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Essays written by teens about issues that teens face might help build students' self-esteem and their ability to "triumph over trouble." Included: A new essay contest for students ages seven to 18!

Dealing with death. Depression. Self-esteem. Moving to a new school. Drug dependency. Peer pressure. The immigrant experience. Body image. Alcohol abuse. Pregnancy. Family problems. Failure. Racism.

Teens tell how they deal with those and other challenges in their own words in the book From Darkness to Light: Teens Write About How They Triumphed Over Trouble (see Education World's BOOKS IN EDUCATION page this week for a review). The book offers more than 60 inspiring essays written by teens.

But the stories tell much, much more about teens -- about their resiliency and about their abilities to overcome obstacles.

ESSAYS PROVOKE CLASSROOM DISCUSSION

Any of the essays in From Darkness to Light, published by Fairview Press, might be used in the classroom to motivate thought-provoking discussions about issues that many teens confront. Teachers might use the essays to spur discussion about why some teens seem to have the ability to face and overcome life's major hurdles -- and why others don't.. Discussions can help teens identify their own strengths, help them develop resiliency -- the ability to bounce back, and inspire them work toward their goals and dreams.

The two essays that follow don't deal with any of the thorny hot-button issues that many of the teen's essays in From Darkness to Light deal with -- issues such as teen suicide, physical abuse, or death of a sibling. Rather, these two essays offer up two optimistic stories with fairly universal themes; we read of one teen's personal view of failure (and related issues of peer pressure and body image) and another's story of coming to terms her disability.

Also included is material that teachers can use to extend classroom discussion about the essays.

NOTE: The discussion material is extracted from a Leader's Guide, which teachers could purchase for From Darkness to Light. Unfortunately, the Leader's Guide is out of print and no longer available for purchase.

The material is reprinted here with the hope that it will provide valuable lessons for your students -- and that it might motivate students to participate in a new Publish-a-Story essay contest being offered by Fairview Press. (More on that later!)

I begin with some introductory material regarding "resiliency" from the Leader's Guide.

WHAT DOES "RESILIENCY" MEAN?

The following questions from the Leader's Guide that accompanies From Darkness to Light can be used as a warm-up to reading the two essays. The questions might be used with an entire class or as a small-group discussion activity.

• Ask students to define resiliency. What are other words or phrases that mean resiliency?
• Ask students to discuss whether they believe people are born resilient or if resiliency is a skill or trait one can develop?
• Ask students to discuss whether they consider resiliency to be a desirable characteristic. Why or why not?
• Ask students if they consider themselves to be resilient. Ask them to rate themselves on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 indicates no resiliency and 10 indicates very resilient.
• Ask students What or who contributes to someone's ability to be resilient? (Brainstorm and list.)
• Ask students what they think enables people to be resilient.
• Are there role models or people who contribute to someone's ability to be resilient?
• Are there people in your life who you consider resilient who might be inspirational to you?

ESSAY #1: "GETTING STARTED"

Warm-up activity. How important is attitude when trying to succeed? Can you have fun at a sport or a game even if you're not very good at it? Is there more or different pressure on boys when it comes to playing sports?

Self-report. Ask students to write or tell their responses to these questions:

• If you're not good at something, but you enjoy it, do you continue with it or do you quit?
• What do you tell yourself it you're not good at something?
• How competitive are you?

Read the essay. Click here for the text of the essay "Getting Started."

Action steps. After students read the essay, invite them to write or discuss their thoughts about these questions:

• Do you think you have an accurate picture of your strengths and limitations?
• List five skills you have.
• What's one thing you'd like to do but aren't very good at? List three steps you could take that would bring you closer to being better at it.
• Describe what an optimist is. Are you an optimist?

ESSAY #2: "LIFE WITH A DISABILITY"

Warm-up activity. Read the definition of disability in the dictionary. Is it described in a positive, negative, or neutral way? How do you feel when you see someone in a wheelchair? What kinds of assumptions or judgements do you make about that person? If you had a friend in a wheelchair, would they be able to enter your house? List places that you can think of that aren't "handicap accessible."

Self-report. Ask students to write or tell their responses to these questions:

• What are some things you would have to stop doing if your were in a wheelchair today?
• What are some places you couldn't go to today?
• How would being in a wheelchair affect your attitude?
• How about your self-esteem?

Read the essay. Click here for the text of the essay "Life With a Disability," by Amber Junker.

Action steps. After students read the essay, invite them to write or discuss (as a class, or in small groups) their thoughts about these questions:

• What are some things that would change about you if you were in a wheelchair today?
• Could you be happy in a wheelchair?
• What is a disability that would be most difficult for you?
• Would your friends change? Why or why not?

PUBLISH-A-STORY CONTEST

Finally, the essays in From Darkness to Light might motivate students to think and to write about obstacles and challenges they've faced.

And the students might enter those stories in Fairview Press's Publish-a-Story Contest!

The contest is open to all students ages seven to 18. This year, for the first time, students can enter their essays in one of two categories:

• Do You Have a Story to Tell? What is it like to be you? What challenges do you face in your life? Tell how you triumphed over troubles large or small. If your story might serve as an example to others, it's worth telling!
• What Have You Done to Make the World a Better Place? Have you worked as part of a group -- a classroom, a group of friends, or any other group -- to make the world a better place in some way? Tell your story. It might inspire a group of young people somewhere else to reach out in their community and, in big or small ways, make the world a better place. And it might be a winner!

The best stories in both categories will be awarded prizes and will be published in one of two new books (one for each category) from Fairview Press.

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THE BOOK OR THE CONTEST....

For more information about the Publish-a-Story Contest, check out Fairview Press's Web site, call them at (800)544-8207, or write to them at 2450 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55454-1400. Contest deadline: April 1, 1998.

For a copy of From Darkness to Light, see the review on the Education World BOOKS IN EDUCATION page this week.

Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World® Editor-in-Chief
Copyright © 1997, 2005 Education World