: Suzy
Trend task
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Approach:  One to one Level: Year 4 and year 8 
Focus: Relationships
Resources: Picture

Questions/instructions:

Show picture.

Here is a picture of Suzy. Suzy isn’t feeling too good. She often gets angry with others – she gets into lots of bad moods, and she’s got a really bad temper sometimes. Suzy wishes she didn’t get so angry and that she could control her temper.

suzy


% responses
2006 ('02)
y4
y8
1. What are some things Suzy could do when she feels that she is going to lose her temper or get into a bad mood with people?
 
avoidance/escape (walking away)
53 (63)
71 (61)
 
self control approaches
72 (53)
79 (65)
 
explaining what/how she’s thinking/ feeling to people she is angry with
12 (10)
14 (11)
 
asking others (3rd party) for help
17 (23)
23 (21)
Overall quality and mix of ideas:
excellent/very good
2 (1)
7 (0)
good
20 (18)
32 (20)
moderate
43 (43)
45 (50)
very limited
35 (38)
16 (30)
Suzy has just thrown a big wobbly with her friend. She needs to do something about it.

2. What do you think Suzy should do?
 
getting outside help to improve relationship
9 (6)
7 (7)
 
unspecific mention of talking to friend
4 (3)
5 (2)
Dealing with the past:
(what has happened)
ignoring it
6 (5)
3 (7)
trying to understand why it happened (self analysis)
6 (5)
8 (5)
apologising
77 (72)
87 (76)
explaining to friend why she got angry
17 (14)
28 (34)
Addressing the future:
being extra nice to friend
19 (9)
17 (10)
learning how to control anger
7 (0)
8 (9)
sorting out with friend how to deal with disagreements
5 (2)
10 (6)
Overall quality and mix of ideas:
excellent/very good
1 (0)
1 (1)
good
12 (3)
19 (13)
moderate
40 (31)
48 (42)
very limited
47 (66)
32 (44)
Total score:
4–6
8 (3)
17 (7)
3
13 (7)
20 (16)
2
28 (26)
31 (29)
1
27 (31)
23 (26)
0
24 (33)
9 (22)
Subgroup Analysis:
Year 4

Year 8

Commentary:
Many students had helpful ideas about how to deal with Suzy’s unhappiness but, overall, almost half of the year 4 students and one third of the year 8 students were judged to have very limited strategies. There was a small improvement at both year levels between 2002 and 2006.
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