Fight or Flight Journal

We humans don’t come with an instruction manual. If we did, I suspect we’d do a better job of getting through life with less pain and more joy.
Human behavior has evolved over time. What worked for us humans a few thousand years ago may not be as helpful today. So while our behavior adapts to the changing times and environment, it’s thought that it never completely forgets its evolutionary roots.
One of the driving forces of some human behavior is something called the “fight or flight response” (also known as the acute stress response). This is the psychology term that describes one of the ways we can react when under stress.
Understanding the purpose of the fight or flight response can lead to greater insights into our own behavior when we’re stressed out.
The fight or flight response is characterized by feeling bodily sensations of stress — for instance, an increased heart rate and faster breathing. You can feel a pressure in your chest as though something is pressing down on you. You may also have heightened sensory sensitivity — you’re more sensitive to sights or sounds around you.
All of this occurs to ready the body for one of two reactions to a perceived threat in our environment — to fight or to run (flight).

As our bodies and minds have adapted and evolved to the changing times, the threats have become less obvious — and sometimes they aren't even real. Today, our body can react to even perceived or imagined threats.
Virtually any phobia can trigger the fight or flight response. People afraid of heights, for instance, will not only feel an overwhelming fear of them — they will feel their body react to being in a high place through increased heart and respiration rates. Standing up in front of a crowd to give a presentation can do the same for some people — triggering the fight or flight response even though there is no real threat.

Recognizing your body’s response to an immediate stress or threat can help you react accordingly.

How Do you react during times of stress?

Fight or Flight Confusion

The students seem to be confused about the Fight or Flight activity. I hope that this helps to clarify the assignment:

The article and chart provide the students with background information on how the body responds to trauma or stress. As the chart shows, people often have very different reactions to the same stress. After the students read chapters 7-8, they will discover numerous moments of stress, tension, and conflict. Jack seems to be winning the battle of leadership, Ralph is coerced into hunting for the pig, Jack and Ralph discover the "beast", Piggy holds constant vigil at the camp despite all of the tension, the group splits into two tribes, and Simon discovers the Lord of the Flies in his secret clearing.  All of the above situations show us something about how each boy handles stress, either with fight or flight. Using textual evidence from chapters 7-8, decided how each of the characters on the chart responds to danger. Please use specific examples from the text to justify your thinking.

In the end, the activity should not only help the students to dive into the text, but I hope it provides them with a catalyst to examine their own reactions in times of danger. I will give them a follow-up Journal on Monday that asks them to evaluate their own Fight or Flight mentality.

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