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This article on mental health from CNN talks about how the Covid pandemic affected young adults. Nearly 1 in 4 young adults were treated for mental health during the pandemic from a CDC survey found. 18-24 year olds before the pandemic was the least likely to receive mental health treatment, but now became the most likely in 2021. Women were also found to receive more consistently than men.

This can be addressed in the classroom by having an open discussion about how the pandemic affected students and their families. Teachers in the classroom can talk about feelings and emotions. They can talk about different types of mental health and how to positively impact it.

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Nearly 1 in 4 young adults in US treated for mental health during pandemic, CDC survey finds | CNN

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The share of US adults who received treatment for mental health grew throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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This article is about healthy eating and new nutrition rules, posted by TIME for Kids. The USDA announced updates to the nutrition standards to help cafeterias get back to serving healthier lunches. Low or no cost lunch meals for students also are becoming healthier. There are changes like serving low-fat milk and new standards for the percentage of whole grains in school meals.

This can be addressed in the classroom by explaining to children new updates to the nutrition rules so they are aware of what they should be eating. Teachers in the classroom can have students create ideal lunch plates following the nutrition rules.

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On February 4, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced updates to school nutrition standards. The new rules are meant to help cafeterias get back to serving more-healthy meals. Administrators say providing nutritious meals has been difficult because of supply shortages caused by the pandemic.

Tom Vilsack is the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He calls schools' efforts to continue serving nutritious food during the pandemic "heroic." The new policies should get schools back on track to meeting higher standards in the coming years, he says.

Cafeterias will be allowed to serve low-fat chocolate milk, instead of only nonfat. There will be a new standard for the percentage of whole grains in school meals. In fall 2023, the sodium limit for meals must decrease by 10%.

More than 30 million kids depend on free or low-cost school meals. These have become more healthy since 2012, when the USDA set better standards. Vilsack says the new rules "will help schools transition to a future that builds on the tremendous strides they've made . . . over the past decade."
WHY has TIME for Kids chosen to cover this story? What factors do editors consider when deciding what stories to feature?

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On February 4, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced updates to school nutrition standards. The new rules are meant to help cafeterias get back to serving more-healthy meals. Administrators say providing nutritious meals has been difficult because of...

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The article is about how physical activity can ease the side effects of breast cancer treatment, posted by U.S. News. An exercise program while patients are undergoing radiation treatment reduces fatigue and supports a better quality of life. Exercise can show a significant increase in health-related quality of life. 1 in 8 women and 1 in 833 men are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime.

This can be addressed in the classroom by showing examples of how exercise can increase your health and even help with treatments/recovery. Teachers in the classroom can show kids other ways exercise can positively impact illnesses, treatments, etc.

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By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Nov. 25, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- An exercise program, even if it's not as intense as national guidelines suggest, could help breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy reduce fatigue and have a better quality of life, new research suggests.

Researchers from Edith Cowan University in Australia included 89 women in this study -- 43 participated in the exercise portion; the control group did not.

Exercisers did a 12-week home-based program. It included weekly resistance training sessions and 30 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise.

Researchers found that patients who exercised recovered from cancer-related fatigue more quickly during and after radiation therapy compared to the control group. Exercisers also saw a significant increase in health-related quality of life, which could include measures of emotional, physical and social well-being.

"The amount of exercise was aimed to increase progressively, with the ultimate target of participants meeting the national guideline for recommended exercise levels," said study leader Georgios Mavropalias, a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Medical and Health Sciences.

"However, the exercise programs were relative to the participants' fitness capacity, and we found even much smaller dosages of exercise than those recommended in the [Australian] national guidelines can have significant effects on cancer-related fatigue and health-related quality of living during and after radiotherapy," Mavropalias said in a university news release.

The Australian national guidelines for cancer patients call for 30 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise five days a week or 20 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise three days a week. This is in addition to strength training exercises two to three days a week.

About 1 in 8 women and 1 in 833 men are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetimes, according to Living Beyond Breast Cancer, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit organization.

The study showed a home-based exercise program during radiation therapy is safe, feasible and effective, said study supervisor professor Rob Newton, a professor of exercise medicine.

