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Mental and Emotional Health: Mental-Health Check-in

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Mental and Emotional Health: Mental-Health Check-in

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In this article about Mental Health, NPR discusses the mental health fallout due to the recent years of the pandemic. In response schools have decreased their academic focus in the beginning weeks of the year, and spent more time checking in on students' mental health and school readiness. Their idea is to start conversations around how kids are feeling, and to connect them to help before issues worsen. Tackling this is by implementing routine check-in's within lesson planning and curriculum.

It is important to know, as teachers, that our students' mental well-being effects their ability to thrive academically. Teachers must value their students' mental health, in order to aid them to success. By doing this, teachers need to implement social and emotional learning in the school day, provided routine check-in's, and promote a sense of community within the classroom.

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As school starts, teachers add a mental-health check-in to their lesson plans

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After the disruption and trauma of the pandemic, educators say kids still need added support this year. In some schools, they’re making emotional wellness part of the curriculum.

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Intentional Injury and Violence: A New Phrase for "Stranger Danger"

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Intentional Injury and Violence: A New Phrase for "Stranger Danger"

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In this article about Personal Safety, ABC KATU 2 local news informs about new found phrasing to warn children of their safety. The popular phrase "Stranger Danger", is now "Tricky People". Many agencies and organizations are moving away from "stranger danger" because statistics show that children more likely to be abused or kidnapped by someone they know. They also point out that not all strangers are bad, and that they can help in an emergency.

It is important to discuss this type of personal safety with students, as well as teachers being aware. Kidnapping and abuse scenarios can occur on school grounds, such as outside recess and pick up time. There are situations where children are only allowed to be picked up by certain people and not by others, even if the child knows them. Thats why it is important for, both, teachers and students to be aware of "Tricky People".

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New phrase replacing 'stranger danger' to warn children, parents: 'Tricky people'

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Schools, law enforcement and parents have used the phrase

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Physical Activity: Why Physical Education Can’t Be a Casualty of the Pandemic

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Physical Activity: Why Physical Education Can’t Be a Casualty of the Pandemic

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In this article about Physical Activity, US News discusses the importance of P.E. in schools. The article talks about the recent circumstances of the COVID 19 pandemic, and how P.E. was the first to be left out when in came to online school. The US News discusses the benefits of physical education and detriments without it. It is explained that physical activity is a behavior that is learned, taught, practiced and reinforced. That if this behavior is not taught at home, it needs to be taught in school.

This is important to discuss with students and teachers as it is important to value physical education. A part of learning is to take care of your mind and body, which cannot be done by sitting in class all day. As we transition back to school full-time, from the pandemic, it's important to advertise physical activity and incorporate activity with in the classroom as well. For it is not certain that students are participating in physical activity outside of school.

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A hard and fast warning was just issued from the United Kingdom and it affects our children. U.S. policymakers, educators and administrators, take note. The warning: the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated declines in children's physical fitness, excessive weight and mental health. Action is needed.

Sadly, in the U.S., two epidemics pre-dated COVID-19: an obesity epidemic and a mental health crisis. In fact, these two epidemics have been intensified by the global health pandemic, particularly for children. Suspected childhood obesity rates are on the rise with evidence suggesting long-term negative impacts and mental health-related pediatric emergency room visits were up by 31% by the end of 2020.

In the U.S., the prevalence of childhood obesity is 18.9%; almost a fifth of our children are overweight, with disproportionately higher rates identified in vulnerable children, like those from a lower socioeconomic status and children with disabilities. Children who are obese are more likely to have poorer social emotional health, and physical activity is a known behavior to combat obesity and aid in improving mental health.

Photos: America's Pandemic Toll

For many children, it's been a year of schooling from home. This means substantial screen time and limited physical activity. Like most teachers, physical educators pivoted in March 2020, and creatively managed to teach physical education via virtual learning environments. Their role has been critical in ensuring students are active and maintaining the learning that would have occurred in physical education for the past year. Their efforts have been nothing but exceptional and, as they know, it was always a temporary substitute for in-person learning.

