Educational Media Reviews Online

Stronger, Tougher, Smarter tells the stories of five teens who demonstrate their resilience after difficult and painful experiences. As described in the supplemental resource book, “viewers hear from real kids who demonstrate ways of coping with hard times. By giving voice to their emotions, having realistic expectations, allowing themselves time to heal, asking for support and employing stress-reducing techniques and other healthy coping behaviors, the teens profiled demonstrate that it’s possible to deal with difficult situations and emerge stronger than they were before.” As viewers listen to Laura describe her eating disorder; Nik discuss his feelings about his mother’s cancer; Emily take responsibility for drinking alcohol; Alex discuss living with muscular dystrophy; and Chiarra describe how school related stress impacts her life, they not only see the challenges these young people face but hear in the teen voices the emotion attached to the challenge.

The technique of having the youth talk as if answering questions from an interviewer without the interviewer present is an effective technique that provides a clear picture of the challenge from the student’s perspective. This technique also captures the intensity of the hardship which resonates and creates empathy for the situation. The hosts of the film follow each story with a summary of the students’ challenge. These comments interspersed with remarks from psychologist Robin Goodman who stresses the connection between our thoughts, feeling, and actions provide the psychological context and understanding needed to help others solve similar problems in their lives. The psychologist perspective also reinforces key points to develop resilience and the ability to remain emotionally healthy when coping with stressful events.

The hosts for the film summarize key concepts at the end and make specific recommendations to encourage and help teenagers respond to hardships and challenges with the knowledge they can be resilient. The pdf file of the Teacher’s Resource Book is available on the DVD. These materials are compatible with the performance indicators of the National Health Education Standards for grades 6-12. This guide includes exercises to help students identify stressful events in their lives, activity sheets, and fact sheets for coping with hard times, resilience and management of stress, relaxation techniques, professional help, and specific resources for future reference. Although the film is a brief 21 minutes, there is a wealth of information provided both in the film and in the printable materials in the resource book. This film will be an excellent addition to middle and high school library collections as well as college and university programs that emphasize education. Highly Recommended!