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This article on bullying from BBC talks about a mom who has a 12 year old son who is bullied at school for the color of his skin. The bullies would receive punishments time after time again that were far too lenient. The school claimed that all forms of bullying were not tolerated, however the bullying continued. The students would call this boy racial slurs and the school didn't do much about it. In a pre-k-4th grade classroom, teachers could teach students that no bullying is ever tolerated. They could teach them to always speak up when they witness bullying and to tell an adult. The students can practice scenarios in the classroom and practice what they would do if they witnessed bullying.

School Racism: Mom angry over soft punishments for abuse

(2024, March 13). BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hampshire-68545275

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School racism: Mum angry over 'soft punishments' for abuse

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A mother from the south of England says her son was subjected to racist name-calling and bullying.

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This article on online safety from Biometric discusses the risks children and teenagers take when they use social media and online apps. Several websites and apps lead to the risk of children interacting with hackers over chats. They could easily be influenced to being hacked or being exploited to inappropriate material. In a pre-k to 4th grade classroom, teachers can teach their students the importance of being safe online and why it is important. Teachers can show their students information about this topic by sharing stories about children who have been negatively affected by this manner to show how serious it is.

Protecting minors and businesses-age verification for online safety (2024, April 21). Biometric. Retrieved from https://www.biometricupdate.com/202404/protecting-minors-and-businesses-age-verification-for-online-safety

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Biometric Update | Biometrics News, Companies and Explainers

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How often do children check their credit scores? This is the thought process behind hackers exploiting kids' information, as minors easily bypass current age verification procedures on digital platforms and distribute their critical data online. Such exploitation underscores a growing concern in our digital age, emphasizing the urgent need for effective age verification to protect minors from these risks.

The digital landscape is rapidly expanding, with the global e-commerce market expected to grow to $8 trillion dollars by 2027. The broadening of online environments provides ample opportunity for users to engage with a variety of websites. However, it also provides minors with easier access to engage with age-restricted websites. With 96 percent of U.S. teens using the internet each day, they're at an increased risk of being exposed to inappropriate material.

Online fraudsters are provided with opportune moments to trick unsuspecting minors into providing sensitive personal information, such as Social Security numbers, addresses and other data, in order to commit fraud against them. As more children access age-restricted material, simply clicking " I am 18 years old or older " isn't going to keep kids' identities safe. So, what will?

Let's dive into causes behind the rising identity theft of minors and explore the solutions to combat this problem, including enhanced child protection laws and robust age verification measures organizations can adopt to instill a safer digital environment for all.

Increased access

​Currently, young people encounter content they would consider unsafe, is age-restricted or illegal within 10 minutes of going online. The majority of this material is cited as coming from social media platforms and engaging with users in chats and channels. These interactions not only expose minors to inappropriate material but also to potential online scams. The exposure to such content has been reported to negatively affect the mental health of 69 percent of these minors, highlighting the urgency of addressing this issue.

The ease with which minors access restricted content underscores the critical need for more sophisticated age verification technologies to protect their health as well as their data.

Online age verification complexities

Many factors contribute to the absence of effective verification measures, including the technological savviness of today's generation of kids and their ability to craftily work around age restrictions.

Even more challenging is verifying the age of younger kids, as many children typically do not have established bank accounts, credit or government-issued IDs to confirm their identity. Additionally, while there are no outright bans on collecting biometric data from children, the framework of privacy laws and regulations creates a highly complex environment for businesses. These laws require companies to navigate through numerous strict conditions and compliance measures if they choose to use biometric methods for age verification.

Another challenge recently cited by Gartner includes online platforms requiring parental consent, as many vendors that provide identity and access management solutions do not have fully formed functions to obtain parental consent. Faced with these verification complexities, it's clear that both legislative and technological advancements are essential in protecting our minors.

With these challenges in mind, how can organizations work toward providing a safer digital environment for children?

Cracking down on online verification

New child protection laws are being created in response to the rise of online scams against minors and the increasing number of kids accessing age-restricted websites. However, these new laws requiring parental consent for minors to access online content pose a challenge for the identity verification market. As mentioned earlier, obtaining parental consent is not a common feature currently offered by most identity verification products.

Gartner's report cites that 90 percent of vendors are expected to comply with new online data privacy and security regulations by 2027. However, what are the steps organizations can take now to ensure they partner with a vendor that not only provides modern, robust age verification services, but adapts with the evolving regulations imposed on digital environments? As we navigate these challenges, understanding the nuances of age verification across different platforms becomes crucial for businesses aiming to enhance online safety.

Navigating the age verification maze

Many online platforms' age restrictions vary depending on government regulations and private corporations' policies. One example would be online delivery services, such as DoorDash's age restriction policies. Ordering food from DoorDash requires the user to be at least 18 years old, but ordering alcohol requires verification that confirms a user is at least 21 years old before their order is placed.

For websites with age restrictions that typically require users to be old enough to have a government-issued ID, organizations can seek solutions that require robust user onboarding procedures, including the requirement of ID verification and selfie verification during account creation. This will ensure that the person behind the ID is the actual person creating the online account and that they meet minimum age requirements.

This not only helps identify an underage user but can also be used to verify the age and identity of a parent or guardian providing consent on behalf of a minor.

Organizations should also consider ongoing authentication, which is especially helpful when users monetize content or transfer money. In such cases, the system can trigger an additional ID verification and selfie match to ensure the user attempting the transaction is the same person who created the account, not a fraudster.

Creating a safer digital environment

The digital world is booming - and simultaneously creating complex challenges for organizations to ensure minors' identities are properly protected. While new child protection laws are a positive step, implementing them requires robust age verification solutions that can adapt to evolving regulations and address the unique challenges of verifying younger users.

By partnering with identity verification providers who stay ahead of the curve, organizations can ensure they comply with regulations and, more importantly, protect children from the dangers lurking online. With modern identity verification practices in place, organizations can help build a digital landscape where everyone, regardless of age, can navigate safely and securely.

Article Topics

age verification | biometrics | children | digital identity | Jumio | regulation | selfie biometrics

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Protecting minors and businesses - age verification for online safety | Biometric Update

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As more children access age-restricted material, simply clicking "I am 18 years old or older" isn't going to keep kids' identities safe. So, what will?

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This article discusses child sex abuse from CDC and the affects of it. Child sexual abuse is a significant health problem. Many children wait to or do not report sexual abuse. Consequences of child sexual abuse include depression and post traumatic stress disorder. In a pre-k to 4th grade classroom, teachers can teach what sexual abuse looks like and how important it is to speak up and report it. They could incorporate it into their health curriculum by dedicating lessons to child sexual abuse. Teachers can teach the students that if they know a classmate or a friend who is experiencing sexual abuse, they need to report it to an adult. Teachers need to be educated about this topic so they can help their students and know the signs if they are experiencing this abuse.

Preventing Child Abuse (2022, April 6). CDC. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childsexualabuse/fastfact.html

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Child sexual abuse is a significant public health problem and an adverse childhood experience (ACE). Child sexual abuse refers to the involvement of a child (person less than 18 years old) in sexual activity that violates the laws or social taboos of society and that he/she:

does not fully comprehend

does not consent to or is unable to give informed consent to, or

is not developmentally prepared for and cannot give consent to

Many children wait to report or never report child sexual abuse. Therefore, the numbers below likely underestimate the true impact of the problem. Although estimates vary across studies, the research shows:

About 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys in the United States experience child sexual abuse.

Someone known and trusted by the child or child's family members, perpetrates 91% of child sexual abuse.

The total lifetime economic burden of child sexual abuse in the United States in 2015 was estimated to be at least $9.3 billion.

Experiencing child sexual abuse can affect how a person thinks, acts, and feels over a lifetime. This can result in short- and long-term physical, mental, and behavioral health consequences.
Examples of physical health consequences include:

sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

physical injuries

chronic conditions later in life, such as heart disease, obesity, and cancer

Examples of mental health consequences include:

depression

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms

Examples of behavioral consequences include:

substance use/misuse, including opioid misuse

risky sexual behaviors, meaning sex with multiple partners or behaviors that could result in pregnancy or STIs

increased risk for perpetration of sexual violence

increased risk for suicide or suicide attempts

Experiencing child sexual abuse can also increase a person's risk for future victimization. For example, recent studies have found:

Females exposed to child sexual abuse are at 2-13 times increased risk of sexual violence victimization in adulthood

People who experienced child sexual abuse are at twice the risk for non-sexual intimate partner violence

Adults are responsible for ensuring that children have safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments. Resources for child sexual abuse have mostly focused on treatment for victims and criminal justice-oriented approaches for perpetrators. These efforts are important after child sexual abuse has occurred. However, little investment has been made in primary prevention or preventing child sexual abuse. Effective evidence-based strategies are available to proactively protecting children from child sexual abuse, but few have been widely disseminated. More resources are needed to develop, evaluate, and implement evidence-based child sexual abuse primary prevention strategies. These strategies can help ensure that all children have safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments.