Physical educators teach a range of skills including but not limited to hand-eye coordination, balance, sport-specific skills, and how to transfer learned skills to community participation, which is known to uplift social-emotional health and possibly academics. The American Academy of Pediatrics agrees that schools play a critical role in providing opportunities for childhood physical activity. Physical educators are experts at combating the childhood physical inactivity epidemic and childhood mental health crisis - both epidemics silently but surely reaching a boiling point.

Yet, trends indicate that physical education is being left out of many phase-back plans for students as the pandemic lifts. I've heard stories of limited physical education, such as only 15 minutes per week and stories like gymnasiums, the primary physical education classrooms, being repurposed in phase-back plans, often retrofitted with dividers to act as traditional classrooms. Some schools, using hybrid-style phase-back plans, have left physical education online, neglecting to consider it for in-person learning.

This practice does not align with education laws.

Equitable access to physical education is vital to embracing physical activity as a lifelong behavior. In the United States, physical education is clearly identified as a part of a well-rounded education in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). And in fact, the overarching special education law in the U.S., the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act ( IDEA), indicates that physical education is a direct service for children with disabilities. This means physical education can and should be included in every individual education plan (IEP) for children with disabilities.

I don't want to be facile about the difficult decisions teachers, administrators and districts consider as their schools return to a new normal. But undervaluing the role of physical education is inappropriate - it is a part of a well-rounded education by law and a part of a student with a disability's IEP, a legal document. To sideline trained experts in our children's physical and mental health is a problem. Furthermore, physical educators are being asked to aid the school in ways that depreciate their training. I've heard stories, for example, of PE teachers being asked to monitor hallways.

The benefits of physical activity are well-known and well-documented. They have profound lifelong health benefits, such as better cardiovascular health, stronger muscles and bones, improved mental health, and lower risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and other diseases. The American College of Sports Medicine has an initiative called Exercise is Medicine; if a dose of physical activity came in the form of a pill, everyone would take it. But physical activity is not a pill. It is a behavior that is learned, taught, practiced and reinforced. It is a behavior that is powerful for our health, education and life.

If we get it right, we can ensure a healthier future for our children that includes education about physical activity and knowledge about how it positively impacts mental health.

Our collective need for movement has never been clearer. And we don't have time to miss out on opportunities to improve the mental and physical health of our children.

Physical education needs to take priority in school phase-back plans.

In fact, the law requires it.

Megan MacDonald is an associate professor of kinesiology in the College of Public Health & Human Sciences at Oregon State University and the IMPACT for Life Faculty Scholar. She is also the director of the early childhood research core at the university's Hallie E. Ford Center for Children & Families and a public voices fellow through the OpEd Project.

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Why PE Is Vital to Students Going Back to School

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A hard and fast warning was just issued from the United Kingdom and it affects our children. U.S. policymakers, educators and administrators, take note. The warning: the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated declines in children's physical fitness, excessive weight and mental health. Action is needed.

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Alcohol/Drug Use Prevention: Alcohol Education Starting at Fourth Grade

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Alcohol/Drug Use Prevention: Alcohol Education Starting at Fourth Grade

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In this article about Alcohol Use Prevention, NBC News discusses a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center researcher report. The report suggests that alcohol education should start at fourth grade. Experts reviewed surveys of alcohol use among children. Although the numbers of 4th grade were small, the data shows that the percent of children who have used alcohol exponentially increases with age.

This is important to touch on with your class as a teacher, because you have a variety of students with different home lives. Some of your students could be overly exposed to alcohol and its use, and some maybe not at all. It is important that your students are informed properly about alcohol and its negative affects.

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Efforts to curb underage drinking in the U.S. should start as early as the fourth grade, a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center researcher reports in the current issue of Prevention Science.

