Tolerating a certain amount of stress is an important part of growing up. A lot of this can be caused by peer- group pressure. Coping with day to day challenges is something that everyone has to learn to do. There should be sufficient pressure to feel stretched in order to develop skills and to grow. Levels of stress will vary from person to person. Too much stress leads to health issues and well-being put at risk, whilst too little leads to frustration and boredom.

Research indicated that young people in education did not comprehend the image depicting tolerance in the adult set of Images of Resilience. This alternative image has been produced which illustrates many of the pressures that they have to tolerate at school and college.

Examples of questions you might use when coaching children and teenagers around tolerance.

– How do you build your tolerance in stressful situations?

– How do you cope when things become very stressful? What can you do to prevent things becoming too stressful? How do you go about prioritising things?

– How do you view stress?

– How do you feel when you are out of your comfort zone? How much stress challenges and stretches you? What situations drain you and reduce your tolerance? What is your reaction to too little stress?

– How do you manage your stress? What do you do to reduce stress?

– How do you relax? What makes you calm and contented? How can you use these in stressful situations?

– How aware are others of your levels of stress?

– What is the impact on others when you experience too much stress? What happens when you become intolerant of other people? When do you let your manager and others know that you are experiencing too much stress?

One of a series of 18 images from the coaching toolbox – Images of Resilience in Education – available from RSVP Design.

Images of Resilience in Education is a collection of metaphor cards representing a range of experiences and emotions linked to the theme of resilience. They explore different facets and connections with stress, change, challenge and learning.

Each image is accompanied with a range of suggested coaching questions to explore situations where resilience is needed, and the qualities or skills that can be developed to strengthen resilience.