Child sexual abuse is preventable. CDC surveillance systems, violence prevention initiatives, and efforts to support partners in the field have increased our understanding of child sexual abuse. However, there are still critical gaps.

Additional efforts in child sexual abuse prevention are needed to:

Improve surveillance systems and data collection for monitoring child sexual abuse

Increase our understanding of risk and protective factors for child sexual abuse perpetration and victimization

Strengthen existing and develop new evidence-based policies, programs, and practices for the primary prevention of child sexual abuse

Increase dissemination and implementation of evidence-based strategies for child sexual abuse prevention

CDC has developed resources to help states and communities use the best available evidence to prevent child abuse and neglect, sexual violence, and ACEs. Learn more about how you can get started implementing the Resources for Action, formerly known as, "technical packages," in your violence prevention work.

Additionally, in September 2020, CDC awarded a total of $766,367 to two awardees. This funding opportunity is to support the rigorous evaluation of an approach (program, policy, or practice) for the primary prevention of adult-perpetrated CSA. Read more about our CSA-funded research.

1. World Health Organization. (2003). Guidelines for medico-legal care for victims of sexual violence. Geneva, Switzerland: Author.

2. Finkelhor D, Shattuck A, Turner HA, Hamby SL. The lifetime prevalence of child sexual abuse and sexual assault assessed in late adolescence. J Adolesc Health. 2014 Sep;55(3):329-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.12.026. Epub 2014 Feb 25. PMID: 24582321

3. Finkelhor, D., & Shattuck, A. (2012). Characteristics of crimes against juveniles. Durham, NH: Crimes Against Children Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV26_Revised%20Characteristics%20 of%20Crimes%20against%20Juveniles_5-2-12.pdf

4. Letourneau, E. J., Brown, D. S., Fang, X., Hassan, A., & Mercy, J. A. (2018). The economic burden of child sexual abuse in the United States. Child Abuse & Neglect, 79, 413-422.

5. Merrick MT, Ford DC, Ports KA, Guinn AS, Chen J, Klevens J, Ottley P. Vital Signs: Estimated Proportion of Adult Health Problems Attributable to Adverse Childhood Experiences and Implications for Prevention-25 States, 2015-2017. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2019; 68(44), 999.

6. Norman RE, Byambaa M, De R, Butchart A, Scott J, et al. (2012) The Long-Term Health Consequences of Child Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, and Neglect: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLOS Medicine 9(11): e1001349. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001349

7. Leeb, R. T., Lewis, T., & Zolotor, A. J. (2011). A review of physical and mental health consequences of child abuse and neglect and implications for practice. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 5, 454-68.

8. Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., ... & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14, 245-258.

9. Putnam, F. W. (2003). Ten-year research update review: Child sexual abuse. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 269-278.

10. Tang S, Ports KA, Zhang K, Lin HC. Adverse childhood experiences, internalizing/externalizing symptoms, and associate prescription opioid misuse: A mediation analysis. Prev Med. 2020 May; 134. doi:10.106/j.ypmed.2020.106034.

11. Mosack, K. E., Randolph, M. E., Dickson-Gomez, J., Abbott, M., Smith, E., & Weeks, M. R. (2010). Sexual risk-taking among high-risk urban women with and without histories of childhood sexual abuse: mediating effects of contextual factors. Journal of child sexual abuse, 19(1), 43-61. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538710903485591

12. Widom, C.S. & Massey, C. (2015). A prospective examination of whether childhood sexual abuse predicts subsequent sexual offending. JAMA Pediatr. 169(1):e143357

13. Ogloff, J., Cutajar, M., Mann, E., & Mullen, P. (2012). Child sexual abuse and subsequent offending and victimisation: A 45 year follow-up study. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 440. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.

14. Bebbington, P. E., Cooper, C., Minot, S., Brugha, T. S., Jenkins, R., Meltzer, H., & Dennis, M. (2009). Suicide attempts, gender, and sexual abuse: Data from the 2000 British Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166, 1135-1140.

15. Arata, C. (2002). Child sexual abuse and sexual revictimization. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, 9, 135-164.

16. Cloitre, M., & Rosenberg, A. (2006). Sexual revictimization: Risk factors and prevention. In V. M. Follette & J. I. Ruzek (Eds.), Cognitive-behavioral therapies for trauma (pp. 321-361). New York, NY: Guilford.

17. Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Lynskey, M. T. (1997). Childhood sexual abuse, adolescent sexual behaviors and sexual revictimization. Child Abuse & Neglect, 21, 789-803.

18. Whitfield, C. L., Anda, R. F., Dube, S. R., & Felitti, V. J. (2003). Violent childhood experiences and the risk of intimate partner violence in adults: Assessment in a large health maintenance organization. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18, 166-185.

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Fast Facts: Preventing Child Sexual Abuse

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Child sexual abuse is a significant but preventable adverse childhood experience and public health problem. Learn how we are working to prevent it.

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This article discusses depression and anxiety in children from CDC. Children normally feel anxiety, such as when their parents goes away. However, some children do not outgrow their fears like others do, and it gives them anxiety. All children feel sadness and hopelessness at times, but some children feel this way all the time. They lose interest in things they used to love and enjoy. In a pre-k to 4th grade classroom, teachers can teach their students the importance of mental health. They can teach them the signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety so they can ask for help when they think they may need it. Teachers should be educated on this topic so they know how they can help their students who may be suffering with depression and anxiety.

Anxiety and Depression in Children (2023, July 25). CDC. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/depression.html

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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Many children have fears and worries, and may feel sad and hopeless from time to time. Strong fears may appear at different times during development. For example, toddlers are often very distressed about being away from their parents, even if they are safe and cared for. Although fears and worries are typical in children, persistent or extreme forms of fear and sadness could be due to anxiety or depression. Because the symptoms primarily involve thoughts and feelings, they are sometimes called internalizing disorders.

Anxiety

When a child does not outgrow the fears and worries that are typical in young children, or when there are so many fears and worries that they interfere with school, home, or play activities, the child may be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Examples of different types of anxiety disorders include

Being very afraid when away from parents (separation anxiety)

Having extreme fear about a specific thing or situation, such as dogs, insects, or going to the doctor (phobias)

Being very afraid of school and other places where there are people (social anxiety)

Being very worried about the future and about bad things happening (general anxiety)

Having repeated episodes of sudden, unexpected, intense fear that come with symptoms like heart pounding, having trouble breathing, or feeling dizzy, shaky, or sweaty (panic disorder)

Anxiety may present as fear or worry, but can also make children irritable and angry. Anxiety symptoms can also include trouble sleeping, as well as physical symptoms like fatigue, headaches, or stomachaches. Some anxious children keep their worries to themselves and, thus, the symptoms can be missed.

Related conditions include Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Learn more about anxiety in children
Depression

Occasionally being sad or feeling hopeless is a part of every child's life. However, some children feel sad or uninterested in things that they used to enjoy, or feel helpless or hopeless in situations they are able to change. When children feel persistent sadness and hopelessness, they may be diagnosed with depression.

Examples of behaviors often seen in children with depression include

Feeling sad, hopeless, or irritable a lot of the time

Not wanting to do or enjoy doing fun things

Showing changes in eating patterns - eating a lot more or a lot less than usual

Showing changes in sleep patterns - sleeping a lot more or a lot less than normal

Showing changes in energy - being tired and sluggish or tense and restless a lot of the time

Having a hard time paying attention

Feeling worthless, useless, or guilty

Showing self-injury and self-destructive behavior

Extreme depression can lead a child to think about suicide or plan for suicide. For youth ages 10-24 years, suicide is among the leading causes of death. Read about youth suicide prevention.

Some children may not talk about their helpless and hopeless thoughts, and may not appear sad. Depression might also cause a child to make trouble or act unmotivated, causing others not to notice that the child is depressed or to incorrectly label the child as a trouble-maker or lazy.
Learn more about depression in children
Treatment for anxiety and depression

The first step to treatment is to talk with a healthcare provider such as your child's primary care provider, or a mental health specialist, about getting an evaluation. The United States Preventive Services Taskforce recommends screening for anxiety in children aged 8 to 18 years and for depression in adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. Some of the signs and symptoms of anxiety or depression in children could be caused by other conditions, such as trauma. Specific symptoms like having a hard time focusing could be a sign of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is important to get a careful evaluation to get the best diagnosis and treatment. Consultation with a health provider can help determine if medication should be part of the treatment. A mental health professional can develop a therapy plan that works best for the child and family. Behavior therapy includes child therapy, family therapy, or a combination of both. The school can also be included in the treatment plan. For very young children, involving parents in treatment is key. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is one form of therapy that is used to treat anxiety or depression, particularly in older children. It helps the child change negative thoughts into more positive, effective ways of thinking, leading to more effective behavior. Behavior therapy for anxiety may involve helping children cope with and manage anxiety symptoms while gradually exposing them to their fears so as to help them learn that bad things do not occur.

