| This month's elementary education page is dedicated to the theme of Alcohol and Drug Awareness. This is a most important topic, as it acknowledges the necessity of supporting students in the choices that can positively affect their health. School-based educators are faced with many issues today in trying to provide opportunities for students to acquire the knowledge and preventative behaviors to ensure their health!
Physical educators can be most influential in determining the well-being of our next generation of adults, and I hope that this month’s page will provide you with information and ideas to support this task. I have included several articles, and a number of web sites, that I hope will be useful to you, your teaching, and your students.
Clive Hickson
Elementary Section Editor
Featured Website! Fales Elementary School. Take a look at their great photos! This teacher is doing something right! |
| Substance Abuse Resources |
| To help us all better understand what drug and alcohol issues students face, and how we can support their decision making and healthy choices, below are some links to websites that can help provide information and make our lessons and activities even better.
For some straight forward information on different kinds of drugs, and the effects they have on the body at Healthopedia.com.
The National Parent Teacher association provides some excellent information that can be passed on to parents in newsletters concerning drugs and alcohol. For some tips to provide parents on how to keep their children drug free, check out these resources at the national PTA website. For information about the dangers of inhalants, read "Clearing the Air on Inhalant Abuse." For information about alcohol use by kids, read "Teens and Alcohol: Preventing that lethal combination."
Help your students strive for healthy living with inspirational posters! Check out Gym Motivators, and their health posters and banners that support healthy choices for students.
The US Department of Education provides some information for parents on how to keep their children drug free. Providing this information in a physical education or school newsletter can be a great way of getting parents to begin discussing drug and alcohol issues with their children at home.
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| Understanding Performance Enhancing Drugs
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Knowing about the dangers of performance enhancing drugs is an important issue for physical educators, as we are often asked about them. To ensure that we are providing valuable and accurate advice and information about the dangers of such drugs, below are a few professional level websites to provide information on what these drugs are.
How Performance Enhancing Drugs Work - This article discusses why some athletes take drugs, what the major classes of drugs and their side effects are, and how drug use is tested for.
The Mayo Clinic provides some great background information for helping teachers to understand the effects of these drugs on young people.
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Malignant Neglect: Substance Abuse and America's Schools - (126 pp) This report is the result of six years of analysis, surveys, and field investigations, including one hundred focus groups with students, teachers, parents and school administrators in public, private and parochial schools across the country, and the most exhaustive study ever undertaken of the available data on substance use in our schools and among our students.
The report found that substance abuse and addiction will add at least $41 billion -- 10 percent -- to the costs of elementary and secondary education this year, due to class disruption and violence, special education and tutoring, teacher turnover, truancy, children left behind, student assistance programs, property damage, injury and counseling.
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Hi everyone,
I just learned about Dodgeball being on a list of the hall of shame. I was wondering if any teachers still teach this to their students? Personally I loved this game when I was in elementary school, however I do understand the negative to it being dangerous. Please post in the forum. |
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| If we really want to promote healthy living with our students, we might need to reflect on the kinds of experiences that we are providing students each day in our schools. We have to critically consider and examine the role models that we promote in our physical education programs. Unfortunately, there have been a number of cases of sports figures, which many of our students admire, being involved with performance enhancing drugs. We possibly might have to rethink what photographs and pictures we display in hallways, or display on bulletin boards, to advertise upcoming events or new units of study.
We might also need to ensure that when we discuss and talk about body systems, and how our bodies work, that we also include information on how our body is affected when drugs and alcohol is within its systems. For example, how does alcohol affect our balance, what is the effect of drugs on the respiratory system, and how this will effect participation in physical activity, etc?
Physical education programs that do not provide students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to lead healthy lifestyles will not achieve the accolades and benefits that we all hope for, and presume will occur. If we are to be a major influence in determining the well-being of the next generation, these are all essential questions for us to consider, and to pose to other professionals in our staff rooms or hallways. It is only then that we can truly say that we are meeting the needs of our students, and playing an influential part in their health.
If we can all take a few minutes and consider such thoughts, perhaps we can become even better in what we do, and our students lead even more healthy lifestyles! |
Although we all understand that alcohol and drug awareness is essential for children, coming up with lesson plans to achieve this awareness is not always easy. Below are some lesson plan ideas for you.
