The emergence of the pandemic has disrupted the functioning of societies and individuals, putting health and lives at risk. The pandemic also had an impact on adolescents for whom social isolation, the change in the form of education from face-to-face to remote, and the difficulties arising from developmental changes became stress factors. Functioning in such a difficult situation required the implementation of adaptive measures by secondary school students. The aim of this study was to identify the coping strategies used by secondary school students, and the relationship between reactions to pandemic-related stressful life events with such factors as personality traits, level of stress and types of threats related to COVID-19. The study showed that adolescents coped with the pandemic situation with the most frequently used strategies being planful problem solving, escape-avoidance and seeking social support. Empirically identified strategies used by young people constituted a system of logically and functionally interrelated factors. The findings of the study described provided a basis for presenting practical guidelines for educational practice.