Treatments can also include a variety of ways to help the child feel less stressed and be healthier like nutritious food, physical activity, sufficient sleep, predictable routines, and social support.

Get help finding treatment

Here are tools to find a healthcare provider familiar with treatment options:

Managing Symptoms: Staying Healthy

Being healthy is important for all children and can be especially important for children with depression or anxiety. In addition to getting the right treatment, leading a healthy lifestyle can play a role in managing symptoms of depression or anxiety. Here are some healthy behaviors that may help:

Prevention of anxiety and depression

It is not known exactly why some children develop anxiety or depression. Many factors may play a role, including biology and temperament. But it is also known that some children are more likely to develop anxiety or depression when they experience trauma or stress, when they are maltreated, when they are bullied or rejected by other children, or when their own parents have anxiety or depression.

Although these factors appear to increase the risk for anxiety or depression, there are ways to decrease the chance that children experience them. Learn about public health approaches to prevent these risks:

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Anxiety and Depression in Children | CDC

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Although fears and worries are typical in children, persistent or extreme forms of fear and sadness could be due to anxiety or depression. Learn about anxiety and depression in children.

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Social and Emotional Learning (Mental Health)

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Social and Emotional Learning (Mental Health)

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This article on social and emotional learning from wmur discusses that some lawmakers in New Hampshire want to ban social and emotional programs. Students and teachers protested against the bill fighting to not ban social and emotional learning that helps with mental health and educational outcomes. A first grader testified against the bill. She stated that she loves social and emotional learning and it helps her make decisions when she is mad or sad. In a pre-k to fourth grade classroom, teachers can show students the importance of social and emotional learning and that it teaches them so much about handling their emotions in and outside of the classroom. Teachers can show that it is important to stand up for what you believe in. It's important for teachers to be educated on this topic because this could happen at their school, and they need to be prepared to fight for what they believe in. They also need to continue to teach social and emotional learning no matter what is going on in other states.

Students, educators testify against bill to ban social and emotional learning programs. (2024, February 5). wmur. Retrieved from https://www.wmur.com/article/bill-ban-social-emotional-learning-new-hampshire/46652803

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A major education initiative was under fire Monday at the State House, where some lawmakers want to ban social and emotional learning programs in New Hampshire schools.Students and teachers turned out against the bill that would ban the programs, asking state representatives not to take away classes they say improve mental health and educational outcomes.Cordelia Dubois, a first grader at Abbott-Downing Elementary School in Concord, testified at the State House against the bill. New Hampshire schools adopted the "Choose Love" curriculum several years ago to improve behavioral health in the classroom."I like it, and so do other kids," Cordelia said. "It taught me what I could do when I get mad at school or at home.">> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <<Representatives who want to get rid of social and emotional learning said they believe it reaches too far into children's lives, potentially intruding on parental rights."It's the child's psyche - they're changing the mind," state Rep. John Sellers, R-Bristol, said. "We just heard someone-- indoctrination. A teacher teaches. It's a teaching. It's a tool. It's indoctrination, alright?"A long line of teachers and academics turned out to testify against the bill. They said social and emotional learning has proven results."We introduced social-emotional learning in 2022, and since we did that, we've had students who've decreased their behavioral referrals from 18 a month to one, from 13 a month to one," Garrett Lavallee, principal of Spaulding Academy & Family Services, said.Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement that he opposes the bill."This bill seeks to bury our heads in the sand and wish away the mental health challenges that many kids face," he said. "Social emotional learning provides students skills to navigate stressful situations in a healthy way, which helps to prevent tragedies, keeping all our kids safe."See Cordelia Dubois' complete testimony:

A major education initiative was under fire Monday at the State House, where some lawmakers want to ban social and emotional learning programs in New Hampshire schools.

Students and teachers turned out against the bill that would ban the programs, asking state representatives not to take away classes they say improve mental health and educational outcomes.

Cordelia Dubois, a first grader at Abbott-Downing Elementary School in Concord, testified at the State House against the bill. New Hampshire schools adopted the "Choose Love" curriculum several years ago to improve behavioral health in the classroom.

"I like it, and so do other kids," Cordelia said. "It taught me what I could do when I get mad at school or at home."

>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <<

Representatives who want to get rid of social and emotional learning said they believe it reaches too far into children's lives, potentially intruding on parental rights.

"It's the child's psyche - they're changing the mind," state Rep. John Sellers, R-Bristol, said. "We just heard someone-- indoctrination. A teacher teaches. It's a teaching. It's a tool. It's indoctrination, alright?"

A long line of teachers and academics turned out to testify against the bill. They said social and emotional learning has proven results.

"We introduced social-emotional learning in 2022, and since we did that, we've had students who've decreased their behavioral referrals from 18 a month to one, from 13 a month to one," Garrett Lavallee, principal of Spaulding Academy & Family Services, said.

Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement that he opposes the bill.

"This bill seeks to bury our heads in the sand and wish away the mental health challenges that many kids face," he said. "Social emotional learning provides students skills to navigate stressful situations in a healthy way, which helps to prevent tragedies, keeping all our kids safe."
See Cordelia Dubois' complete testimony:

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Students, educators testify against bill to ban social and emotional learning programs in New Hampshire

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A major education initiative was under fire Monday at the State House, where some lawmakers want to ban social and emotional learning programs in New Hampshire schools.

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Mental Health and Academics (Mental Health)

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Mental Health and Academics (Mental Health)

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This article on mental health and academics from The Conversation discusses the importance of the mental health of our students. Teachers should support mental health and academic achievement because they go hand in hand. Studies have shown that a student's academic achievement can predict good mental health, and vice versa. In a pre-k to 4th grade classroom, teachers need to teach their students the importance of mental health. They can do exercises with their students to check in with them. Teachers ca do restorative practices such as meditating to keep their students relaxed because school can be very stressful for children. Teachers need to be educated on this topic so they can prevent their students from falling into depression and anxiety due to academic stress.

Concerned about student mental health? How wellness is related to academic achievement (2024, January 8). The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/concerned-about-student-mental-health-how-wellness-is-related-to-academic-achievement-220360

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Concerned about student mental health? How wellness is related to academic achievement

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A key way to support mental health and well-being is to support strong reading instruction especially early in children’s education.

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This articles on social media from Yale Medicine discusses the growing evidence that social media is causing harm to children and teens. The factors that go into this are how much time they are spending on social media, the media they are consuming, and the degree to which social media is affecting their health. Social media has led children and teens to grow more depression and anxiety symptoms. In a pre-k to fourth grade classroom, teachers can teach their students that social media can be highly addictive and that it can be a very dangerous place. Teachers could talk to them about how it can take kids away from being outside and spending quality time with their families. Teachers should be educated about this topic because social media is growing more and more, and most children have some type of access to technology and social media. They must be aware of the type of social media that is out there so they can hopefully prevent their students from misusing it.

How social media affects your teens' mental health: A parent's guide (2024, January 8). Yale Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/social-media-teen-mental-health-a-parents-guide

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Mental health issues among teens have been rising for more than a decade, and some experts wonder how much social media use is to blame. If you're a parent questioning if-and how-you should monitor the way your teenager uses social media, you're not alone.

In the spring of 2023, United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, released an advisory called Social Media and Youth Mental Health, in which he says there is growing evidence that social media is causing harm to young people's mental health. Soon after, the American Psychological Association (APA) issued its own health advisory. A year later, in June 2024, Dr. Murthy called for a surgeon general's warning label on social media platforms, which would require an act of Congress to implement.

The issue is complicated, however. While there are indicators that it can have a profound risk of harm to teens (more on that below), social media use aimed at making healthy connections with others may actually be beneficial to some people. Dr. Murthy's report indicates that more research is needed to fully understand the impact of social media. For parents, this means there are no easy answers.

"The issues we face now with social media are similar to those we faced when television came out," says Linda Mayes, MD, chair of the Yale Child Study Center (YCSC). She explains that, as with TV watching, there are pros and cons to social media for young people. "So, how do we help parents filter out the parts that may be detrimental?"

Below, Dr. Mayes and YCSC's Yann Poncin, MD, a child psychiatrist, offer advice for parents trying to help their teenagers use social media in a positive way.