In a review of state and national surveys of alcohol use among children in grades 3 through 6 conducted over the last 15 years, Dr. John E. Donovan found that among typical 4th graders, 10 percent had already had more than a sip of alcohol and 7 percent had a drink in the past year.

While the numbers are small in the 4th grade, the data show that the percent of children who have used alcohol increases with age and doubles between the 4th and 6th grades, with the largest jump seen between grades 5 and 6.

"It is clear from this review that attention to children's alcohol use cannot wait until they are adolescents," warns Donovan.

At each grade level, boys were more likely to have used alcohol than girls, and African American children were nearly twice as likely as white or Hispanic children to have used alcohol.

The good news from the surveys, which were conducted on a regular basis since 1990, is that the number of elementary school children who have tried alcohol has been declining substantially over time.

"But the numbers are still alarming because of the connection between early alcohol consumption and negative outcomes later during both adolescence and young adulthood," Donovan notes in a statement from the Society for Prevention Research.

There is ample evidence, he concludes, that children are drinking alcohol and "our concern with underage drinking needs to start in elementary school, not in high school or college."

"Childhood use of alcohol," Donovan also points out, "predicts involvement in alcohol problems, alcohol abuse and dependence in both adolescence and adulthood. And early drinking relates to a variety of other problems, including absences from school, delinquent behavior, drinking and driving, sexual intercourse and pregnancy."

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Expert wants alcohol education for 4th graders

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Efforts to curb underage drinking in the U.S. should start as early as the fourth grade, a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center researcher reports in the current issue of Prevention Science. In a review of state and national surveys of alcohol use among children in grades 3 through 6 conducted over the last 15 years, Dr. John E.

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Healthy Eating: Healthy Meals in Schools

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Healthy Eating: Healthy Meals in Schools

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In this article about Healthy Eating, CNN discusses how some children's healthiest meals come from school cafeterias. The article talks about the progression of nutrition quality since Hunger-Free Kids Act. Schools are able to produce healthy meals, opposed to meals at home. Due to healthy foods costing more in grocery stores, not all students have the opportunity to eat healthy meals at home.

This is important for teachers to be aware about their students. Not all students are able to have healthy snacks or food at home, therefore it is important to have discussions in class on healthy eating. Such as what healthy eating looks like and also modeling it for the student, therefore school might be the only place they are exposed to it.

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Children's healthiest meals of the day come from school cafeterias | CNN

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The number of unhealthy calories children consumed at school was cut in half - from 55% to 24% - between 2003 and 2018.

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Charles, Raenu. “More than 3 Million Middle and High School Students Reported Using Tobacco in 2022.” CNN, Cable News Network, 14 Nov. 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/10/health/youth-tobacco-use-2022/index.html.

Chatterjee, Rhitu. “As School Starts, Teachers Add a Mental-Health Check-in to Their Lesson Plans.” NPR, NPR, 2 Sept. 2022, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/09/02/1120077364/with-kids-back-in-school-educators-brace-to-help-with-ongoing-mental-health-trou.

Chris Liedle, KATU News. “New Phrase Replacing 'Stranger Danger' to Warn Children, Parents: 'Tricky People'.” KATU, https://katu.com/news/local/new-phrase-replacing-stranger-danger-to-warn-children-parents-tricky-people.

“Expert Wants Alcohol Education for 4th Graders.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 12 Sept. 2007, https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna20746778.

Marples, Megan. “Children's Healthiest Meals of the Day Come from School Cafeterias.” CNN, Cable News Network, 13 Apr. 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/13/health/healthy-school-food-nutrition-wellness/index.html.

Mills, Rick. “Health Department Addresses Hygiene Need in Schools.” The Morning Sun, The Morning Sun, 3 Dec. 2022, https://www.themorningsun.com/2022/12/03/health-department-addresses-hygiene-need-in-schools/.