"A home-based protocol might be preferable for patients, as it is low-cost, does not require travel or in-person supervision and can be performed at a time and location of the patient's choosing," he said in the release. "These benefits may provide substantial comfort to patients."

Study participants who started an exercise program tended to stick with it. They reported significant improvements in mild, moderate and vigorous physical activity up to a year after the program ended.

"The exercise program in this study seems to have induced changes in the participants' behavior around physical activity," Mavropalias said. "Thus, apart from the direct beneficial effects on reduction in cancer-related fatigue and improving health-related quality of life during radiotherapy, home-based exercise protocols might result in changes in the physical activity of participants that persist well after the end of the program."

Study findings were recently published in the journal Breast Cancer.

SOURCE: Edith Cowan University, news release, Nov. 20, 2022

Copyright © 2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Exercise Might Ease Side Effects of Breast Cancer Treatment

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By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, Nov. 25, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- An exercise program, even if it's not as intense as national guidelines suggest, could help breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy reduce fatigue and have a better quality of life, new research suggests.

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4. Safety & Preventing Unintentional Injury

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4. Safety & Preventing Unintentional Injury

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This article is about the occurrence of unintentional injuries when children are stuck inside the home all day, posted by The Guardian. Unintentional injuries, which are more likely to occur in the home, are more likely to happen when routines are interrupted and environments changed. Unintentional injuries lead to around 12,000 deaths and 9.2 million emergency department visits every year. Some of the many causes of at-home unintentional injuries like medications, tipovers, stairs, windows, and burns.

This can be addressed in the classroom by informing students about some of the dangers in the home, like not touching medications or the stove. Teachers in the classroom can show students examples of what things to not touch in a household and what can be dangerous.

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s an emergency department doctor in a busy children's hospital, I am relieved not many children are becoming seriously ill or dying from the coronavirus. However, as an injury prevention expert, I am worried about a hidden danger for America's children. I am worried about this hidden danger for my now home-bound child.

With millions of American children out of schools and daycares, this pandemic is likely to still harm children in a significant way: through injuries instead of infection. The number one killer of children in the United States is not infections like the flu. Year in and year out, it is quietly unintentional injuries, which are more likely to occur in the home, and more likely to arise when routines are interrupted and environments changed. While public health experts have rightfully recommended the closing of schools and daycares to stop the spread of the coronavirus, we must also bring public awareness to the principal danger in millions of children spending their days in homes - a potential rise in unintentional injuries.

Every year, unintentional injuries in children lead to some 12,000 deaths and 9.2m emergency department visits. The additional time children are spending at home, potentially less supervised and in often less child-friendly environments, is likely to increase the number of fatalities and hospital visits at a time when our health system will probably become overburdened in treating Covid-19 patients. Anything we can do to prevent unintentional injuries will not only save our children from this hidden harm, but free up hospital beds and medical providers to fight the pandemic. In this grave time, preventing childhood injuries can be as important for pediatric health as social distancing is for adult health.

Home-based unintentional injuries in children vary by age and geographic location, but include drowning, ingestions and poisonings, falls, furniture tipovers, and burns. Here are a few pointers, by injury type, to help keep young children safe during this pandemic.

Medications. On average, five children present to emergency departments each hour for medicine poisoning. While many people focus on the danger of prescription medications, over-the-counter medications and vitamins can also be deadly for children. It is important to keep all medications out of reach and sight of children, and make sure all your visitors do the same. I have taken care of too many critically ill children who had ingested just one pill. If your child does ingest something, it's important to call 24-7 the Poison Control Center (800-222-1222) for advice immediately, even if the child appears well. Their experts are also available online.

Tipovers. Large dressers and televisions (even flat screens) are dangerous items in the home because they can tip over and seriously injure or kill a young child. A child dies from a television tipover every three weeks and hundreds are injured. When I've seen patients in the ED after a tipover, I often hear caregivers say it happened when the child was supposed to be napping or playing, and that the caregiver didn't even hear it happen. As with medication, while supervision is incredibly important, there are precautions you can take that make furniture and television tipovers less likely. These include mounting televisions to the wall. If televisions are not mounted, they should be placed on television stands - not on furniture like dressers that were not designed to support a television on top.