But first, some background.

Social media use and teens: Background, benefits, and harms

As a parent, you might ask yourself, "What, specifically, about social media use can have a negative impact on my teen?"

Dr. Murthy's advisory was based on what it describes as a "substantial review of the available evidence." It raises a variety of concerns, including the amount of time adolescents spend on platforms, the type of content they consume (or are exposed to), and the degree to which their online interactions disrupt activities essential for health, such as sleep and exercise. It points out that social media can also affect young users in different ways, depending on their strengths and vulnerabilities as individuals, as well as their cultural, historical, and socio-economic backgrounds.

The report stresses that the brain is going through a highly sensitive period between the ages of 10 and 19, when identities and feelings of self-worth are forming. Frequent social media use may be associated with distinct changes in the developing brain, potentially affecting such functions as emotional learning and behavior, impulse control, and emotional regulation.

What are the potential benefits of social media use by teens?

Some teenagers experience a benefit when they use social media to foster positive connections with others who share common interests or identities (if they are seeking a connection with others who are, say, members of a particular racial identity), creating a space for self-expression. Relationships formed in communities like these can create opportunities for positive interactions with more diverse peer groups than are available to them offline, according to Dr. Murthy's report.

The advisory points to a 2022 survey of American teenagers and their parents by the Pew Research Center, which showed that a majority of respondents felt that social media helps teenagers feel more accepted (58%), like they have people who can support them through tough times (67%), that they have a place to show their creative side (71%), and that they are more connected to what's going on in their friends' lives (80%).

"Posting to let your friends know how you've been spending your time can be a positive or healthy way to connect and hear about each other's day," says Dr. Poncin. "It's no different than 30 years ago when adolescents would be on the phone for three hours connecting with their friends-only now you're online with your friends, saying, 'Meet you after school,' or 'Did you hear about this?'"

What are the potential harms of social media use by teens?

Over the last decade, increasing evidence has identified the potential negative impact of social media on adolescents. According to a research study of American teens ages 12-15, those who used social media over three hours each day faced twice the risk of having negative mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety symptoms.

The advisory states that other studies "point to a higher relative concern of harm in adolescent girls and those already experiencing poor mental health, as well as for particular health outcomes, such as cyberbullying-related depression, body image and disordered eating behaviors, and poor sleep quality linked to social media use."

"What's more, the social media algorithms are built to promote whatever you seem interested in," says Dr. Mayes. "If a teen searches for any kind of mental health condition, such as depression or suicide, it's going to feed them information about those things, so soon they may begin to think that everyone around them is depressed or thinking about suicide, which is not necessarily good for mental health."

When does the kind of content teens see become an issue?

Teens can easily access extreme, inappropriate, and harmful content. In certain cases, deaths have been linked to suicide- and self-harm-related content, such as "cutting," partial asphyxiation, and risk-taking challenges on social media platforms, according to Dr. Murthy's report. Studies also found that discussing or showing this content can normalize these behaviors.

Eating disorders are yet another concern. A review of 50 studies across 17 countries between 2016 and 2021 published in PLOS Global Public Health suggested that relentless online exposure to largely unattainable physical ideals may trigger a distorted sense of self and eating disorders. This is considered to be a particular problem among girls.

In addition, people who target adolescents-for instance, adults seeking to sexually exploit teens or financially extort them through the threat or actual distribution of intimate images-may use social media platforms for these types of predatory behaviors, according to the Surgeon General's advisory.

Why is excessive use of social media a problem?

The excessive use of social media can harm teens by disrupting important healthy behaviors. Some researchers think that exposure to social media can overstimulate the brain's reward center and, when the stimulation becomes excessive, can trigger pathways comparable to addiction.

Excessive use has also been linked to sleep problems, attention problems, and feelings of exclusion in adolescents. And sleep is essential for the healthy development of teens, according to Dr. Murthy's advisory.

Social media use in teens: A guide for parents

After reading the background, as a parent, you might ask yourself, "Sure, but do kids really use social media that much?"

Social media use among young people is nearly universal now, based on surveys from the Pew Research Center. In 2022, up to 95% of teenagers surveyed (ages 13 to 17) reported using social media, and more than a third of them use it "almost constantly."

Pew has also tracked which social media platforms (or "apps") teenagers are using. In 2023, it found the majority of teens-9 out of 10 for those ages 13 to 17-use YouTube, followed by TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram. (Their use of Facebook dropped dramatically; there was also a decrease in the use of Twitter, now called X, although that was not as steep.)

With that in mind, YCSC experts provide a guide for parents concerned about their teens' social media use.

1. Determine the age your child will have access to social media.

Experts are still exploring whether there is a "right age" for a child to access social media. The APA explains that adolescents mature at different rates, which makes establishing a universal age recommendation difficult.

Although the minimum age most commonly required by social media platforms in the U.S. is 13, nearly 40% of children ages 8-12 use social media, according to Dr. Murthy's report. That signals how difficult it can be to enforce these rules without parental supervision.

One strategy is to make a social media plan for your family long before the teenage years, Dr. Poncin says. "In my opinion, elementary school-age children should not have full-on internet access using a device with all the social media apps."

In terms of phones, they can start with a "dumbphone," a cell phone that doesn't have email, an internet browser, and other features found on smartphones, he adds.

For middle-schoolers who show maturity and responsibility-who can get themselves to sleep and do their homework, for example-additional access may be fine, notes Dr. Poncin. But he suggests delaying full access to smartphones for as long as possible, opting for a device allowing you to add more apps as your child matures.

Establishing a family social media plan might also be useful-the American Academy of Pediatrics offers a tool that can help. In addition to setting the age at which you plan to start giving your kids phones or internet access, this plan can be used to establish rules and educate children and teens about being careful about privacy settings, avoiding strangers online, not giving out personal information, and knowing how to report cyberbullying, Dr. Mayes says.

2. Keep devices out of the bedroom.

Research shows a relationship between social media use and poor sleep quality, reduced sleep duration, and sleep difficulties in young people, according to Dr. Murthy's advisory. For teens, poor sleep is linked to emotional health issues and a higher risk for suicide.

According to Dr. Murthy's report, on a typical weekday, nearly one-third of adolescents report using screen media until midnight or later. (While screen media use includes various digital activities, social media apps are the most commonly used applications by teens.)

"Knowing that, try to create a culture at home where all phones are turned off by a certain time, and make sure it's at least one hour before going to bed," Dr. Poncin says.

However, you may find that bedtime rules don't work as well as your kids get older. It may be necessary to ask your teen to put their phone outside the bedroom before going to bed. "But, if the response is, 'I do my homework late and have a group chat about math, so I'm going to need the phone to group chat,' and you suspect your teen isn't being honest, that will be a different conversation," Dr. Poncin says. "But having these open conversations is critical."

3. Keep the lines of communication open, and let your teen make mistakes.

It will be easier to talk to your teens about social media if you have comfortable conversations with them about other issues, the doctors say.

"I don't believe you should monitor the content of your teen's phone, because a teenager should have privacy," Dr. Poncin says. "An important part of the teenage years is figuring out who you are in the world. So, it's important for them to explore and even make mistakes without you hovering around them." The goal is to keep lines of communication open and establish some trust with your child, so they'll come to you if there are issues, he adds.

This, too, is similar to the advice given when parents were concerned about the impact of television on children, adds Dr. Mayes. "Research showed that watching TV in and of itself wasn't bad, but it began to have potentially negative effects on kids' behavior when it was used as a babysitter," she says. "The message to parents was to sit beside their kids and watch TV with them, and then talk about what they're watching."

Neither you nor your teen will be happy if you sit beside them and scroll down your social media feeds together, but you can take the time to ask how social media is working for them, Dr. Mayes suggests. "So, you're not saying, 'Oh no! You're on social media!' Rather, you're normalizing it and making it clear that you're willing to talk about what they're experiencing or learning. This sets it up for them to talk to you if they run into a problem, instead of going to their peers or looking for solutions online," she says.

4. Be mindful of your approach when talking to your teen.

Although keeping the line of communication open matters, how you have those conversations is equally important. If you are concerned about your teen's social media use and feel the need to intervene, you might say something like, "It seems like you're on the phone so much that I don't see you just doing homework like you used to do, so I'm just worried how healthy this is for you in terms of getting your stuff done. What do you think about that?" Dr. Poncin says.

You might even need to be more assertive, for instance, saying, "I've noticed that you're on your phone until 1 a.m. When I go to the bathroom, your light is on, and you're on your phone. That's not healthy. So, can we come up with a plan that you're most comfortable with?"