The American Council for Drug Education is a substance abuse prevention and education agency. It develops programs and materials based on scientific research on drug use and the impact that substance abuse has on society. The agency has created lessons plans geared to different age groups. Check out the ones that are appropriate for your class.
The PBS TeacherSource also provides a number of lessons.
Project Alert lesson plans attend to a number of issues, and provide teachers with downloadable materials for students and many hints for successful implementation.
Substance Abuse Prevention: A school resource for grades 4 - 6. This PDF file is a 70 page download with activities to teach kids about tobacco and alcohol. This is a resource you should really check out!
He Shoots, He Scores": Alcohol Advertising and Sports - In this lesson, students explore the ways in which companies use sporting events and athletes to sell products and influence consumers – especially young people. |
| Article (webmaster addition) |
Kids' Behavior Drugs Use Soars - An article containing information about the increase in medications given to children to treat bad behavior.
Nutrition, Behavior, and Hyperactivity - A report by Dr. Greene, based on a study where kids are placed on a diet free of chemical preservatives and artificial food colorings. |
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| When Zero Tolerance Goes Too Far |
| (Added by Webmaster) Below you will find some articles on "Zero Tolerance Policy" interpretation. These articles (not all elementary school related) illustrate that the interpretation of such policies can sometimes cause problems beyond the reasons why they have been adopted by many educational authorities.
From Education world: READ THESE STORIES ABOUT ADULTS GONE CRAZY!
Nathan Steel Suspended After Taking Over-The-Counter Med While His Mother Drives Him To School - An example of zero tolerance lunacy. A disaster that could happen to any family in America today that has children in a public school with Zero Tolerance Policies. Read this, and have someone with children that thinks ZT is a good thing read it, and see if they still think it is such a good thing! - source: ZT Nightmares.com
Student Suspended Over Suspected Use of PHP: Topeka, KS - High school sophomore Brett Tyson was suspended after teachers learned he may be using PHP. (PHP is a scripting language for creating interactive web sites. Talk about authoritative lunacy!)
Chancellor High School student suspended for five days for having two Tylenol tablets - A girl having two tylenol in a zip lock bag at school was suspended for 5 days. Read also how an 8th grader was expelled for creating a web site on his own time.
‘Zero tolerance’ turning students into ‘criminals’ - A 10-year-old girl arrested for throwing crayons, paper and other art supplies around an empty classroom now has a legal aid defense attorney in what started as a school disciplinary case but quickly found its way into the juvenile justice system. - source: sfbayview.com
New city schools aim to almost eliminate expulsions - I guess this alternative is better than the school not getting funding for all those students they're suspending.
Drug Raid At S.C. High School - view video
Gun-toting police burst into a South Carolina high school, ordering students to lie down in hallways as they searched for drugs. Police came into the school with guns at the ready, ordered all students to lie on the floor and then handcuffed anyone who apparently didn't comply quickly enough. Read parent responses.
Discipline Decided In Student Inhaler Incident - A student accused of breaking school rules and state law by giving his girlfriend his inhaler when she was having an asthma attack.
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| More Lesson Plans and Activities |
Responding to Alcohol: What's Important? - Students explore the effects of alcohol on the motor activity (movement) of mice by analyzing data from three experiments.
A Gateway to Where? - This lesson helps upper elementary children to learn that marijuana is considered a gateway drug and what that means.
Catch It - To teach students that marijuana causes a decrease in reaction time.
Safe Use of Medicines - Using student handouts and magazine pictures, students identify pictures that show when to use medicine and who can safely give medicines.
The Magic Bullets - When faced with choices concerning drugs and alcohol, students will utilize the anti-addiction values of the story shared available to them to assist them in making sensible choices on their own.
Alcohol Addiction and its Effect on the Body - In this internet-based lesson, grade 5-8 students conduct Internet research on alcohol addiction and its effect on the liver, and discuss and report their findings (e.g., via a web page or a powerpoint presentation).
(wNetStation, a public television station in New York, hosts a web site designed for K-12 teachers which contains Internet-based lessons for core curriculum topics. Video tapes from the company may be purchased but there are sufficient links to Internet resources for the unit to stand on its own. Student and teacher guides are included.)
Substance Abuse Influences - This particular activity shows that substance abuse education is more effective if it focuses on processes of decision making rather than problems. |
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