Rizzo, Sara. “Holiday Decorating, Christmas Tree Fire Safety Suggestions from Fasny.” NEWS10 ABC, NEWS10 ABC, 16 Dec. 2021, https://www.news10.com/news/holiday-decorating-christmas-tree-fire-safety-suggestions-from-fasny/.

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Safety and Preventing Unintentional Injury: Fire Safety Tips for the Holidays

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Safety and Preventing Unintentional Injury: Fire Safety Tips for the Holidays

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In this article about Safety and Preventing Unintentional Injury, ABC 10 News discusses fire safety for the holidays. the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY)  remind readers of some precautions to take and keep in mind while celebrating. These precautions and tips include safe ways to decorate, such as: choosing decorations that are flame resistant, Keeping lit candles away from decorations and other things that can burn, Some lights are only for indoor or outdoor use, etc. Other persuasions included Christmas tree safety, like: Always place your tree away from heat sources like fireplaces, radiators, candles, heat vents or lights, and keep the tree base filled with water, Keep all your holiday candles away from your tree, Don’t forget to turn your Christmas tree lights off each night, etc.

I find this type of discussion very important to have with your students. Fire safety should be a topic of discussion when it comes to health, but to keep the conversation reoccurring, the holidays are a great time to revisit. There is a lot going on around the holidays and it should be a fun experience for children, therefore children should be aware of how to stay safe during all the "holiday chaos".

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ALBANY, N.Y. ( NEWS10) - With the arrival of the holiday season, the Firemen's Association of the State of New York (FASNY) is reminding New Yorkers to take some precautions while celebrating.

"The holiday season is a very special time of the year," said FASNY President John P. Farrell. "Unfortunately, we see more fires happen during the holidays. Watering your Christmas tree, checking your smoke alarms, being mindful of candles and following cooking safety are all simple and easy actions everyone can take."

FASNY said the leading causes of fires during winter months are from winter storms, heating systems, holiday decorations and candles. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), U.S. fire departments respond to an average 160 home fires that started with Christmas trees per year and an average of 7,900 home fires started by candles. Fire departments also responded to an average of 780 home fires that began with holiday decorations.

Holiday decorating suggestions from NFPA:

Choose decorations that are flame resistant or flame retardant

Keep lit candles away from decorations and other things that can burn

Some lights are only for indoor or outdoor use, but not both

Replace any string of lights with worn or broken cords or loose bulb connections

Use clips, not nails, to hang lights so the cords do not get damaged

Keep decorations away from windows and doors

Safety suggestions for your Christmas tree:

Fresh trees are less likely to catch fire, so look for a tree with vibrant green needles that are hard to pluck and don't break easily

Always place your tree away from heat sources like fireplaces, radiators, candles, heat vents or lights, and keep the tree base filled with water

Make sure all your indoor and outdoor Christmas lights have been tested in a lab for safety

Any lights you use outdoors must be labeled suitable for exterior placement, and be sure to plug them into a ground-fault circuit interrupter protected receptacle

Keep all your holiday candles away from your tree

Don't forget to turn your Christmas tree lights off each night

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christmas tree fire safety suggestions from fasny

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firemen’s association of the state of new york

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Holiday decorating, Christmas tree fire safety suggestions from FASNY

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ALBANY, N.Y. ( NEWS10) - With the arrival of the holiday season, the Firemen's Association of the State of New York (FASNY) is reminding New Yorkers to take some precautions while celebrating. "The holiday season is a very special time of the year," said FASNY President John P. Farrell.

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Preventing Tobacco Use: Youth and Tobacco Use

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Preventing Tobacco Use: Youth and Tobacco Use

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In this article about Preventing Tobacco Use, CNN discusses how common tobacco use is among middle and highschool students. This article states that more than 3 million US middle and high schoolers (about 11% of students) reported current tobacco use in 2022.  And for the ninth consecutive year, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product among youth. This article talks about how these products contain nicotine, which is highly addictive and can harm the developing adolescent brain.