Even though flat-screen televisions are a little lighter than the older box television I grew up watching, they are still heavy enough to cause significant injuries to children, such as head injuries and broken bones. Enticing items (like iPads, food and medication) should never be placed on top of dressers, as this can tempt a child to try to get to them. Heavier items should be placed inside the lower drawers of the dresser, and the dressers especially must be anchored to walls. Some dressers are less likely to tip over due to their design - a feature not easily recognizable by looking at the dresser. Consumer Reports has tested several dressers and published findings on which dressers are more or less likely to tip over.

Stairs and windows. Stairs are another common and potentially dangerous home element for young children. The use of stair gates, secured to the walls or railings, can prevent young explorers from navigating stairs without supervision.

As spring arrives, windows are opened for air circulation. I have been in the trauma bay fighting for a child's life who ultimately died from a window fall that could have been prevented with a $10 window stop. Any windows on a second floor or higher should have a window guard or window stop to prevent the window from opening more than 4in, and thus the child from falling out. Both items should have a quick-release mechanism that an adult can operate in case of an emergency like a fire. A normal window screen is not designed to hold the weight of a child, and will not prevent a child from falling out of the window.

Burns. All ER doctors I know have some diagnosis or presentation that makes them cringe, that is hard to see, that is hard to take care of. For me, it is burns. Among the hundreds of children I've seen over the years with burns, one of the most prevalent causes has been hot food from the microwave.

As a mother of a three-year-old who will tell anyone in earshot, "I can do it myself," I understand how this can happen. But getting hot food out of the microwave is one thing young children should not do by themselves. Make it a rule. But know they won't always comply. I have heard caretakers in the ED say too many times, "But (s)he's never done this before." We should never leave a young child alone while food is microwaving. If possible, make sure your microwave is high enough so children cannot access it.

Drownings. I lived and practiced pediatric emergency medicine in Florida for a few years, where many people either had a pool at their home or access to a pool, lake, pond, river or beach nearby. Drowning is the #1 cause of death for children under four in the United States. Most young children drown in swimming pools at home. But children also drown in tubs and buckets.

Any standing water in our home is dangerous for a young child. Anytime a child is in a body of water, someone's responsibility must be the water watcher, whose only job is to watch the child (and remain no more than an arm's length away for young children). The water watcher cannot be on social media, checking email, on a conference call, or reading a book. Drowning often happens quietly and quickly - oftentimes in less than one minute, which is quite the opposite of portrayals on television. Drownings can be easily missed if the water watcher is not paying close attention at all times. Of course, for home pools, a four-walled fence (including one between the house and pool) prevents children from accessing pools without proper supervision.

We must keep our children safe from infection and injuries during this period. We are making sure to sneeze into our elbows, to not shake hands, to regularly wash our hands, to not touch our faces. We are social distancing. But let's be sure to distance our children from their number one killer: unintentional injuries. Let's not allow this pandemic that sent our children home turn into a pandemic of injuries.

Sadiqa AI Kendi, MD, FAAP, CPST, is a pediatric emergency medicine physician and injury prevention researcher at Children's National Hospital in Washington DC. She serves as medical director of Safe Kids DC, and director of the Children's National Safety Center at Southern Avenue

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Kids locked at home all day are a recipe for accidental injuries and visits to the ER | Sadiqa AI Kendi

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s an emergency department doctor in a busy children's hospital, I am relieved not many children are becoming seriously ill or dying from the coronavirus. However, as an injury prevention expert, I am worried about a hidden danger for America's children. I am worried about this hidden danger for my now home-bound child.

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This article is about personal health and wellness describing the flu spreading around the U.S. posted by NBC News. Millions of people across the U.S. report the illness, and nearly 3,000 deaths from influenza have occurred since October. CDC said that there were 12 deaths that occurred in children. With the early start to the flu season this year, many people were infected before they had a chance to get vaccinated, making it easier for the virus to spread.

This can be addressed in the classroom by informing students about the flu and sickness-preventative measures. Teachers in the classroom can show kids how to properly clean themselves to deter bacteria and let students practice in class.

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Flu came early to the U.S. and ‘the floodgates are open’

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“People don’t have a good appreciation for how severe flu can be,” said the CDC’s influenza expert. Nearly 3,000 deaths from influenza have been reported since October.