5. Follow the rules yourself.

As a parent, you are a role model and that means following all the same rules you are setting for your children-if you ask your teenager to limit their screen time, you should do so as well, says Dr. Mayes, noting that it's not uncommon to see parents looking at their phones when they are out with their kids.

You might have a hard time resisting your social media feeds, texts, and emails. Sometimes, it helps to admit to your teenagers that you find it difficult to put down your devices, too. "This a global issue, where parents want their kids to do things differently and better than they do," Dr. Poncin says. "So, once again, having an honest conversation is important."
Note: Cyberbullying and online abuse or exploitation can be reported to the school or the police, or on websites such as Take It Down and CyberTipline, according to the Surgeon General report.

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How Social Media Affects Your Teen's Mental Health: A Parent's Guide

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A 2023 U.S. Surgeon General advisory cited growing concerns that social media use impacts young people's mental health. Yale experts offer advice to parents.

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This article from American Psychological Association discusses the mental health crisis of children in the United States. During the pandemic, children were isolated from having social interactions with their friends from school. A lot of children had a parent that lost their job during the pandemic and were victims of child abuse. In a pre-k to fourth grade classroom, teachers can discuss with their students the outcomes of the pandemic and what the students felt during those times. It's important for teachers to have an open relationship with their students about mental health and what they were feeling during the pandemic. Teachers need to be educated about this topic because the pandemic was only 4 years ago and children may still be experiencing the affects of the pandemic.

Kids' mental health is in crisis (2023, January 1). American Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/01/trends-improving-youth-mental-health

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Research is focused on child and teen mental health, exploring why they are struggling and what can be done to help them

Cite this

Abrams, Z. (2023, January 1). Kids' mental health is in crisis. Here's what psychologists are doing to help. Monitor on Psychology, 54(1). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/01/trends-improving-youth-mental-health

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The Covid-19 pandemic era ushered in a new set of challenges for youth in the United States, leading to a mental health crisis as declared by the United States surgeon general just over a year ago. But U.S. children and teens have been suffering for far longer.

In the 10 years leading up to the pandemic, feelings of persistent sadness and hopelessness-as well as suicidal thoughts and behaviors-increased by about 40% among young people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.

"We're seeing really high rates of suicide and depression, and this has been going on for a while," said psychologist Kimberly Hoagwood, PhD, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine. "It certainly got worse during the pandemic."

In addition to the social isolation and academic disruption nearly all children and teens faced, many also lost caregivers to Covid-19, had a parent lose their job, or were victims of physical or emotional abuse at home.

All these difficulties, on top of growing concerns about social media, mass violence, natural disasters, climate change, and political polarization-not to mention the normal ups and downs of childhood and adolescence-can feel insurmountable for those who work with kids.

"The idea of a 'mental health crisis' is really broad. For providers and parents, the term can be anxiety-provoking," said Melissa Brymer, PhD, who directs terrorism and disaster programs at the UCLA-Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress. "Part of our role is to highlight specific areas that are critical in this discussion."

Across the field, psychologists are doing just that. In addition to studying the biological, social, and structural contributors to the current situation, they are developing and disseminating solutions to families, in schools, and at the state level. They're exploring ways to improve clinical training and capacity and working to restructure policies to support the most vulnerable children and teens.

Psychologists were also behind new mental health recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a group of volunteer health professionals who evaluate evidence on various preventive health services. The task force now recommends regular anxiety screenings for youth ages 8 to 18 and regular depression screenings for adolescents ages 12 to 18.

"I see these trends in children's mental health problems as being critical, but there are solutions," Hoagwood said. "If we refocus our efforts toward those solutions, we could see some of these tides turn."

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Sources of stress

Across the United States, more than 200,000 children lost a parent or primary caregiver to Covid-19 ("Covid-19 Orphanhood," Imperial College London, 2022). In the face of those losses, families had to curtail mourning rituals and goodbye traditions because of social distancing requirements and other public health measures, Brymer said. Many children are still grieving, sometimes while facing added challenges such as moving to a different home or transferring to a new school with unfamiliar peers.

The CDC also reports that during the pandemic, 29% of U.S. high school students had a parent or caregiver who lost their job, 55% were emotionally abused by a parent or caregiver, and 11% were physically abused (Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey-United States, January-June 2021, CDC).

"Schools are crucial for keeping kids safe and connecting them with services, but the pandemic completely disrupted those kinds of supports," Brymer said.

Those extreme disruptions didn't affect all young people equally. Echoing pre-Covid-19 trends, the CDC also found that girls, LGBTQ+ youth, and those who have experienced racism were more likely to have poor mental health during the pandemic, said social psychologist Kathleen Ethier, PhD, director of the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health.

Contributing factors likely include stigma, discrimination, and online bullying, Ethier said. Female students also report much higher levels of sexual violence than their male peers, which can further harm mental health.

As much hardship as Covid-19 wrought, it's far from the only factor contributing to the current crisis. Biology also appears to play a role. The age of puberty has been dropping for decades, especially in girls, likely leading to difficulty processing complex feelings and knowing what to do about them ( Eckert-Lind, C., et al., JAMA Pediatrics, Vol. 174, No. 4, 2020). In early puberty, regions of the brain linked to emotions and social behavior are developing more quickly than regions responsible for the cognitive control of behavior, such as the prefrontal cortex, Ethier said.

Those developmental changes drive young people to seek attention and approval from their peers. For some, using social media fulfills that need in a healthy way, providing opportunities for connection and validation to youth who may be isolated from peers, geographically or otherwise.

For others, negative messages-including online bullying and unrealistic standards around physical appearance-appear to have a detrimental effect, but more research is needed to understand who is most at risk.

"There is clearly some aspect of young people's online life that's contributing [to the mental health crisis], we just don't know exactly what that is," said Ethier.

Finally, structural factors that affect millions of U.S. children, including poverty, food insecurity, homelessness, and lack of access to health care and educational opportunities, can lead to stress-response patterns that are known to underlie mental health challenges.

"Even in very young children, prolonged stress can trigger a cycle of emotion-regulation problems, which can in turn lead to anxiety, depression, and behavioral difficulties," Hoagwood said. "These things are well established, but we're not doing enough as a field to address them."

Building capacity in schools

The biggest challenge facing mental health care providers right now, experts say, is a shortage of providers trained to meet the mounting needs of children and adolescents.

"There's a growing recognition that mental health is just as important as physical health in young people's development, but that's happening just as mental health services are under extreme strain," said clinical psychologist Robin Gurwitch, PhD, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center.

Schools, for example, are a key way to reach and help children-but a 2022 Pew Research Center survey found that only about half of U.S. public schools offer mental health assessments and even fewer offer treatment services. Psychologists are now ramping up efforts to better equip schools to support student well-being onsite.

Much of that work involves changing policies at the school or district level to provide more support for all students. For example, school connectedness-the degree to which young people feel that adults and peers at school care about them and are invested in their success-is a key contributor to mental health. Youth who felt connected during middle and high school have fewer problems with substance use, mental health, suicidality, and risky sexual behavior as adults ( Steiner, R. J., et al., Pediatrics, Vol. 144, No. 1, 2019).

Through its What Works in Schools program, the CDC funds school districts to make changes that research shows foster school connectedness. Those include improving classroom management, implementing service-learning programs for students in their communities, bringing mentors from the community into schools, and making schools safer and more supportive for LGBTQ+ students.

Psychologists are also building training programs to help teachers and other school staff create supportive classrooms and aid students who are in distress. Classroom Wise (Well-Being Information and Strategies for Educators), developed by the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network and the University of Maryland's National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH), is a free, flexible online course and resource library that draws on psychological research on social-emotional learning, behavioral regulation, mental health literacy, trauma, and more ( Evidence-Based Components of Classroom Wise (PDF, 205KB), NCSMH, 2021).

"We're using evidence-based practices from child and adolescent mental health but making these strategies readily available for teachers to apply in the classroom," said clinical psychologist Nancy Lever, PhD, codirector of NCSMH, who helped develop Classroom Wise.

The course incorporates the voices of students and educators and teaches actionable strategies such as how to create rules and routines that make classrooms feel safe and how to model emotional self-regulation. The strategies can be used by anyone who interacts with students, from teachers and administrators to school nurses, coaches, and bus drivers.

"What we need is to build capacity through all of the systems that are part of children's lives-in families, in schools, in the education of everybody who interacts with children," said psychologist Ann Masten, PhD, a professor of child development at the University of Minnesota.

Other training efforts focus on the students themselves. Given that preteens and teenagers tend to seek support from their peers before turning to adults, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) created conversation cards to equip kids with basic skills for talking about suicide. The advice, available in English and Spanish, includes how to ask about suicidal thoughts, how to listen without judgment, and when to seek guidance from an adult ( Talking About Suicide With Friends and Peers, NCTSN, 2021).

