PITFALLS AND CHALLENGES

OF ADOLESCENTS
MODULE 4. Lesson 2
 LESSON OBJECTIVES
• Examine the reasons why teenagers break
down and engage in dangerous activities
• Discuss any problem that they are
experiencing as teenagers
• Show their sentiments regarding the
expectations that their parents put on them in
a creative way
Who among you play online games?

What are the effects of always playing

online games?
NAME THE PICTURE
Abusing Drugs
Being addicted to computer games
Running away from home
Being sexually promiscuous
Being a teenage parent
Being depressed
Committing Suicide
 What do you think about the pictures?
Are you encountering these challenges in
your life?
PITFALLS AND CHALLENGES
OF ADOLESCENTS
Discussion
 What is “pitfalls”?
• A hidden or not easily
recognized danger or difficulty
• Drawbacks
• Consequences
What are the most common pitfalls that an
adolescent may encounter?
 Use of Drugs

What are the possible

reasons?
- Influenced by friends
- Peer pressure
- Influenced by the people
around them
 Computer gaming
What are the possible
reasons?
- Provide opportunities to
express what they feel
- Create their own world
- Find their identity in the
characters of the game
This may result to confusion
about the reality and the virtual
world. No longer take care of
their health. Truancy becomes
rampant. May result to failure
in their studies.
 Running away from home
What are the possible
reasons?
- They are being hurt by their
parents physically
- They feel unhappy at home
- Use it as a means to get
what they want
 Being sexually promiscuous

What are the possible reasons?

- Hormonal changes in their body
- Prodding of their peers
This may result to acquiring Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which
according to DOH mostly teenagers
are infected nowadays.
 Teenage pregnancy

What are the possible

reasons?
- Exposure to social
exploitation due to improper
use of social media
- A result of pre-marital sex
 Depression
What are the possible
reasons?
- Heightened emotionality of
adolescents
When to know that
a person is
depressed?
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical
of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM 5
ed.), at least five of the nine symptoms
represent a change in the individual’s
functioning (observed during a two-week
period):
 Symptoms of Depression
1. Depressed mood most of the day
2. Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost
all, activities most of the day
3. Significant weight loss or weight gain, or decrease or
increase in appetite nearly every day
4. Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly everyday
5. Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day
6. Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day
 Symptoms of Depression
7. Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or
inappropriate guilt nearly every day
8. Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or
indecisiveness, nearly every day
9. Recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal
ideation without specific plan, or a suicide attempt
or a specific plan for committing suicide.
 Committing Suicide
What are the possible reasons?
- Depression due to low self-esteem,
hopelessness, and high self-blame
- Victims of crimes
- Broken hearted
- Over stressed
- Being reprimanded by parents
- Personal requests are being denied
- Having his or her gadget taken away
 What have I Learned so Far?

In your quiz notebooks, write the

letter of the correct answer.
1. Which is not a characteristic of computer game
addicts?
a. Neglecting time orientation
b. Preferring to stay in the computer
c. Enjoying eating while playing computer games
d. Forgetting to take a bath or brush from home?
2. Why do some teenagers run away from home?
a. They feel unhappy at home.
b. Running away is a way to get what they want.
c. They think that their parents cannot understand
them.
d. All of the above
3. DOH data on HIV indicate that the most
number of persons infected are ________.
a.adults c. males
b.teenagers d. females
4. Which is a characteristic symptom of a
marked diminished in interest or pleasure
in all or almost all activities of the day?
a.Anxiety c. Drug abuse
b.Social disorder d. Depression
5. Common causes of suicide include
__________.
a.self-blame c. hopelessness
b.low self-esteem d. all of the above
STRATEGIES TO COPE WITH
CHALLENGES
MODULE 4. Lesson 3
 LESSON OBJECTIVES
• Discover the strategies students can utilize to
better themselves in times of challenges
• Identify the ways that they are doing in order
to cope up with life as adolescents
• Explain their thoughts and feelings by making
a Slogan or Personal Declaration on Being
Happy
 What are the challenges that you
encounter in your life as teenager?
How do you cope with those challenges?
 HOW DO I FEEL THIS TIME?
Emoji – a small digital or icon used to express an idea or emotion

