Like it is. Eps 1-8

Like It Is is an ABC health series for middle-secondary students, consisting of eight twenty minute episodes which focus on life issues of concern to young people, and presents skills and strategies to help deal with them. The programs use interviews and real life situations to examine how issues of group identity, self-esteem, career goals, friendship, sexual relationships, mental stress, change, loss, and risk taking are experienced by young Australians. The music video clip production style is designed to engage young people, and the series was produced with the assistance of curriculum officers, mental health specialists and target audience focus groups. Episode 1 “Belonging”: explores what it’s like to be excluded and the benefits of feeling connected. Strategies such as optimistic self-talk, communication skills, and acceptance, are presented as ways to connect with others and to make other people feel included. Episode 2 “Feeling Good”: deals with self esteem, including the idea that our self esteem can change. Strategies to keep our self esteem high such as optimistic self-talk, identifying personal strengths and help-seeking are discussed. Episode 3 “Where am I going?”: looks at goal setting and decision-making. It focuses on career goals, discusses the advantages of developing transferable skills and encourages the pursuit of rich tasks. Episode 4 “Friends”: highlights the importance of friendship, and focuses on the importance of liking yourself first. Skills such as communication, optimistic self-talk and decision-making are presented as strategies for managing friendships. Episode 5 “More Than Friends”: discusses how to recognise and contribute to a positive relationship and looks at ideas including trust when considering a sexual relationship. Episode 6 “Managing stress”: looks at some positive and challenging aspects of stress in our lives and investigates a range of strategies including optimistic self-talk, humour, exercise and help-seeking as ways to manage stress. Episode 7 “Managing Change”: explores the idea that change is part of life, discussing both positive change and the more challenging aspects of change, such as loss and grief. Strategies presented to help manage change include goal setting, communication, help-seeking, and decision-making. Episode 8 “Taking risks”: examines risk-taking as a natural part of growing up which can present positive challenges and test developing coping skills. Risk-assessment, decision-making and help-seeking strategies are discussed as ways to reduce risk factors and minimise harm.