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What are Coping Skills? Part Three: Social Problem Solving

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In schools, coping skills interventions aim at helping students handle stress and deal efficiently with academic, interpersonal, and physical demands (Forman, 1993). Among the coping skills that teachers and/or school staff can teach children are relaxation strategies , assertiveness training , goal setting, social problem solving , self-management of behavior and cognitive restructuring . In this issue, we focus on the coping skill of social problem solving, an approach that gives training to children in how to apply the steps of problem solving to deal with daily experiences and social problems. Using problem solving, in particular the technique of dialoging , the teacher or staff member assists children in solving conflicts and social problems by helping students structure their thinking and articulate possible solutions in a systematic or step-by-step fashion. According to Forman, social problem solving enhances children’s ability to see a human problem, their appreciation of d