This is an important topic to discuss among fellow teachers as it is a current event that is effecting or is going to affect our students as they age. It is important to be aware of this, as well as to educate our students ahead of time. Using nicotine during adolescence can harm the developing  brain and also increase risk for future addiction to other drugs. Educating students of the risks in their youth, can hopefully prevent any pressures to do so in their adolescence.

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More than 3 million middle and high school students reported using tobacco in 2022 | CNN

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More than 3 million US middle and high schoolers - about 11% of students - reported current tobacco use in 2022, according to a new study from researchers at the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Personal Health and Wellness: Addressing Hygiene Needs in School

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Personal Health and Wellness: Addressing Hygiene Needs in School

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In this article about Personal Health and Wellness, The Morning Sun discusses the critical need for hygiene products. Health officials say that some families can’t afford deodorant or menstrual products because that money is used to pay for rent or utilities. Children affected by hygiene poverty may come to school without the opportunity to shower, brush their teeth, or dress in clean clothing. In this article, it talks about the Central Michigan District Health Department, raising and accepting donations, such as: deodorants, shampoo and conditioner, Toothbrushes/Toothpastes, soap/body wash, and menstrual pads.

This is an important topic for teacher to be aware of. Teacher may have student of low economic status, where their hygiene is not priority. Being aware and eductated on the topic allows them to be able to aid these students. Also the type of donations that was discussed in the article can be suggested to your school district.

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A year ago mid-Michigan health officials kicked off an effort to meet the hygiene needs of school students, and now they're seeking support to continue meeting the need.

Community groups are encouraged to join with the Central Michigan District Health Department to reduce the effects of hygiene poverty in schools.

Hygiene poverty is the inability to afford basic hygiene and personal grooming products that most people take for granted.

"The sad truth is that some families can't afford deodorant or menstrual products because that money is used to pay for rent or utilities," health officials said.

"Children affected by hygiene poverty may come to school without the opportunity to shower, brush their teeth, or dress in clean clothing."

During the 2021-2022 school year, the impact of hygiene poverty in the rural schools in our six counties became evident, department officials said.

Over 80% of schools identified that they have been using menstrual and personal hygiene items donated by school staff, purchased using their own personal finances, for their students when needed.

This burden expands beyond finances.

Hygiene poverty can lead to impacted children being bullied, which can affect their ability to learn.

CMDHD began an initiative, in collaboration with community partners, to help meet this need through REFRESH, which stands for Rural Engagement Facilitating Resources and Education for School Hygiene.

Each elementary, middle and high school in CMDHD's school districts received direct donations delivered by CMDHD Health Resource Advocates (HRAs).

Those donations include deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, soap, and body wash, lotion, and menstrual pads.

In addition, CMDHD HRAs provide their schools with hygiene and menstrual hygiene educational materials, including menstruation starter kit cards, handwashing posters and puberty/sex education parent packs.

In its first year, CMDHD's REFRESH initiative has distributed almost 55,000 supplies to 102 schools in our district:

* 1,750 deodorants
* 3,200 shampoo and conditioner
* 1.520 Toothbrushes
* 1,520 Toothpastes
* 1,600 soap/body wash
* 45,100 menstrual pads

Any organization that would like to collaborate with CMDHD to combat hygiene poverty in our schools, can call 989-314-7570 and ask to speak with an HRA.

Arenac, Clare, Gladwin, Isabella, Osceola, and Roscommon County schools who need assistance to support children experiencing hygiene poverty should reach out to their CMDHD HRA for more information.

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Health department addresses hygiene need in schools

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A year ago mid-Michigan health officials kicked off an effort to meet the hygiene needs of school students, and now they're seeking support to continue meeting the need. Community groups are encouraged to join with the Central Michigan District Health Department to reduce the effects of hygiene poverty in schools.