At the age of 13, a boy approached Cristina, asking her to be his girlfriend. She declined the boy’s offer and he became angry, threatening that she would regret it. One day Cristina came to school and everyone eyed her every move, whispering and laughing. She felt something was terribly wrong. A friend told her this boy had circulated a nude photo online, saying that it was Cristina, although the person’s face was not seen. She was mortified and ran home. She thought that her parents, the school, and even the authorities would be able to put a quick stop to it, but she was wrong. This devastation turned her into a tormented young woman who could not escape the rumors for 7 years. It destroyed her life as a teenager, broke her spirit, and ultimately broke her will to live.
Subjects: Guidance
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Understanding Asperger’s: Sean’s Story
From as early as he can remember, Sean had lived with extreme anxiety. As the years went by, he couldn’t connect with other students. He was bullied and could never understand why. A darkness of alienation grew within him and his parents sought help. After years of searching, finally, a doctor pinpointed Sean’s mental health issues. He had Asperger’s. Armed with this knowledge and treatment, Sean found his way back in the world and learned how to control his disorder. He now helps younger kids who struggle with this mental health disorder.
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Broken Families: Lydia’s Story
Lydia’s life as a child was filled with family dysfunction, drugs, abuse, and the death of her mother. She ended up in the foster care system before the age of 10 and would endure moving between 36 different foster homes. Lydia was left with a lack of identity, belonging, and self-worth. The longing for her family and her loneliness created a cycle of destruction or “acting out.” Nothing or no one could fill the void she felt. Somehow, she found an incredible strength to turn her life around. Living out of a car, she put herself through school and became determined to have her own family, providing a loving home for her two children; something she never had.
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I’m Not Addicted: Will’s Story
You can become addicted to just about anything. It becomes a serious problem when it takes you away from the things you normally do. Some people have a predisposition to addiction and Will’s story shows that anyone can fall dangerously into addiction. It started with video games addiction which was the beginning of the slippery slope that almost cost him his life. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player. He could never imagine that, at the age of 17, he would be living on the streets, addicted to crack cocaine and near death. His remarkable story now brings so much hope to those that struggle with addiction and he now dedicates his life to helping youth.
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Don’t Diss My Abilities: Michelle’s Story
As a child and teenager, Michelle endured a series of events that was nothing short of soul crushing. She faced sexual abuse as a child and kept it a secret for years. At the age of sixteen she acquired a brain disease that rendered her blind. Her so-called friends bullied her at school. She fell into a deep depression and turned to drugs, alcohol, and self-harm to numb her pain, but nothing seemed to help. She felt her only option was suicide. Thankfully, a miraculous turn of events saved her life and now this remarkable young woman faces all her adversity with such positive energy that it has become infectious and humbling to all that know and love her.
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Breaking Poverty: Billionaire PA’s Story
Poverty, drugs, violence, abuse, family deaths… Demitrius experienced all of it as a child and young teenager. He became a great salesman. The only problem is he sold drugs on the street, landing him in jail. What else you can you do when you live in such poverty? His grandmother planted a thought in his head, “If you could use the focused energy you have in selling drugs and channel it into something good, you will be unstoppable.” Taking her advice, he not only turned his life around but is now saving so many others from the hardships that he endured as a teenager. He is a true inspiration to so many and his goal is to reach a billion people.
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Sex Addiction
Since the Tiger Woods scandal in 2010, sex addiction has been blasted into the public eye by the media with an ever-growing supply of films and TV shows focussing on the problem. Since the scandal, we have seen the number of people opening up about their own battles with sex addiction more than double. But how plausible is the idea that you can be addicted to sex? We speak to Shaun Brookhouse, Emma James & Carol Featherstone – professionals who have had to gain an understanding about sex addiction due to the recent surge in those coming forward with addiction. As well as this, we ask young people their thoughts and what there idea is of a sex addict. For teens living in a society where everything from perfume to pastry is sexualised, and internet porn is readily accessible, is it too easy to go too far?
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Focusing on Early Years
This video resource looks at various aspects of the Early Years Setting from the basics of Health and Safety to areas of employment within this rewarding industry. The topics of Preventing Accidents, Controlling Infections, and Types of Early Years Settings are highlighted as well as Career Pathways and the roles of workers in different Early Years Settings. This video resource has additional support notes with questions and answers for your students and includes interviews with personnel working in the industry which shows a true reflection of life working in the Early Years Sector.
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Inside Story: Conflict Resolution
This Inside Story news desk looks at conflict and conflict resolution through four different case studies. * Global conflict: The role of United Nations in resolving conflict via the diplomatic process and establishment of peacekeeping forces. * Conflict at the community level: A case study involving the proposed siting of a toxic waste facility in Werribee, looking at the ‘family-friendly’ action taken by residents which led to the reversal of the decision. * Conflict in the workplace: We look at how McDonalds’ manages workplace conflict and the process of mediation. * Conflict at school: The program considers a student taking inappropriate action to protest installation of security cameras. A mediation process ensues which sees positive outcomes achieved for all involved. This program provides an excellent and broad-ranging insight into conflict and conflict resolution on a range of levels.
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There’s Always Help: Suicide Prevention
At some point everyone goes through very stressful and anxious situations. Those experiences can be very hard to cope with and lead to feelings of extreme sadness, anger and depression. Sometimes teens may feel like their situations are hopeless and think that one way to get relief from the bad feelings is to escape through suicide. What are the warning signs of suicide? Is there anything we can do to help prevent it? This is what this program will discuss.