Q: What is the purpose of the Student Voice Lessons?
A: When students are facing challenges that directly impact their mental health, they often feel alone or isolated and struggle to reach out for the support they need for fear of being judged or ridiculed. One helpful tool to overcome this student fear is to present them with peer role models who speak openly about similar challenges so they see that they are not alone. This is why Open Parachute created the Student Voice Lessons, which contain videos of real students (not actors!) vulnerably and courageously sharing their stories of navigating and overcoming mental health challenges.
Q: Who are the students in the videos?
A: The students in the videos are our OP Heroes. They are children and teenagers who have volunteered to share their personal stories to help and support their peers. They are not actors. They are speaking authentically from the heart, and we are incredibly grateful for their honesty, vulnerability, and courage. The videos are recorded interviews with a Clinical Psychologist, who creates a safe space for students to share whatever they feel comfortable sharing on camera.
We are always looking for new stories. If you have students who would like to participate in our program in the future, please reach out to us at [email protected].
Q: What if my students can’t relate to the peer story in the video?
A: The goal of the peer role model videos is to help students see someone their age openly discussing their thoughts, feelings, and reactions to challenges. It is not necessary for students to experience the same challenge as the students in the video; instead, what is important is that they focus on how they can personally relate to the thoughts, feelings, and reactions that this student is expressing.
For example, if a student on screen is discussing anxiety, which for her arose after hospitalization following an accident; many students will not be able to relate to being hospitalized for an accident. However, they can all relate to the feelings of nervousness when facing something hard (like a test in school), anxious thoughts (e.g., thinking something bad might happen or that they can’t do something hard), and reactions to stress (e.g., avoiding situations that make them uncomfortable).
Q: What if my students don’t look or sound like the students in the video?
A: We have intentionally included students from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and socioeconomic circumstances in these lessons. This ensures that many diverse voices are represented and increases student empathy and understanding. If your students have had very different experiences than the students in the videos, this is a great opportunity for them to build empathy by learning from someone else and put themselves in someone else’s shoes.
You can encourage your students to look beyond what they see and reflect on how they can still relate to the thoughts, feelings, and reactions to challenges, even with people who are completely different from them in many ways.
For example, if the student in the video comes from a different socioeconomic status than your students (e.g., they clearly have more or less money/means/access) and your students are focussing on this rather than core learning of the lesson, this is a great opportunity for a teachable moment. Help students reflect on the fact that we all struggle, and our thoughts, feelings, and reactions might not be as different from others as we think.
Q: What if the students in the videos are a different age than my students?
A: The student stories have been intentionally placed at certain grade levels because their experiences developmentally match typical students in that grade. Sometimes this means that the students in the videos will be slightly older or slightly younger than your students. Keep reminding your students to reflect on how they can relate to the thoughts, feelings, and reactions of the students in the videos, regardless of their age. If your students are at a different developmental stage than is typical for that grade (e.g., they are more mature or more sheltered, and you can see that different content would be more relevant, you are welcome to use lessons from grades above or below to match your students’ needs).
Q: How do I follow a student’s complete story, over multiple lessons?
A: Although each Student Voice Lesson can be run independently via the Lesson Library, each student’s full story unfolds over multiple lessons. If you would like to run these lessons in sequence to view the story from beginning to end, you can access the Student Voice Series under the Program tab and run lessons in order from left to right.
For more strategies on how you can help students engage with the content, see our Help Article: Helping Students Relate to the Lessons.
If you would like more information on reinforcing and facilitating meaningful student learning throughout the school day, refer to our Help Article: Scaffolding Opportunities.