#SAFEbears
LVISD…Uncompromising Excellence, Unlimited Possibilities!
DIRECTOR'S CORNER
This month we will continue to provide information on the dangers of vaping, information on how predators are contacting our teens on social media and what to look out for, coronavirus information, national child abuse prevention month, and sexting advice for teens.
The overall goal of the LVISD safety program is to protect lives, mitigate the effects of a disaster, be prepared to respond to emergencies promptly and properly to restore normal services as quickly as possible.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact me at 830-779-6600 EXT. 2259 or my email michael.duffek@lvisd.org
We have also updated our website. Please visit at https://www.lvisd.org/Domain/1109
#SAFEbears
@safebears
I want to leave you with this saying. "We do not sacrifice safety for convenience"
HOW TO MANAGE SOCIAL ISOLATION
Still, social isolation does not mean we should cut off all contact with the outside world. In fact, we should increase our connection to others during this time. Below are some strategies that you can use to manage social isolation and take care of your mental health.
- Keep a daily routine (Shower, eat breakfast, check emails, etc)
- Make it a goal to contact (through phone or video calls) a friend or family member each day
- Cook a meal that has cultural significance for you and your family
- Exercise daily: Free ways to stay active
- Use a journal to write down your thoughts and feelings
- Virtually visit a museum : Google Arts & Culture
- Use meditation and breathing exercises: 10 apps to help you deal with stress and anxiety
- Go outside in your yard and say hi to a neighbor from a safe distance
- Attend a virtual event (dance party, church service, live stream concert)
During this time, it is important we remain connected to others and our society in creative ways. It is also crucial to reach out for help if stress, anxiety, and depression is becoming unmanageable.
NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH
Did you know April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month? The Children’s Bureau, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, funds this initiative and encourages families and communities to increase awareness and provide education and support to families through resources and strategies to prevent child abuse.
Schools have the unique ability to provide a constant, stable environment, which is something all children thrive on. Providing this to all students, particularly those who have been abused, can help immensely in a multitude of ways. First, maintaining consistency and predictability in classroom routine, teaching style and expectations for behavior and performance is essential, according to The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). Abused students benefit from structure since other parts of their lives are often unpredictable.
Allowing expression of feelings through art, music, drama or creative writing can be effective as abused children often have severely pent-up emotions that they are unable or unsure how to express.
Another effective way to make the student feel a sense of belonging is to seat them with especially caring and supportive students who will help foster their development of peer relationships and social skills.
If you know a child who has been sexually abused, suspect a child is being sexually abused, or are a victim of child sexual abuse, please call the National Child Abuse Hotline at (1-800) 422-4453.
SEXTING: ADVICE FOR TEENS
1. DELETE ANY EXPLICIT IMAGES SENT TO YOU. Even simply having these images on your phone could land you in a heap of trouble.
2. DO NOT DISTRIBUTE EXPLICIT IMAGES. If someone sends you an explicit image of themselves or someone else, do not pass it on to anyone else. Try to think about how you would feel if someone sent similar pictures of you to someone else that you didn’t know or wouldn’t want to see.
3. IGNORE OR FLAT-OUT REJECT ANY REQUESTS FROM OTHERS FOR INAPPROPRIATE IMAGES. It is just not worth it, no matter how much you like the other person—even if you think you can trust them. The potential risk is just too high. If they really care about you, they will understand.
4. BLOCK INDIVIDUALS WHO MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE WITH HOW THEY TALK TO YOU (or what they send to you).
5. DISTRACT THE PERSON REQUESTING INAPPROPRIATE PICTURES FROM YOU. Engage them in conversation about something else, or direct them to a cool YouTube video or meme you just saw. If they continue to ask about the pics, let them know that they should just chill out.
6. DON’T SUPPORT YOUR OWN OBJECTIFICATION. You are not a piece of meat. You don’t want people to like you because of your body, but because of your mind and heart. Giving in and sending explicit images just feeds their appetite for more, and continues to devalue your worth and reduces you to an object for their satisfaction (and then, sadly, their disposal).
7. SEXTING DOESN’T DEFINE A HEALTHY, FUNCTIONAL ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP. Sure, it’s fun, flirtatious, and risqué, but remember that these images could be seen by a wider audience (including your parents, teachers, or the police) and don’t necessarily convey maturity and experience.
8. SEND IMAGES THAT ARE SUGGESTIVE, BUT NOT EXPLICIT. Keep private parts covered at all times. It’s fine to send your partner a picture, just make sure it’s PG-13 and not X-rated. Even so, realize that these too may be shared others. If you wouldn’t be concerned if your whole school (or grandma!) saw it, its probably ok.
9. IF YOU RECEIVE (OR SOMEONE SHOWS YOU) AN EXPLICIT IMAGE OF SOMEONE YOU KNOW, CONTACT THAT PERSON TO TELL THEM THAT THEIR IMAGES ARE BEING CIRCULATED. You would want someone to tell you if an image or video of yours like that was going around.
10. INFORM AN ADULT IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE WELL-BEING OF THE PERSON IN THE IMAGE. If you are worried about the person who is in the picture or video, whether they are a friend or not, you may need to get help from an adult you trust.
LVISD FACILITIES CLOSED
The safety and security of our students is always our top priority and I want to thank you for supporting our city and our district in seeing that remains the focus.
#SAFEbears
Email: michael.duffek@lvisd.org
Website: https://www.lvisd.org/Page/3562
Location: 13600 U.S. Highway 87 West, La Vernia, TX, USA
Phone: 830-779-6677
Twitter: @safebears