Coordinated School Health
Family Newsletter - December 2020
Merry Christmas from Lenoir City Schools!
In This Edition:
Protect Your Home From Covid-19
Preventative Actions to Fight FluSAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder
Cosmic Kids - Christmas Special
Keeping Kids Physically Active
Teen Physical Challenges Resource for Home
Finding Middle Ground with Teens over the Holiday
Protecting Tweens & Teens from Cyberbullying
Nutritious Power Bowls
Read-Along Book - Balloons Over Broadway
PROTECT YOUR HOME FROM COVID-19
COVID-19 can spread anywhere – even places where you feel safe, like your home. If one person in your household gets COVID-19, it can spread to others in your home. If your household includes one or more people who are more likely to get very sick from COVID-19, then all household members should act as if they are more likely to get very sick. Consider wearing masks in shared spaces around others in your home. In shared spaces, stay about 2 arm lengths apart, wash your hands often using soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and monitor your health daily.
For more information from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) click here.
Everyday Preventive Actions Can Help Fight Germs, Like Flu
Seasonal Affective Disorder
How it can affect kids, and how parents can help
What is seasonal affective disorder?
What are the signs of seasonal affective disorder?
How is seasonal affective disorder treated?
When should parents worry about seasonal affective disorder?
The Child Mind Institue answers these questions here
Keeping Kids Physically Active: Tips for Caregivers
Click here to find out more by Springboard.
Ten Ways to Find Middle Ground with Your Teens over the Holidays
Holidays are a beautiful, magical time of celebration and family, except when they are not. Holidays can seem a bit less magical when your teen or young adult child stops listening for reindeer on the roof and starts pushing back on family traditions.
When you are a lover of family traditions and pickled in holiday music (“There’s no place like home for the holidays”), this transition can be tough. It’s not the winsome little kid holiday experience of 5, 10, 15 years ago.
5 Ways to Protect Tweens and Teens from Cyberbullying
Click here to learn more from the Committee for Children.
5 Ways Parents and Teachers Can Protect Adolescents
Here are research-based tips to prevent bullying digitally (and in real life).
1. Boost Knowledge and Conversations About Online Safety
Help youth understand how they can take action to be safer online. Please don’t be shy about monitoring them. At ParenTeen Connect, you can get expert advice and hear from other tweens, teens, and parents about what screen time monitoring could look like. Try these tips for protecting kids from cyberbullying by establishing clear device use limits and communications.
2. Cultivate Belonging at Home and School
Having a strong sense of belonging can deter students from cyberbullying. Home and school efforts that focus on positive interactions and relationships could buffer bullying, resulting in decreases in bullying behavior.7 The stronger a connection the student has with family, the less likely they are to carry out bullying acts. The greater their sense of belonging to family and peers, the more likely they feel a connection to the school. With school connectedness, the likelihood of engaging in bullying behaviors decreases.8
3. Teach Social Skills
Social and communication skills are predictors of bullying involvement. Youth with strong social and communication skills are less likely to be involved in bullying.9 You can help prevent bullying by teaching and modeling skills for listening, perspective taking, appreciating diversity, and building relationships.
4. Teach and Encourage Positive Bystander Behaviors
Bystanders can make a positive difference for those being bullied, yet they are less likely to intervene and support those being bullied in online bullying situations.10 Let youth know how important a role they have in helping stop the bullying. Talk with them about how to be positive bystanders by teaching them the importance of recognizing, reporting, and responding to online bullying situations. Something as simple as messaging a person to stop the bullying can make a significant difference for someone.
5. Understand Blur Between Digital & Physical Bullying
“Cyberbullying and the kinds of bullying that happen in person often go hand in hand,” says Committee for Children Research Scientist Jasmine D. Williams, Ph.D. “Bullying that happens in school can carry over to digital spaces like Instagram, and vice versa. Teens don’t see a divide between physical and digital worlds, as adults do.” This is important for middle school and high school educators and parents to understand our increasingly multi-device, always-connected culture.
“Cyberbullying can feel more pervasive because it doesn’t end when a child leaves school. It stays at their fingertips, in their phones and other devices.”
How To Make Nutritious Power Bowls
1. Ace Your Base
Start with a base of your favorite type of cooked grain such as quinoa, brown rice, farro, bulgur, barley, and even steel-cut oats to add bulk, along with nutrient-rich whole grains and fiber. Keep the portion around ½ to ¾ cup for calorie control.Make-Ahead Tip: When cooking grains, make a double batch and store the leftovers so they are readily available for fast recipes like power bowls.
2. Add Protein Power
Choose lean protein like grilled chicken, pulled pork tenderloin, broiled salmon, tuna, or shrimp. Or if you are craving a plant-powered bowl, use drained and rinsed beans, cooked lentils, seared tofu, scrambled eggs, or roasted nuts.
3. Pile on the Veggies
Time-Saving Tip: Incorporate recipe-ready, pre-cut vegetables, fresh salsa, and prepared guacamole right from your supermarket’s produce department for a fuss-free option.
4. Top it Off
Add sauces and other garnishes to bring the flavors of the ingredients together. Then, grab a fork and dig in!
Asian – Try reduced-sodium soy, teriyaki, or Szechuan sauce, fresh ginger, sesame oil, or water chestnuts.
Mexican – Try fresh cilantro, lime juice, jalapeño peppers, queso fresco, salsa, or avocado.
Greek – Try crumbled feta cheese, Kalamata olives, extra virgin olive oil, cucumber, lemon juice, fresh dill, or non-fat plain Greek yogurt.
LC Coordinated School Health
Coordinator
Email: wbstooksbury@lenoircityschools.net
Website: www.lenoircityschools.net
Location: 203 Kelly Lane, Lenoir City, TN, USA
Phone: (865)988-7257
Twitter: @LCSchoolHealth