Top 10 Ways Not to Help Hurting Students By Gerrard Fess So you are ministering to hurting students, who come in all shapes and sizes bring with them a lot of baggage, stress, and dysfunction. Youth workers, you want to minister effectively to students that are hurting, right? Hereare some suggestions on what NOT to do when a student confides in you. 1. Don’t keep your reactions to yourself; act shocked. The more surprised you look, the more your student willquestion even if he should have confided in you in the first place. Good. You have more important things to do than talk to kids about their problems 2. Don’t use empathy, sympathy, or compassion. In fact, interject your story as soon as possible and say you know exactly how they feel. 3. Don’t listen. Your body language, tone, and eye contact shows your student whether or not you are listening. Glance around, changing the subject, twiddle your thumbs, or even start playing a game on your computer. Anything to commun