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This article is about the violence in accidental gun injuries, posted by ABC News. Unsecured guns are the second leading cause of death among kids. Gun owners living in homes with children are slightly more likely than other gun owners to store firearms safely, but as many as 4.6 million minors live in homes where there are loaded and unlocked firearms. There has been outreach for a safe storage law, called Ethan’s Law, which requires gun owners in Connecticut to secure their firearms in a way that prevents children from gaining access, including using a passcode-protected safe box.

This can be addressed in the classroom by informing students of the dangers of guns and to never touch or play with them. Teachers in the classroom can give scenarios and ask students what they think should happen.

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People hoping to protect kids from accidental gun injuries, deaths push for stronger safety laws

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“Safe storage doesn’t take a single gun away from any person,” an advocate said.

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This article is about the prevention of tobacco use by teens, posted by NBC News. Tobacco use among American high schoolers grew more than 38 percent last year from 2017, when the government blamed e-cigarettes for single-handedly erasing progress in keeping young people off the addictive drug. In 2018, e-cigs were still the most commonly used tobacco product among teens. In November, the Food and Drug Administration proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars but exempted menthol and mint-flavored e-cigarettes from any proposed restrictions. Many say this is a public health emergency that cannot be ignored.

This can be addressed in the classroom by informing students of the seriousness and negative effects of tobacco use. Teachers in the classroom can show students different products and explain the negative effects of each. Can incorporate a science experiment with showing what it does to up your lungs.

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Tobacco use among American high schoolers grew more than 38 percent last year from 2017, the government said in a r eport published Monday that blamed e-cigarettes for single-handedly erasing progress in keeping young people off the addictive drug. Among middle school students, the increase - 28.6 percent - was equally sobering.

The report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that overall last year, more than one in four high schoolers and about one in 14 middle schoolers reported using a tobacco product in the previous 30 days - 4.9 million kids in total. In 2018, e-cigs were still the most commonly used tobacco product among teens.

"It's putting a new generation at risk for nicotine addiction," Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the CDC's director, said in a news release. "Youth use of any tobacco product, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe."

The report said that in 2018, 20.8 percent of those in ninth to 12th grades said they vaped, up from 11.7 percent in 2017, a 78 percent increase. The percentage of sixth- to eighth-graders who said they vaped went from 3.3 percent to 4.9 percent, a 48.5 percent increase. However, there was no significant change in the use of other tobacco products, including cigarettes, during that time among either group.

The data was gathered from the National Youth Tobacco Survey, an annual poll of American students that asks about their use of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigs and four other tobacco products.

People who work to stop kids from smoking - such as Brian King, a deputy director with the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health - lamented the dour statistics. "That progress that we've made over the past years has been completely erased," he told NBC News. "And it's a primary result of e-cigarettes."

E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that heat up liquid nicotine; users inhale the vapor that is produced. Smoking e-cigs is more discreet than smoking cigarettes, which makes it appealing to teenagers.

The version sold by one manufacturer, Juul, is especially popular with teens because the nicotine cartridge, which resembles a flash drive, can be recharged on a laptop and is easily concealed. It also comes in fruity and sweet flavors that kids like, King said. Juul has said its e-cigs are intended only for adult smokers who want to move to safer products.

King said cigarette smoking had been declining among American youth since around 1998. "However within the past three years, we have not seen any change in cigarette smoking," he said, adding that it had been hovering around 8 percent. "We're certainly not seeing any progress when it comes to e-cigarettes."

"What we ultimately don't want to do when it comes to tobacco product use is play a game of whack-a-mole," King said, "where we're allowing certain products to go down, and certain products to go up. When it comes to youth, there's no redeeming aspects of any form of tobacco product, whether it's smoked, smokeless or electronic."

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Tobacco use by teens soars, erasing past progress, CDC says

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Tobacco use among American high schoolers grew more than 38 percent last year from 2017, the government said in a r eport published Monday that blamed e-cigarettes for single-handedly erasing progress in keeping young people off the addictive drug. Among middle school students, the increase - 28.6 percent - was equally sobering.

