Students are constantly bombarded with both positive and negative news. This lesson equips them with skills to handle distressing news, understand its impact on their wellbeing, and develop strategies for balanced, healthy media consumption. 

Year level

9-10

Duration

30 minutes

Type

In class activity

SEL Competencies

Self-awareness

Self-management

Responsible decision-making

Learning intention

Students will deepen their understanding of how both distressing and positive news impact on their wellbeing, and identify self-care strategies to boost their mental health.

Key outcomes

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

  • identify and apply strategies for engaging with distressing news

  • understand the impact of positive news stories.

Materials needed

  • Students’ devices

  • Interactive whiteboard/projector to play video

Mapped to

Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education

  • Plan, implement and critique strategies to enhance health, safety and wellbeing of their communities (ACPPS093)

  • Critically analyse and apply health information from a range of sources to health decisions and situations (ACPPS094)

Australian Curriculum: General Capabilities

  • Critical and Creative Thinking:

    • Analysing, synthesizing, and evaluating information

  • Personal and Social Capability:

    • Self-awareness 

    • Self-management

    • Social awareness

  • Information and Communication Technology:

    • Investigating with ICT

NSW PDHPE Syllabus

  • Assesses their own and others' capacity to reflect on and respond positively to challenges (PD5-1)

  • Researches and appraises the effectiveness of health information and support services available in the community (PD5-2)

  • Assesses and applies self-management skills to effectively manage complex situations (PD5-9)

Victorian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education

  • Plan, implement and critique strategies to enhance the health, safety and wellbeing of their communities (VCHPEP145)

  • Critique behaviours and contextual factors that influence the health and wellbeing of their communities (VCHPEP151)

Show details

Activity 1

Self-care and bad news

15 minutes

  1. Ask students:

    • How does news make you feel?

    • Do different issues make you feel differently?

  2. Normalise that bad news can be distressing, and that if it’s constant – for example, when a natural disaster occurs – it's normal to be impacted. However, there are steps we can take to look after ourselves.

  3. Watch the ReachOut video, Is it possible to engage with distressing news in a healthy way?. 

    • While watching, students write down tips that they can use to look after themselves.

Activity 2

The power of good news

15 minutes

  1. Watch the video Good news.

  2. Students answer: How do we feel when we hear positive news stories?

  3. Students research recent good news stories.

  4. Students share their stories to create a good news bulletin board. This can be a shared space in the classroom or a digital noticeboard.

Print

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              Aboriginal flagTorres Strait islander flagRainbow flagAustralian flag

              We acknowledge the traditional owners of Country throughout Australia. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, and to Elders past and present. We recognise connection to Country as integral to health and wellbeing.

              We acknowledge people with lived experience of mental ill-health and recovery and the experience of people who have been carers, families, or supporters.

              ReachOut values diversity. We are committed to providing a safe, culturally appropriate, and inclusive service for all people, regardless of their ethnicity, faith, disability, sexuality, or gender identity.

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