Teaching kids to think positively through so-called resilience training could help ward off depression, researchers and educators are finding.

Fifth, sixth and seventh graders at one New York City school are learning to frame challenging situations in a positive light by controlling their own “self-talk.” The goal is to step back and assess a difficult situation rather than immediately take something negative from it.

In one lesson, students talk about how to react if they’re being yelled at by a coach. Rather than think negatively about the situation, the teacher encourages the students to consider the situation in perspective and focus on the fact that the outcome can be better next time.

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Such training appears to have positive results. One study looking at a group of students two years after completing resilience training found that they were about 50 percent less likely to have depression.

And, in the New York example, students seem to be taking the lessons to heart. Bryce Marcus, one of the students in the program, said he used the techniques he’s learned when he came home recently to find his video game broken. Instead of yelling, Bryce took a moment to calm down in the bathroom, reports NPR. To read more click here.

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