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This article is about drug use and how it causes fatal heart infections that are linked to opioid abuse, posted by U.S. News. These infections have tripled among young Americans during the past 2 decades. Researchers found that the increase in fatal heart infections to the growing number of people between 15 and 44 years old who are injecting opioid drugs. Humans have layers upon layers of skin and immune defenses to prevent germs from freely circulating in the bloodstream, but drug users who shoot up bypass all that.

This can be addressed in the classroom by informing students of the seriousness and dangers of opioid use and abuse. Teachers in the classroom can explain what opioids are and how students can prevent getting addicted.

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By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 9, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. opioid epidemic has been heartbreaking - literally.

Young adults' risk of dying from a devastating infection of the heart has doubled to tripled in the United States during the past two decades, a new study reports.

Researchers ascribe the increase in fatal heart infections to the growing number of people between 15 and 44 who are injecting opioid drugs.

"We found that people who inject drugs comprise a bigger percentage of the deaths from infective endocarditis, compared to 20 years ago," said senior researcher Dr. Polydoros Kampaktsis, an assistant professor with Columbia University's division of cardiology, in New York City.

"This is more notable among the younger population," he added.

Endocarditis occurs when the lining of your heart valves and heart chambers - the endocardium - become infected with germs, typically bacteria, that enter your bloodstream.

If left untreated, the infection can "destroy the heart," said Dr. Georgios Syros, director of arrhythmia services at Mount Sinai Queens in New York City.

"You can have strokes. You can have leaking valves. You may have to do open-heart surgery to replace those valves," Syros said. "It's devastating."

The death rate for infective endocarditis among people 15 to 44 doubled between 1999 and 2020, increasing from 0.3 deaths to 0.6 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the researchers' analysis of federal mortality data.

Worse, the endocarditis death rate tripled for people 15 to 34, rising from 0.1 to 0.3 deaths per 100,000 people, the findings showed.

This occurred even as the endocarditis death rate for the entire U.S. population fell, from 2.1 per 100,000 people in 1999 to 1.8 in 2020.

Overall, young people comprised 10% of all endocarditis deaths in 2020, an increase from less than 7% in 1999, the investigators found.

Looking more closely at the statistics, the research team concluded the opioid epidemic is likely responsible for the rise in endocarditis deaths among the young.

People who inject drugs constitute an increasing percentage of all those who die from endocarditis, rising from 1.1% in 1999 to 3% in 2020.

Among young people, intravenous drug users constituted nearly 20% of endocarditis deaths in 2020, up from about 10% in 1999, according to the report.

"This is a continuation of the story of death by despair that we have seen. It is unfortunate that these data and findings confirm what we have been seeing clinically for years," said Dr. Wael Jaber, a cardiologist with the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

Humans have layers upon layers of skin and immune defenses to prevent germs from freely circulating in the bloodstream, but drug users who shoot up bypass all that protection, said Syros and Kampaktsis.

"Intravenous injection can introduce bacteria directly to the blood circulation," Kampaktsis explained. "Bacteria can be present in the skin or the needle. Once the needle enters the vein, it allows bacteria to enter the circulation and travel to the heart."

The risk is even greater given that drug users often inject themselves regularly, Syros added.

"These guys repeatedly breach the barrier," Syros said. "They're not injecting once in a lifetime. They are injecting perpetually, and they're also sharing needles. That multiplies the risk of getting exposed to something that can cause infective endocarditis."

Treatment options are limited, typically involving heavy doses of intravenous antibiotics, the experts said.

"'Sterilizing' the bloodstream is often difficult and the risk of infection return is high, especially with continuous drug use," Jaber said.

If the infection has damaged the heart valves, high-risk open-heart surgery might be needed to replace them with prosthetic valves, he noted.

"There really is no good way to 'cure' this heart complication," Jaber said.

Needle exchange programs are likely the only way to immediately address this risk to heart health, Syros said.

"We should definitely try to give them clean syringes," Syros said. "If you want to use, please use a clean syringe."

Substance abuse soared during the COVID pandemic, with an increase in fatal drug overdoses of nearly 30% during the first full year of the crisis, Syros added.