While training people across the school population to spot and address mental health concerns can help reduce the strain on mental health professionals, there will always be a subset of students who need more specialized support.

Telehealth, nearly ubiquitous these days, is one of the best ways to do that. In South Carolina, psychologist Regan Stewart, PhD, and her colleagues colaunched the Telehealth Outreach Program at the Medical University of South Carolina in 2015. Today, nearly every school in the state has telehealth equipment (Wi-Fi and tablets or laptops that kids can use at school or take home) and access to providers (psychology and social work graduate students and clinicians trained in trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy). Students who need services, which are free thanks to grant funding or covered by Medicaid, meet one-on-one with their clinician during the school day or after hours (American Psychologist, Vol. 75, No. 8, 2020).

"We learned a lot about the use of technology during the pandemic," Ethier said. "At this point, it's very much a matter of having sufficient resources so more school districts can access those sources of care."

Expanding the workforce

Limited resources are leaving families low on options, with some young people making multiple trips to the emergency room for mental health-related concerns or spending more than six months on a waiting list for mental health support. That points to a need for more trained emergency responders and psychiatric beds, psychologists say, but also for better upstream screening and prevention to reduce the need for intensive care.

"Just as we need more capacity for psychiatric emergencies in kids, we also need an infusion of knowledge and ordinary strategies to support mental health on the positive side," Masten said.

In New York, Hoagwood helped launch the state-funded Evidence Based Treatment Dissemination Center in 2006, which offers free training on evidence-based practices for trauma, behavioral and attention problems, anxiety, depression, and more to all mental health professionals who work with children in state-licensed programs, which include foster care, juvenile justice, and school settings, among others. The center provides training on a core set of tools known as PracticeWise ( Chorpita, B. F., & Daleiden E. L., Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 77, No. 3, 2009). It also offers tailored training based on requests from community agency leaders and clinicians who provide services to children and their families.

Hoagwood, in collaboration with a consortium of family advocates, state officials, and researchers, also helped build and test a state-approved training model and credentialing program for family and youth peer advocates. The peer advocate programs help expand the mental health workforce while giving families access to peers who have similar lived experience ( Psychiatric Services, Vol. 71, No. 5, 2020).

Youth peer advocates are young adults who have personal experience with systems such as foster care, juvenile justice, or state psychiatric care. They work within care teams to provide basic education and emotional support to other youth, such as giving advice on what questions to ask a new mental health practitioner and explaining the differences between psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers. Youth peer advocates in New York can now receive college credit for their training in peer specialist work.

"Making community health work into a viable career can also increase diversity among mental health workers and help us address structural racism," Hoagwood said.

Pediatricians are another group that can provide a first line of defense, drawing on their relationships with parents to destigmatize mental health care.

"Pediatricians are in many ways uniquely positioned to help address the mental health crisis in youth," said Janine A. Rethy, MD, MPH, division chief of community pediatrics at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics at Georgetown University School of Medicine. "We have the privilege of building long-term relationships with children and their families over many years," with at least 12 well-child checkups in just the first three years of a child's life, followed by annual visits.

During these visits, they can watch for warning signs of social and behavioral problems and screen for maternal depression and other issues in parents, which is now recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (PDF, 660KB). Several new resources provide guidance for integrating mental health care into pediatric practices, including the Behavioral Health Integration Compendium (PDF, 4.1MB) and the Healthy Steps program. But most pediatricians need more education on mental health issues in order to effectively respond, Rethy said-yet another area where psychologists may be able to help. Psychologists can provide direct consultations and training to pediatricians through the Pediatric Mental Health Care Access program.

"The more we can weave mental health knowledge, capacity, and checkpoints into places where parents feel comfortable-like the doctor's office and at school-the better," Masten said. "All professionals who work with young people really need the knowledge that's being generated by psychologists."

11 emerging trends for 2023

Further reading

Science shows how to protect kids' mental health, but it's being ignored
Prinstein, M., & Ethier, K. A., Scientific American, 2022

How pediatricians can help mitigate the mental health crisis
Rethy, J. A., & Chawla, E. M., Contemporary Pediatrics, 2022

Review: Structural racism, children's mental health service systems, and recommendations for policy and practice change
Alvarez, K., et al., Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2022

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Kids' mental health is in crisis. Here's what psychologists are doing to help

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Research is focused on child and teen mental health, exploring why they are struggling and what can be done to help them

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This article on death, grief, and loss from Whyy PBS discusses the state of New Jersey approving a bill that would

require schools to teach a class about grief and coping. This recognizes the importance of prioritizing mental health and coping strategies for students who lose loved ones. The curriculum would include a class that includes healthy coping mechanisms for grief, what loss is, and what grief is. In a pre-k to fourth grade classroom, teachers could try to touch on teaching their students about grief and how to cope in a healthy manner. They could hold weekly class meetings and talk about the topic during the meetings in a comfortable and relaxed setting so the students feel safe. Teachers need to be educated non the topic of grief so they know how to help their students who may be suffering with at home problems. Teachers should understand that grief does not always look the same and students could go through grief during a divorce of their parents, or moving schools or homes.

N.J. legislature approves a bill that would require schools to teach a class about grief, loss, and coping (2023, December 21). Whyy Pbs. Retrieved from https://whyy.org/articles/new-jersey-schools-grief-education-requirement-legislature/

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From Camden and Cherry Hill to Trenton and the Jersey Shore, what about life in New Jersey do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know.

New Jersey could soon mandate that its schools teach students about coping with grief and loss. The state Legislature has given final approval to a measure that would require school districts to provide lessons on this topic for students in 8th - 12th grades.

The bill now awaits the decision of Governor Phil Murphy on whether it will be signed into law. This initiative comes in response to a growing recognition of the importance of addressing mental health issues, including grief, among students. If approved, it will mark a significant change in the state's educational curriculum, aiming to better support students in dealing with these challenging experiences.

State Senator Jon Bramnick, the sponsor of the bill, said this is important because we currently have a mental health crisis in our schools "and people who lose a sibling or a parent go through an incredibly difficult time."

He said "we have people act out, and many times it's out of frustration because of a loss they didn't know how to grieve."

Diana, a 19-year-old from Essex County who is now a freshman in college, lost her mother in May 2022 after a long battle with cancer.

She said she strongly supports the idea of having schools offer a class about grief and loss because of her own experience. She returned to high school two weeks after her mom died, feeling scared and emotionally distraught.

"I went to my first class of the day and instead of receiving condolences from my teachers and friends," she said, "I was treated as if nothing was different and told to create a plan on how I would make up my missed work."

"Grieving children and teens are at risk for poor school performance, absenteeism, mental health issues, addiction and depression, but with the proper support from schools and educators, students can have the resources they need to really make a difference in their lives," she said.

Lindsay Schambach, the executive director of the group Imagine, a Center for Coping with Loss, said her organization and other grief support groups are looking forward to a collaborative effort with the state Department of Education to develop a program geared to helping students with grief and loss.

She said part of this effort will include dispelling myths that pertain to grief, including the idea that "time heals all wounds," or that at some point there will be acceptance of loss.

"The exposure to children about the truths, and the true experience of those who are grieving, we believe can help normalize the feelings our children go through when they experience loss," she said.

How will this work?

Schambach said therapy would not be introduced into the health classes, but rather a review of "the most up-to-date information as it exists on grief, what is loss, what is grief, what are healthy coping mechanisms that exist, and then across the state we also believe it's really important to teach children how best to support others who are grieving."

She noted grief is associated with all types of losses, not just death, including divorce, separation, a physical move, or even a loss of normalcy when a serious health diagnosis is given.

Schambach said 1 out of every 13 children in New Jersey will experience the death of a parent or sibling before they turn 18.

"That means in all of our classrooms across the state there are children going through this type of loss," she said.

Bramnick said "with the mental health crisis in the country, teaching some of this in school, no one should object to it."

"I don't think the fact that we're teaching broad concepts of what people go through during grief and loss is religious in any way or should be unacceptable," he said, "because what people go through with grief and loss is universal."

Schambach agreed.

"I don't think a religious point of view is necessary in a grief curriculum, because people of all cultures, all religions, all ages, all races, all socio-economic statuses, they all grieve," she said.

According to Schambach, religion and culture play a huge role in how different families experience grief, and research shows "it's very common for those who are grieving to begin believing, to question their belief system, or to stop believing."

She said a strong curriculum will "expose children to the fact that those feelings are natural and normal, and some people find support in their cultural beliefs and religious beliefs, and you can turn towards those as a coping strategy."

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Students in N.J. could soon be taught about grief, loss, and coping

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This initiative comes in response to a growing recognition of the importance of addressing mental health issues, including grief, among students.

