Workshops are conducted by Youth Net staff, placement students, and volunteers. Each are free and usually accommodate a typical classroom size.

Stress >>
Mental Illness >>
Developmental Assets >>
Introduction to Youth Net >>
Under Development >>

45-minute interactive presentations complete with:

• Stress Survey ~ find out how much stress you are under
• Signs & Symptoms
• Good & Bad Coping Strategies
• Relaxation Exercises

Stress Test

We all talk about stress, but we are not always clear about what it is. This is because stress comes from both the good and the bad things that happen to us. If we did not feel any stress, we would not be alive! Stress becomes a problem when we are not sure how to handle an event or a situation. Then worry sets in and we feel “stressed”.

Stress is the impact an event has on your mind and body and these effects can be both helpful and harmful. The things that cause stress for you may not be a problem for your friend, and things that bring stress to your friend’s life may not worry you at all. It is how you think about and react to certain events that determine whether you find them stressful or fairly easy to deal with. Your reaction to stress can affect your mental and physical health; so it is important for you to learn how to deal effectively with stress as it happens.

Your feelings about the vents in your life are very important. By understanding yourself and your reactions to stressful events, you can learn to handle stress well. The best place to start is by figuring out what you find causes stress in you, such as:

• major events in your life: changing schools, moving to a new house, your best friend moving away, accepting entrance to a college or university
• long-term worries: paying for university, choosing the right career, illness in the family
• daily hassles: gossip, time for homework, parents’ questions, getting to school on time, cliques

Because each of us is different, there is no one “right” way to cope with stress. For a little more information, click here or call Youth Net at 905-451-2123 to book a presentation.

To help parents, teachers, bosses, and friends understand more about youth stress, volunteer with Youth Net to do some stress testing (hyperlink to this section on volunteer page) in your school.

Mental Illness

Currently offered is a series of 5 workshop on mental illness, also each 45-minutes in duration. The purpose of the workshops is to educate youth on the more common mental illnesses, their signs and symptoms as well as types of treatments. Also introduced to participants is crisis skills. Any workshop may be chosen and while we recommend Workshop #1 first, they can be done in any sequence.

The topics for the 5 workshops are as follows:

1. Causes of Mental Illness, Treatments and Crisis Skills
2. Mood Disorders
3. Anxiety Disorders & Phobias
4. Schizophrenia & Personality Disorders
5. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder & Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Developmental Assets

One-time funding from the Region of Peel enabled Youth Net to develop eight workshops on developmental assets. These assets are internal and external building blocks that help youth grow to be healthy, caring, and responsible adults. While the content is good, youth facilitators that the structure didn’t quite hit the mark i.e. they didn’t connect as well to youth to the extent they’d hope. Prior to YN’s work on this series, there were no resources targeted at youth about these assets, with much available for parents, teachers, and other adults. Despite them needing more work, Youth Net is pleased to have the basis of some good material for youth. Topics include:

• support
• empowerment
• boundaries and expectations
• constructive use of time
• commitment to learning
• positive values
• social competencies
• positive identity

Click here for a list of the Search Institute’s Developmental Assets. If youth would like to volunteer with YN to improve this series or you would like more information, please contact the Program Coordinator.

Visit either www.thrivecanada.ca or www.search-institute.org for more detailed information about Developmental Assets.

Introduction to Youth Net

We offer a ½-hour to 45 minute introductory presentation on Youth net for any group or organization interested in learning more about our services.

Under Development

The following workshops are currently being piloted:

• youth gambling
• addictions
• body image
• eating disorders
• depression
• suicide

If these workshops sound like something you would like, please give us a call and we can let you know how the piloting process is going and when we hope to be offering the workshops to the public.