ANGRY HAPPY SAD JEALOUS SCARED

Group the students to five groups. Assign each group to one “emoji”. Each
group should think or list different challenges they encounter as teenager
that made them feel or the outcome of the challenges based on the emoji
they are assigned.
What are the different situations in your life
that you encounter and how do you feel
about it? Is it stressful?
How do you manage your feelings?
What to do in order to cope up with these
challenges/situations?
 Strategies to Cope with Challenges
1. Learn to accept what you feel. – you embrace your
feelings for these are real emotions. They are only
reflective of who you are – human being. Express
your and understand your feelings.

“ Recognize your feelings well. Emotions are part of

what make you human.”
 Strategies to Cope with Challenges
2. Identify your vulnerabilities. It is beneficial
when you know the warning signs or red flags
of your emotions because they tell you when to
walk away or let go before you do or say things
that you will just regret later on.
 Strategies to Cope with Challenges
3. Develop your talents and interests.- Attaining
positive self-esteem helps boost your
psychological well-being. You can do this when
you exert efforts to develop your talents and
interests. Doing so needs patience and
perseverance, because mastering skills and
honing talents do not happen overnight.
 Strategies to Cope with Challenges
4. Become more involved with others.
“Happy people do not just live for themselves
and do not think of themselves alone.”
- Involvement with others allows you to
appreciate what you have and gives you lesser
time to think of what you do not have.
 Strategies to Cope with Challenges
5. Seek help when needed. Asking for help as beneficial
as helping others. Adolescents think that if they ask for
help they only add weight to the problems of others.
They think that they look silly when they ask for help.
- Asking for help or assistance is a measure to prevent
things from being complicated or getting worse. You
may ask help from a trusted adult such as a parent, a
teacher, and a guidance counselor.
 Portfolio output: Slogan or Personal
Declaration on Being Happy
1. Read the essay on “Being Happy”. (copies will be given)
2. Choose a phrase, sentence, or paragraph that strikes you.
3. Make a slogan or personal declaration on how you can be
committed to your self-development.
4. Explain your thoughts and feelings about it. Include
specific ways in which you will develop yourself further.
5. Your output will be written or printed in a long bond paper
to be submitted the next meeting.
6. Be creative in your work.
 Questions
What will you do if you feel sad, angry or
envious?
If your mother speaks to you as if you were a
young child, what will you do if you get irritated?
What are the strategies that may help you cope
the challenges that you face?
 What have I Learned so Far?
In your quiz notebooks, write TRUE if the
statement is correct. Write FALSE if the
statement is incorrect.
1. Feeling sad or angry is not normal for teenagers.
2. Heightened emotionality is usually experienced
during adulthood.
3. When you accept your feelings, you acknowledge
what you feel.
4. Red flags are also known as warning signs.
5. Being reactive helps boost your self-esteem.
6. Mastering your skills and talents does not happen
overnight.
7. Engaging in sports may contribute to your stressors.
8. When you entertain and dwell on your negative thoughts,
they become monstrously unhealthy.
9. In helping others, you allow yourself to appreciate what
you have.
10. Asking help from others is a measure in preventing
things from being complicated.
 Agreement

Study for the whole of Module 4. A

long quiz will be given the next
meeting.
In a 1 whole sheet of paper, write a personal reflection about your learnings from module 1 to
module 4. Must have at least 500 words. You may refer to the following questions for the
content of your write up.
What have you learned from these lessons?
What are your realizations in life after all the discussions that we had?
What have you observed to yourself? Is there any difference between the old you and to the
present you now? What are these differences?
What more do you expect from the this subject personal development?

Criteria for grading:

Content – 50%
Grammar – 20%
Originality – 20%
Neatness – 10%
Total – 100%