Building Mental Toughness: Sources of Strength Group Supports Students

Sources of Strength.

Sources of Strength is mental awareness for others. Kimberly High School’s S.O.S. club has a goal to improve everyone's morale and the way individuals tend to look at situations. S.O.S. is a school group with a variety of teachers as the instructors and many students from all different grades that were referred to be in the group by a teacher. 

One of the many instructors in the group is Mrs. Unger. 

When asked, what is Sources of Strength, she replied, "It Is a national organization that is comprised of eight different areas of strength that are used to encourage students and adults. Ultimately the goal is to help prevent suicide but in order to do that we let kids know the power they have through the eight critical protective factors." 

The eight critical protective powers are family support, positive friends, mentors, healthy activities, generosity, spirituality, physical health and mental health. Those strengths are focused on to use as a way to help manage students' hard times. They can rely on those protective factors. 

Mrs. Unger also discussed what Sources of Strength does for the school. 

"We do awareness campaigns to let kids know that we're all available at any time for any needs that students might have, hopefully creating unity through awareness,” she said. “There will be monthly campaigns, so students know where to go for support." 

The instructors are a big part of Sources of Strength. Without passionate instructors, S.O.S. would not be the same. The students are also a huge part of Sources of Strength. 

A student of the group, Sydney Fowler, was asked how Sources of Strength helps her grow as a person. She said, "It helps me with emotions I didn't even know about and helps me think about my actions before doing so." 

What is her favorite part of S.O.S.? "I like connecting with all of the groups of people in S.O.S. like a bunch of social cliques and hanging out with each other," Sydney said. 

Sources of Strength is a developmental opportunity for students and the instructors. They want the best for everyone and to help as much people as they can. S.O.S. is a fundamental way to expand every individual's knowledge of suicide prevention.