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This article from Hackensack Meridian Health discusses the safety and prevention of injuries on playground. About 200,000 children go to the hospital annually due to playground injuries. Children may not be experienced enough to know what they are capable and incapable of on the playground, which can lead to injury. Falls are the most common cause of injury which can lead to much more serious injuries, such as concussions, traumatic brain injuries, and broken bones. In a pre-k to fourth grade classroom, teachers can teach the importance of being careful while playing on the playground and tech them to be aware of how serious injuries can be. They can go over playground rules at their own school during a classroom meeting or assembly so the students can be apart of creating the playground rules. Teachers need to e educated on the topic of playground safety so they can prevent not only injuries at the school playground, but hopefully teach the students the importance of playing safe at any playground they go to.

Playground Safety: Preventing common injuries and ensuring child's well-being (2023, August 28). Hackensack Meridian Health. Retrieved from https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/healthu/2023/08/28/playground-safety-preventing-common-injuries-and-ensuring-childs-well-being

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Playground time is supposed to be fun, but it sometimes leads to injury. Many of the injuries that occur on playgrounds can be avoided with precautionary measures.

Many playground injuries are caused by misjudgment. Children may be overconfident in their ability to navigate equipment or make risky choices.

"Sometimes, a child doesn't have enough experience to realize that they can't do something," says Frank Cunningham, M.D., a pediatric emergency medicine physician at JFK University Medical Center. "They may copy an older kid's stunt or simply have too much self-confidence."

Lack of supervision by parents or guardians also contributes to playground injuries. Adults who closely supervise kids may step in to prevent risky behaviors.

"Younger children who aren't as confident or coordinated need closer supervision than older kids," Dr. Cunningham says. "But even older kids need someone to ensure that they climb and play safely."

About 45% of playground injuries occur because of lack of supervision. Kids may go down slides heard-first or climb onto too-high roof structures.

More than 200,000 children visit emergency departments every year for playground injuries. Read on to learn about common injuries and how to help keep children safe:

Understanding Common Playground Injuries

Falls are the most common category of playground injury. Falls may lead to:

Cuts and bruises

Sprains or strains

Broken bones

Concussion

Traumatic brain injury

Death, in a handful of cases each year

"Young children may get injured when falling from equipment that's too high for them," Dr. Cunningham says. "Falling onto the hard ground, not a forgiving surface, may also lead to injury."

"Parents should also refrain from going down slides with their children on their laps. Frequently, the child's position may shift and an arm or leg may get twisted between the parent's body and the slide, resulting in a fracture," Dr. Cunningham adds.

Other common playground injuries include:

Burns, when a child sits bare-legged on a hot slide, for example

Strangulation, when necklaces, sweatshirt drawstrings or jump ropes catch on equipment

Collisions, when a child crashes into another child or equipment (like a moving swing)

Entrapment, when a child's finger, arm, leg or head gets stuck in equipment gaps

"Children don't necessarily know that metal equipment gets hot, so they may get burned," Dr. Cunningham says. "Parents may also misjudge situations - having kids wear helmets for safety in this setting, may potentially place the child at risk for strangulation if straps become entangled with certain equipment."

To Help Your Child Stay Safe on the Playground:

Choose the right playground. Pick age-appropriate playgrounds, which means smaller equipment and shorter falls for younger kids.

Opt for safe surfaces. Look for playgrounds with soft and cushioned surfaces beneath the play equipment. Materials that can provide a safer landing for falls include:

Wood mulch

Wood chips

Rubber recycled mulch

Rubber (or rubber-like) mats

Sand

Pea gravel

Synthetic turf

Other soft surfaces (not grass, dirt, asphalt or concrete)

Stay nearby. Be within arm's reach of preschoolers or within earshot and view of older kids. Your presence should help kids learn to avoid risky behavior and make safe decisions.

Look for hazards. Clear away or avoid broken glass and other dangerous objects. If playground equipment is broken, don't use it (and report it to the parks commission).

Avoid accidental strangulation. Don't let your child wear necklaces, drawstring hoodies or bike helmets on the playground. Also don't let kids play with jump ropes while they're on playground equipment.

Skip hot surfaces on sunny days. Metal and even dark-colored plastic surfaces may get very hot in the sun. It doesn't need to be a hot day for a child to get burned.

Teach your child to play it safe. Show your child the right way to swing, slide and climb when they're young. Remind older kids that risky playground play may sideline them with injuries.

Next Steps & Resources:
The material provided through HealthU is intended to be used as general information only and should not replace the advice of your physician. Always consult your physician for individual care.

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Playground Safety: Preventing Common Injuries and Ensuring Child's Well-being

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Learn how to avoid common playground injuries and keep your child safe during playtime. Discover precautionary measures, age-appropriate playground selection, and parental supervision tips to prevent falls, burns, collisions, and other potential hazards.

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This article on healthy eating from CDC discusses that schools need prioritize teaching young students about nutrition and healthy eating. The article states that research shows nutrition education can teach students how healthy eating affects emotional and mental health. Although schools and teachers already have many demands, school staff needs to somehow fit teaching nutrition into their curriculum. In a pre-k to fourth grade classroom, teachers can teach about nutrition in the classroom by using fruits and vegetables to count or do math problems. They can also provide health snacks to the students if they have the funds to do so. Not all students may have access to healthy food at home, so teachers can do what they can to provide that for them. Teachers can show videos and play songs that provide facts about nutrition and healthy food. Teachers need to be educated on the topic of healthy eating and nutrition because our country has a serious obesity problem and teachers should do all they can to prevent children from getting this disease. Healthy eating strongly affects students in their academics and emotional wellness.

Healthy eating learning opportunities and nutrition education (2023, January 10). CDC. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/nutrition/school_nutrition_education.htm

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Healthy eating learning opportunities includes nutrition education and other activities integrated into the school day that can give children knowledge and skills to help choose and consume healthy foods and beverages. ¹ Nutrition education is a vital part of a comprehensive health education program and empowers children with knowledge and skills to make healthy food and beverage choices. 2-8

US students receive less than 8 hours of required nutrition education each school year, ⁹ far below the 40 to 50 hours that are needed to affect behavior change. 10,11 Additionally, the percentage of schools providing required instruction on nutrition and dietary behaviors decreased from 84.6% to 74.1% between 2000 and 2014. ⁹

Given the important role that diet plays in preventing chronic diseases and supporting good health, schools would ideally provide students with more hours of nutrition education instruction and engage teachers and parents in nutrition education activities. 5, 12 Research shows that nutrition education can teach students to recognize how healthy diet influences emotional well-being and how emotions may influence eating habits. However, because schools face many demands, school staff can consider ways to add nutrition education into the existing schedule. ¹¹

Nutrition education can be incorporated throughout the school day and in various locations within a school. This provides flexibility allowing schools to use strategies that work with their settings, daily schedule, and resources.

In the Classroom
Nutrition education can take place in the classroom, either through a stand-alone health education class or combined into other subjects including 2,5:

Counting with pictures of fruits and vegetables.

Learning fractions by measuring ingredients for a recipe.

Examining how plants grow.

Learning about cultural food traditions.

Nutrition education should align with the National Health Education Standards and incorporate the characteristics of an effective health education curriculum.

Farm to School
Farm-to-school programs vary in each school or district, but often include one or more of the following strategies:

Purchasing and serving local or regionally produced foods in the school meal programs.

Educating students about agriculture, food, health, and nutrition.

Engaging students in hands-on learning opportunities through gardening, cooking lessons, or farm field trips.

Students who participate in farm-to-school activities have increased knowledge about nutrition and agriculture, are more willing to try new foods, and consume more fruits and vegetables. ¹⁴⁻¹⁷

School Gardens
School garden programs can increase students' nutrition knowledge, willingness to try fruit and vegetables, and positive attitudes about fruits and vegetables. ¹⁸⁻²² School gardens vary in size and purpose. Schools may have window sill gardens, raised beds, greenhouses, or planted fields.

Students can prepare the soil for the garden, plant seeds, harvest the fruits and vegetables, and taste the food from the garden. Produce from school gardens can be incorporated into school meals or taste tests. Classroom teachers can teach lessons in math, science, history, and language arts using the school garden.

In the Cafeteria
Cafeterias are learning labs where students are exposed to new foods through the school meal program, see what balanced meals look like, and may be encouraged to try new foods through verbal prompts from school nutrition staff, ²³ or taste tests. 24-25 Cafeterias may also be decorated with nutrition promotion posters or student artwork promoting healthy eating. ²⁴

Other Opportunities
Schools can add messages about nutrition and healthy eating into the following:

Morning announcements.

School assemblies.