"This is something that I have personally witnessed in the hospital," Syros said. "There were people that were hovering there - before the pandemic, they were on the verge of using/not using drugs, drinking/not drinking alcohol. Because of the pandemic, it was like a slap, and then we saw numbers rising very, very, very fast."

Until the United States adopts cultural and policy changes to effectively curb opioid use, Syros believes cases of endocarditis among young drug users will continue to climb.

"I think we're going to have a surge in the years to come, following the increase in people taking opiates during COVID," Syros said. "I believe there will be a wave of infective endocarditis affecting the young in the years after the pandemic. It's going to go up."

SOURCES: Polydoros Kampaktsis, MD, PhD, assistant professor, division of cardiology, Columbia University, Irving Medical Center, New York City; Georgios Syros, MD, director, arrhythmia services, Mount Sinai Queens, New York City; Wael Jaber, MD, cardiologist, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio; Journal of Internal Medicine, Nov. 9, 2022

Copyright © 2022 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Fatal Heart Infections Linked to Opioid Abuse Have Tripled Among Young Americans

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By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Nov. 9, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. opioid epidemic has been heartbreaking - literally. Young adults' risk of dying from a devastating infection of the heart has doubled to tripled in the United States during the past two decades, a new study reports.

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This article is about death/grief/loss with the recent murder of 4 college students at the University of Idaho, posted by ABC News. Information has been released about the investigation into the killings. A county coroner said the four were likely asleep when they were attacked. Hundreds of students mourned together inside the University of Idaho's stadium, while family members of four slain classmates urged them to raise their eyes from grief and focus on love and the future. Students were also very scared as the murder happened at the on-campus housing.

This can be addressed in the classroom by sharing how the community came together to grieve and shared their hopes for the future. Teachers in the classroom can talk about ways to grief and how a community can come together in grief.

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BOISE, Idaho -- In a normal year, University of Idaho students would be bustling between classes and the library, readying for the pre-finals cramming period known as "dead week."

On Wednesday, however, a little under half the students appeared to be gone, choosing to stay home and take classes online rather than return to the town where the murders of four classmates remains unsolved, said Blaine Eckles, the university's dean of students. Some students who were in attendance were relying on university-hired security staffers to drive them to class because they didn't want to walk across campus alone.

The Moscow Police Department has yet to name a person of interest in the stabbing deaths of Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington. The three women lived together in a rental home across the street from campus, and Chapin was there staying that night.

A county coroner said they were likely asleep when they were attacked. Two weeks later investigators have yet to find a murder weapon - believed to be a military-style knife - or elaborate on why they think the killings were "targeted."

The murders have left the university and the small farming community that contains it shell-shocked.

"When we lose any students, especially under these circumstances, my heart is absolutely broken," Eckles said. "It shakes you to your core a little bit, knowing that in this community, which is incredibly safe in general, can have something this horrific happen."

Now, as students and faculty members try to navigate a quagmire of grief and fear, government agencies and community members are searching for answers and trying to help lessen the damage.

Gov. Brad Little announced last week that he was directing up to $1 million in state emergency funds for the investigation. The FBI has assigned 44 people to the case - half of them stationed in Moscow - and the Idaho State Police has 15 troopers helping with community patrols and another 20 investigators working the case.

Some community members started online fundraising campaigns to support family members and friends of the slain students. A university alum began raising money to equip women on campus with handheld personal safety alarms. By last week, Kerry Uhlorn had brought in more than $18,000, ordered more than 700 of the alarms and had plans to buy 900 more, Boise television station KTVB reported.

Thousands of people were expected to join the university community in mourning Wednesday evening, with several simultaneous candlelight vigils scheduled across the state. The school districts in Boise and Meridian announced plans to light up their athletic fields at the same time in solidarity.

Still, the question for faculty members and students remains: How do they focus on learning with four friends gone and a killer on the loose? Staffers are talking directly to students about how to handle the challenge, Eckles said.

"It's the elephant in the room, right? It's hard to do that," Eckles said. "Our faculty are also really understanding that it's going to be a hard time for students to kind of focus and concentrate at this time. So they're being very patient and leading with a lot of grace. And quite frankly, I think our students are doing that with our employees as well."

Local law enforcement agencies have seen an uptick in calls reporting suspicious behavior.

