At Home: Flying Bear

At high speeds, birds hitting cars can be bad news for both the bird and the car’s windshield. Fortunately for motorists, the chance of being hit by a larger flying creature is extremely slim.

However, in a stranger-than-fiction occurrence, it has happened. As The Toronto Star reports, a recent bizarre and tragic accident involved a flying bear whose collision with an SUV killed two people.

The bear had begun crossing a rural Quebec highway when it was ?hit by an eastbound car,? which ?flipped the bear into the air.? The bear flew across the highway, ?rocketing through [an] SUV? approaching from the opposite direction.
Local police say that the bear went through the windshield, hitting and killing the driver and the passenger behind her before exiting through the back windshield. A third passenger sustained minor injuries.

Around the World: Listen to Me

Students and stress: It’s a match made in hell, maybe, but for many It’s a painful reality. Fortunately for most, there’s an end in sight; once that exam is over or assignment handed in, the stressed student can breathe a sigh of relief. For others, however, the stress of life can sometimes become a bit too challenging to handle well. Things begin to crumble.

In order to help those who have become overwhelmed, programs are being developed to train their fellow students to recognize problems before they get too big. For example, as The New York Times reports, the Student Support Network helps students ?learn . . . to listen for whispers of despair and to reach out to such students before things get worse.?

Student participants are trained to recognize ?depression, anxiety, eating disorders, suicide and substance abuse,? and during sessions they spend a lot of time practicing role play. Although they’re not counsellors, they learn to recognize when counselling is needed?and ?how to gently persuade another student in distress to go for professional help.?

Although for years initiatives have focussed on training ?professors, coaches and other staff members? to ?intervene? when potential problems arise, today’s students are more likely to confide in one another than in an authority figure. As Alison K. Malmon, who founded non-profit mental health advocacy group Active Minds, told reporters, ?Students aren’t necessarily calling hot lines or going to drop in centers . . . They are talking to their peers.?

The Student Support Network is just one of the programs that recognize the importance of student-to-student intervention.