Materials sent home to parents and guardians.²⁴

Staff meetings.

Parent-teacher group meetings.

These strategies can help reinforce messages about good nutrition and help ensure that students see and hear consistent information about healthy eating across the school campus and at home. 2

Shared use agreements can extend healthy eating learning opportunities. As an example, an after-school STEM club could gain access to school gardens as learning labs.

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. School health guidelines to promote healthy eating and physical activity. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2011;60(RR-5):1-76.

2. Joint Committee on National Health Education Standards. National Health Education Standards: Achieving Excellence. 2nd ed. Atlanta, GA: American Cancer Society; 2007.

3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool, 2012, Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Department of Health and Human Services; 2012. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/hecat/index.htm. Accessed April 9, 2019.

4. Price C, Cohen D, Pribis P, Cerami J. Nutrition education and body mass index in grades K-12: a systematic review. J Sch Health. 2017;87:715-720.

5. Meiklejohn S, Ryan L, Palermo C. A systematic review of the impact of multi-strategy nutrition education programs on health and nutrition of adolescents. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2016;48:631-646.

6. Silveira JA, Taddei JA, Guerra PH, Nobre MR. The effect of participation in school-based nutrition education interventions on body mass index: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled community trials. Prev Med. 2013;56:237-243.

7. County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. School-based Nutrition Education Programs website. http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/take-action-to-improve-health/what-works-for-health/policies/school-based-nutrition-education-programs. Accessed on April 9, 2019.

8. Results from the School Health Policies and Practices Study 2014. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2014.

9. Connell DB, Turner RR, Mason EF. Results of the school health education evaluation: health promotion effectiveness, implementation, and costs. J Sch Health. 1985;55(8):316-321.

10. Institute of Medicine. Nutrition Education in the K-12 Curriculum: The Role of National Standards: Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2014.

11. Murimi MW, Moyeda-Carabaza AF, Nguyen B, Saha S, Amin R, Njike V. Factors that contribute to effective nutrition education interventions in children: a systematic review. Nutr Rev. 2018;76(8):553-580.

12. Hayes D, Contento IR, Weekly C. Position of the American Dietetic Association, School Nutrition Association, and Society for Nutrition Education: comprehensive school nutrition services. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2018; 118:913-919.

13. Joshi A, Misako Azuma A, Feenstra G. Do farm-to-school programs make a difference? Findings and future research needs. J Hunger Environ Nutr. 2008;3:229-246.

14. Moss A, Smith S, Null D, Long Roth S, Tragoudas U. Farm to school and nutrition education: Positively affecting elementary school-aged children's nutrition knowledge and consumption behavior. Child Obes. 2013;9(1):51-6.

15. Bontrager Yoder AB, Liebhart JL, McCarty DJ, Meinen A, Schoeller D, Vargas C, LaRowe T. Farm to elementary school programming increases access to fruits and vegetables and increases their consumption among those with low intake. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2014;46(5):341-9.

16. The National Farm to School Network. The Benefits of Farm to School website. http://www.farmtoschool.org/Resources/BenefitsFactSheet.pdf. Accessed on June 14, 2019.

17. Berezowitz CK, Bontrager Yoder AB, Schoeller DA. School gardens enhance academic performance and dietary outcomes in children. J Sch Health. 2015;85:508-518.

18. Davis JN, Spaniol MR, Somerset S. Sustenance and sustainability: maximizing the impact of school gardens on health outcomes. Public Health Nutr. 2014;18(13):2358-2367.

19. Langellotto GA, Gupta A. Gardening increases vegetable consumption in school-aged children: A meta-analytical synthesis. Horttechnology. 2012;22(4):430-445.

20. Community Preventative Services Task Force. Nutrition: Gardening Interventions to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Children. Finding and Rationale Statement.. https://www.thecommunityguide.org/sites/default/files/assets/Nutrition-Gardening-Fruit-Vegetable-Consumption-Children-508.pdf. Accessed on May 16, 2019.

21. Savoie-Roskos MR, Wengreen H, Durward C. Increasing Fruit and Vegetable Intake among Children and Youth through Gardening-Based Interventions: A Systematic Review. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 2017;11(2):240-50.

22. Schwartz M. The influence of a verbal prompt on school lunch fruit consumption: a pilot study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2007;4:6.

23. Fulkerson JA, French SA, Story M, Nelson H, Hannan PJ. Promotions to increase lower-fat food choices among students in secondary schools: description and outcomes of TACOS (Trying Alternative Cafeteria Options in Schools). Public Health Nutr. 2003;7(5):665-674.

24. Action for Healthy Kids. Tips for Hosting a Successful Taste Test website. http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/tools-for-schools/find-challenges/classroom-challenges/701-tips-for-hosting-a-successful-taste-test. Accessed on May 19, 2019.

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Healthy Eating Learning Opportunities and Nutrition Education

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Nutrition education teaches students to make healthy food and beverage choices. Learn ways schools can provide these skills throughout the day.

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The Physical Benefits of Extracurricular Sports for Kids

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This article on the benefits of exercise for children from Simone's Kids discusses the importance of exercise for children. Getting children to exercise can set up students for success for the rest of their lives. Exercising does not only improve children's physical health, but it also supports self-esteem, mind and body coordination, it reduces risk of chronic disease, and it reduces the risk of children getting into bad habits and participating in risky behavior. In a pre-k to fourth grade classroom, teachers can incorporate exercise into their curriculum by going outside and creating lessons that involve moving their bodies. They can also do things in the classroom to implement the students getting out of their seats so they are not sitting at their desks all day. Teachers should be educated on the topic of exercise because they need to know the importance of children exercising and moving their bodies because it can have a significant impact on their academics and well-being.

Benefits of Kids Exercise (2023, May 16). Simone's Kids. Retrieved from https://www.simoneskids.org/the-physical-benefits-of-extracurricular-sports-for-kids/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwxLKxBhA7EiwAXO0R0EvraJWag7YfbQ8PJgZ0WjXEtKm4XgcDY9OD3MPGMeNyIq2KPJfuhxoC-nYQAvD_BwE

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Many parents think of extracurricular activities like organized sports as a simple leisure (or even luxury) activity for their children. In reality, the benefits of sports for youth offer surprisingly varied and far-reaching physical health advantages. Participating in sports not only gets kids moving after sitting in class all day, but can set them up for success for the rest of their lives. Here are just a few examples of the physical benefits of playing sports for kids.

Improving physical health and fitness. Easily the clearest advantages to getting children and teens involved in sports are the benefits of exercise. Kids who get regular physical activity enjoy better cardiorespiratory and cardiovascular health, greater bone density, stronger muscles, and a healthier body mass.

Reducing the risks of chronic health problems. Children who are physically active reduce their risk of becoming obese and developing heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and various cancers. As a result, they're also more likely to enjoy low healthcare costs over the course of their lives.

Enjoying a healthier body image and greater self-esteem. Being physically fit can go a long way toward helping kids and teens view themselves as strong, capable individuals. As they get older, fitness can also help teens to feel more confident in both their abilities and their appearance.

Improving mind-body coordination. Regular exercise offers almost countless health benefits, but playing sports in particular develops additional abilities that are useful for everyday life and even for survival. For example, kids who play soccer can gain superior balance, aim, and agility, all of which are useful for managing their center of gravity and preventing serious falls and injuries.

Reducing the likelihood of risky behaviors. Teens who play team sports are less likely to engage in behaviors that can pose risks to their health and safety, such as smoking, using other drugs, or carrying weapons.

Although participation in extracurricular sports is quite common among middle- and upper-class youth in the US, children who grow up in low-income communities and nations are at risk of missing out on the benefits of playing sports. You can give the potentially life-changing gift of athletic opportunities to children in developing countries like Uganda by donating to nonprofit organizations whose missions support the health and education of young Ugandans.

Give Ugandan Students the Gift of Sports With Simone's Kids

Simone's Kids in Nakaseke, Uganda provides high-quality primary and secondary education and meets basic needs for children in order to help them break the cycle of poverty. Your donations help purchase school supplies, textbooks, food, and other necessities for Ugandan students, as well as equipment for after-school team activities and sports like soccer.

You can maximize your impact with recurring donations to Simone's Kids by joining The Village. The Village is a passionate group of donors committed to bettering the lives of children in Uganda by making monthly donations that help to provide better meals, more teachers, more activities, and even post-graduation services. Give today!

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The Physical Benefits of Extracurricular Sports for Kids

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Many parents think of extracurricular activities like organized sports as a simple leisure (or even luxury) activity for their children. In reality, the benefits of sports for youth offer surprisingly varied and far-reaching physical health advantages. Participating in sports not only gets kids moving after sitting in class all day, but can set them up for success for the rest of their lives.