"We understand there is a sense of fear in our community," the Moscow Police Department wrote on Nov. 27. Since the murders, the number of people requesting welfare checks, in which an officer is sent to check on a person's wellbeing, has doubled.

The university has also seen an increase in people calling its "Vandal Care" phone line to report that they were struggling or worried someone else was struggling with an issue, Eckles said.

"While I personally am very confident that the police will resolve (the murders), until that happens, no one is resting easy," he said. "There's someone out there that took the lives of four of our Vandals, and we don't know who they are. We don't know where they are."

Eckes added he hopes the vigils will offer some temporary comfort, but the community will not "ultimately be able to heal until someone is brought to justice for this crime."

Some of the victims' family members were expected to attend the vigils.

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Half-empty Idaho campus full of fear and grief after murders

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BOISE, Idaho -- In a normal year, University of Idaho students would be bustling between classes and the library, readying for the pre-finals cramming period known as "dead week."

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This article is about laws regarding LGBTQ lessons in elementary school, posted by ABC News. More than 6 in 10 Americans oppose legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school. LGBTQ activists and advocates have said it would harm queer youth by shunning representation and inclusion from classrooms and erasing the presence of the LGBTQ community. ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 62% of Americans oppose such legislation, while 37% support it.

This can be addressed in the classroom by showing students how LGBTQIA+ rights are seen in politics and in the laws/bills regarding school policies. Teachers in the classroom can talk about influential LGBTQIA+ people and discuss accepting everyone.

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More than 6 in 10 Americans oppose legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll finds.

The ABC News/Ipsos poll, which was conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News using Ipsos' KnowledgePanel, found that 62% of Americans oppose such legislation, while 37% support it.

The results show lopsided disapproval for laws like the one that recently passed in Florida that limits what elementary school classrooms can teach about sexual orientation and gender identity. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has expressed support for the bill, which awaits his signature or veto.

The ABC News/Ipsos poll found that Republicans are more likely to support legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school, with 61% of GOP identifiers supporting it compared to only 20% of Democrats and 35% of independents.

Support for this type of legislation increases with age, but doesn't reach majority support in any age group. Among those 65 and older, 43% support the ban, while it falls to about a third among those under the age of 50.

Results were not significantly different by education level. Sixty-five percent of respondents with a college degree oppose such legislation, while 60% of those with a high school education or less also oppose it.

Not surprisingly, respondents who identify as LGBTQ overwhelmingly oppose this type of legislation, at 87%. The ABC News/Ipsos poll oversampled people who identify as LGBTQ, with their responses then weighted to match their correct proportion in the general population. Among those who do not identify as LGBTQ, a majority (59%) also oppose the legislation.

The poll was conducted days after Florida's state legislature passed the Parental Rights in Education bill. Under the legislation, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by LGBTQ activists, lessons "may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards."

Parents would be able to sue schools or teachers they allege to have discussed these topics under the bill, which would go into effect on July 1 if enacted.

The bill has drawn national attention, with President Joe Biden, a Democrat, calling it "hateful." LGBTQ activists and advocates have harshly criticized the measure, saying it would harm queer youth by shunning representation and inclusion from classrooms and erase the presence of the LGBTQ community. Proponents of the bill say such discussions should be left to parents.

Similar measures are being considered in several other states this year.

In Georgia, the Common Humanity in Private Education Act, introduced last week, would prohibit private school classrooms from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels "or in a manner that is not appropriate for the age and developmental stage of the student."

A Tennessee bill would prohibit public schools from using instructional materials that "promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender issues or lifestyles."

In Indiana, a bill introduced earlier this year would require teachers to obtain parental consent before teaching human sexuality -- including sexual identity, sexual orientation and "transgenderism" -- to students under the age of 18.

An Oklahoma bill advancing through the state Senate would ban public schools and school libraries from stocking books that are about "the study of sex, sexual lifestyles, or sexual activity."
This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted using Ipsos Public Affairs' KnowledgePanel® March 11-12, 2022, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 622 adults with an oversample of LGBTQ+ respondents weighted to their correct proportion in the general population. Results have a margin of sampling error of 4.4 points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 27-26-40%, Democrats-Republicans-independents. See the poll's topline results and details on the methodology here. ABC News' Dan Merkle and Ken Goldstein contributed to this report.

