put a few minor obstacles in the way. Again, carry three glasses using only one hand. (For comic effect, you might want to produce a blindfold here as if for ‘Round 5’…)

At the end, ask the participants how they felt throughout the challenge. Were their any times when they were close to spilling the water, or dropping the tray?

STORY

Resources: pack of cards / building blocks (e.g. Jenga)

Share a personal anecdote of being in a stressful situation. To make it visual, you might like to build a house of cards/tower as you are telling it, to underline the point that when stress builds up, we can sometimes feel like we’re close to falling apart.

TALK

In today’s society, all of us are susceptible to carrying a lot of things. For example, what’s on your mind right now?

- Maybe it’s work pressures – for example an upcoming exam that you’ve been trying to ignore, a whole stack of books to mark
- Maybe there’s a big event that you’re preparing for
- Maybe you’re experiencing some difficulties with friends or family that you’re working out how to resolve

Whatever it is, it’s bound to be stressful.

Stress in itself is not a bad thing. It helps gear us up to face the challenges that we have to face. But sometimes this stress – the weight of pressure or expectation – can be harmful to us. When it builds up, or it gets to point where we are unable to cope with it, it can lead to anxiety and sometimes even panic; and instead of helping us to perform, achieve and enjoy, stress can simply cripple us instead.

- We find it difficult to concentrate or make decisions
- We deal with frustrations badly and lose our temper
- We may lose our sense of humour and perspective
- We start to lose sleep or lose our appetite – which only adds to all of these problems

This is not uncommon in young people. Research estimates that about 4% suffer from emotional difficulties such as anxiety and depression, requiring treatment. This doesn’t count those who are feeling stressed out by a particular burden or pressure who haven’t spoken to anybody about it.

When things get to this level, how do you deal with it? The Bible offers this advice:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, and with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)

There will always be things that will try to make us anxious, but we don’t have to be. Christians believe in a God who cares about every aspect of people’s lives – who will listen to us when we’re worn down by life and who is big enough to carry the things which are too much for us. Thankfulness for what we do have, and faith to give over the things which are too much for us, can be a source of great peace.

Equally, we have people around us who will help us through – by lending a listening ear, sharing some of the load or by helping us to see things from a different point of view. As a school community, we are committed to supporting each other. So if you’re feeling this way, don’t struggle on alone.

CLOSING PRAYER

Dear God, thank you that you are always with us and that you love us. Help us as we face difficult challenges and fill us with your peace and perspective. Amen.

Author:

Submitted by: YFC HQ

Download this resource as a PDF

---