Deep Breaths, Everybody…Stress S.O.S. Care Kits for Teens

Caitlin Schaffer, Oconomowoc Public Library, Oconomowoc, WI is a member of our Wisconsin Teen Librarian Services Group. She shares her experiences with programming and creating Stress S.O.S. Care Kits in her library.

So, Spring of 2020 happened and opened the floodgates of virtual programming.

Which flowed into summer...which smashed into fall. 

And somewhere along the way, I had a realization: Teens were sick of staring at me through a screen. I wasn’t actually providing a service to my teen library users by trying to create a packed schedule of trivia, Jackbox, and online meetups. Were some of those events appreciated in that they provided some source of socialization? Sure, for a time and for some of the most dyed-in-the-wool library teens. But I was starting to get the general impression that, outside of my core group of regulars, I wasn’t reaching or serving the teens of my community at a time in which they REALLY needed to be reached and REALLY needed to be served.

The crushing truth is that teens were and continue to be one of the age demographics most affected by the pandemic. One national poll conducted by the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Michigan had almost 50% of parents reporting that they have noticed “a new or worsening mental health condition for their teen since the start of the pandemic.” 50 PERCENT. Mental health insurance claims for teens also roughly doubled in March and April of 2020 as compared to the same time in 2019, according to another study. So, while I would hope that my Digital D&D group was really helping a few people through, I am really doubting the reach of my efforts to teens during the spring and summer of 2020. 

What WAS reaching a lot of our patrons, I noticed, were our grab ‘n’ go activities and crafts. Until then I hadn’t put much thought into providing them for teens, not thinking enough were coming into the library to make it worth it. I did a little brainstorming with the help of teens on our Discord server, and the Stress S.O.S. Care Kits were born! (Yes, I know Stress.O.S. was right there, but when I looked it up another company was already using that term and I didn’t feel like getting served or something. Not on the top of my list. ANYWAY, MOVING ON.) I’m going to use SSOSCK to shorten that sucker for the rest of this post, because it’s a long name.

Initial Steps: My first thought was to reach out to the high school and see if they were already doing anything to support students’ mental health, or if they would be interested in having some of the SSOSCK available on location. After having a meeting with the principal and school’s psychologist, they decided they wanted to give creating their own Stress S.O.S. Care Kits a go, while simultaneously promoting mine and mental health resources in my collection. So, I really encourage reaching out to your community’s schools or other organizations that serve and support teen mental health to see if there’s a partnership opportunity there.

What soothes the teenage anxiety beast? A valid question to tackle as I considered what to include in the kits. I knew I wanted to make them available monthly, and that I wanted to put together at least 20-30 each month. There are ways to make them affordable, but if you’re talking at least six months of kits...that’s quickly going to add up. I consulted the oracle (Pinterest) by doing searches for things like “mental health care kit,” and I went straight to the source: I talked to my TAB, the teens on our Discord server, and my teen nieces and nephews. I also did the very tough task of soul searching: “What little things make me feel better when I’m stressed out and anxious?” Arduous work, but anything for the youth.

Turns out, the little things that give us a boost of endorphins are pretty universal:

· Chocolate

· Bubble wrap

· Tea and cocoa

· Fun stickers

· Fuzzy socks

· Chapstick

· More chocolate 

Little stuff like this, partnered with suggestions from therapists and others who keep calming items on hand for panic attacks, gave me a nice, long list to work off of. Small, simple things, paired with something that requires action, such as:

· A yoga deck

· Breathing exercises

· Mantras and affirmations

· Mood trackers

· DIY stress ball craft

· Etc., etc. (I’m happy to email my brainstorming list of items to anyone who wants them!)

Cost: The cost of each kit can vary depending on what you want to include. I usually had about 5-6 items in each kit, always including a Monthly Mantra and list of virtual resources for mental health assistance and suicide prevention. Some things I made in house, like the yoga deck, or I made use of stuff we already had around (Ex. We had a bunch of leftover mini-playdoh from summer prizes, so one month I included that and bought some playdoh stamps and tools from Amazon to add.). However, if I wanted to throw in mini-lotions, notebooks, socks, etc., those were usually purchased on Amazon or through Dollar Tree. I had quite a bit of wiggle room in my programming budget due to COVID and the lack of in-person summer programming, and I also used some local grant money as well. Depending on your funding and how many you make/how often you put them out, the cost might come more in the form of staff time versus dollars spent.

Le fin. I offered a monthly SSOSCK for pickup at the library once a month from October, 2020 through May, 2021 for a total of seven kits, 20-30 each month. I did not offer the kits in December or over the summer, as I was offering craft kits for teens at those times instead. The kits were always gone within the course of a week, often with some teens coming in within the hour after I announced each month’s kit on Discord. I always took a picture of the kit and its contents to post on social media, as shown:

 

While I decided against doing monthly SSOSCK this fall, I still intend on offering them seasonally, like over the winter to help with teens who deal with seasonal affective disorder and/or in the spring during testing and finals.

Do I deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for my efforts? Sure, if they’re just handing them out! But in all seriousness, it’s hard to feel helpless in the face of such a monumental catastrophe. It really, really sucks. We may not be therapists or counselors, but if one teen starts to feel the onset of a panic attack and can keep it at bay by remembering a breathing exercise, or if just for one bright, shining moment they feel a little bit better and a little less hopeless because they’re holding a warm mug of cocoa that we provided...worth it.

We're always looking to connect with other young adult services librarians in WI! If you, or someone you know, wants to join our monthly meetings, please contact Taylor Wilcox at twilcox@waupacalibrary.org.