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6 in 10 Americans oppose laws prohibiting LGBTQ lessons in elementary school: POLL

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More than 6 in 10 Americans oppose legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll finds. The ABC News/Ipsos poll, which was conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News using Ipsos' KnowledgePanel, found that 62% of Americans oppose such legislation, while 37% support it.

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This article is about how trauma that is suffered in childhood echoes across generations, posted by ABC News. The study finds that traumatic events in childhood increase the risk of mental health and behavioral problems not just for that person but also for their children. Early-life experiences (stressful or traumatic ones in particular) have intergenerational consequences for child behavior and their mental health. This demonstrates one way in which all of us carry our histories with us, which our study shows have implications for parenting and children's health.

This can be addressed in the classroom by informing students about what trauma is and how trauma can travel through generations and letting them know where they can go for support. Teachers in the classroom can give examples of people going through some trauma and students suggest what they should do to help it.

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Trauma in childhood echoes through generations, according to new research that could have implications for thousands of migrant children recently separated from parents at the U.S. border.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles and published today in Pediatrics, finds that traumatic events in childhood increase the risk of mental health and behavioral problems not just for that person but also for their children.

"Early-life experiences -- stressful or traumatic ones in particular -- have intergenerational consequences for child behavior and mental health," the lead author, Adam Schickedanz, clinical instructor in pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, told ABC News. "This demonstrates one way in which all of us carry our histories with us, which our study shows has implications for our parenting and our children's health."

Asked by ABC News how the research may relate to the more than 2,000 children recently separated from their families after crossing the U.S. border, Schickedanz said all families who participated in the study were from the U.S. but that evidence suggests the effects of adverse childhood events "take a toll in large part as a result of toxic stress responses that appear to be universal, since they have been demonstrated across families from diverse backgrounds."

The researchers looked at the effects over a generation when a child grows up in an unstable environment, suffers neglect or has absent parents. "Based on the available evidence, one would expect that the stresses and trauma children are experiencing due to family separation at the border will have intergenerational behavioral health consequences," Schickedanz said.

The study used a national sample of families from previous research -- parents who had participated in a 2014 Child Development Supplement and 2,529 of their children who had complete data in the 2014 Childhood Retrospective Circumstances Study.

The severity of a child's behavioral issues was measured through a scale called the behavior problems index. Researchers gave the primary caregivers of children ages 3 to 17 years old a series of questions to assess present problems, including with anxiety, depression, dependency, hyperactivity, and aggression.

The study found a link between children with a high rate of behavioral problems and parents who had experienced a greater number of adverse childhood events, ACEs.

Parents who growing up suffered four or more adverse events before they were 18 -- including neglect, abuse and household dysfunction -- were more likely to have children with behavioral issues, such as being hyperactive or having problems regulating their emotions, the research found.

Among the group studied, one-fifth of the parents had four or more traumatic experiences as children.

The researchers also found that a parent's gender was a factor in the outcome of the child. Children's outcomes were more negatively affected when it was their mothers, rather than fathers, who suffered trauma as children. Researchers explained this by noting that mothers are more often the primary caregivers.

This is the first study showing a correlation between adverse events in childhood and outcomes for the children of those who suffered the original trauma, and the researchers don't want to stop there.

"Right now, we are exploring whether these intergenerational [adverse event] associations persist across more than one generation. In fact our study team's next step is to examine whether grandparents' [adverse childhood events] can be linked to their grandchildren's behavioral health."

While this study focused on the behavioral consequences of traumatic childhood experiences, other research has shown that adverse childhood events affect physical health, increasing the risk of chronic disease and premature mortality later in life.
Denise Powell, M.D. candidate, is a student from Jackson, Mississippi, working in the ABC News Medical Unit.

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Trauma suffered in childhood echoes across generations, study finds

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Trauma in childhood echoes through generations, according to new research that could have implications for thousands of migrant children recently separated from parents at the U.S. border. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles and published today in Pediatrics, finds that traumatic events in childhood increase the risk of mental health and behavioral problems not just for that person but also for their children.