Grant Community School Newsletter

Dear Grant Families-

Thank you for helping us make the 2021-22 start of the school year a success. We know it has been difficult getting back into the school routine for a normal 5-day week (plus full days!). The new start and end times have also caused us to change our schedules. However, through all of these challenges, we have welcomed students back and focused on both care and connection as well as academics.

Here are a couple things you can continue to do to help us this fall as we navigate our new “normal” during COVID times. Please keep your child at home if they have cold-like symptoms including a cough, fever, runny nose, sore throat, or body aches. We are seeing several students come to school with symptoms which can easily spread to other children. You can also help us by encouraging your child to wear their mask over both their mouth and nose. Mask wearing is one of our best defenses against the spread of COVID and cold germs. Lastly, frequent hand washing, and the use of sanitizer is also a powerful tool to reduce germs and bacteria.

Again, thanks for partnering with us this fall. We look forward to a great school year filled with learning for your child. Be safe and stay healthy!

Sincerely,

Mr. Morris, Principal

Counselor's Corner

Message from School Counselor, Mrs. Mosqueda,

I hear about video game play almost daily at school. I’m often surprised to hear that kids as young as first grade are playing mature rated material with lots of violence and aggression. Perhaps parents are unaware of the effect that violent video game play has on young people.

An Iowa State University meta-analysis of 300 studies on the topic tells me that more awareness of the effects needs to be known. This 2010 study by Professor Craig Anderson said conclusively that violent video games cause children and teens to act more violent.

“Violent video games model physical aggression,” said Craig Anderson, Distinguished Professor of psychology and director of the Center for the Study of Violence at Iowa State and co-author of the report. “They also reward players for being alert to hostile intentions and for using aggressive behavior to solve conflicts. Practicing such aggressive thinking in these games improves the ability of the players to think aggressively. In turn, this habitual aggressive thinking increases their aggressiveness in real life.” (http://bit.ly/1pxpBdw)

About parent awareness of what kids are playing and the effect, the Pew Research Center noted, “More than six in ten parents (62%) say that video games have no effect on their children one way or the other, compared with 13% of parents who say that video games have a negative influence on their children, 19% who say video games have a positive influence, and 5% who say video games have some negative influence and some positive influence —but that it depends on the game.” (http://pewrsr.ch/2nz1lCo)

Video game developers are clever at masking what is actually going on in games by the graphics they use such as Pixar-like images. Despite the cartoonish looking characters, the violence and vigilance necessary to play the game have the same effect on promoting habits that lean towards violent reactions in real life.

Do not be fooled. When elementary students are playing hours and hours of Grand Theft Auto, Black Ops, Call of Duty, Skyrim, Five Nights at Freddy’s and etc., it does affect their behavior and we see it played out here at school. Know what your kids are playing, know the ratings and set firm guidelines for what they should and should not play. In the same way that violence in games causes violence, positive behavior exhibited in games also promotes better behavior in real life too.

As a Salem-Keizer Public School community, we have grown through some challenging times. We continue to have the opportunity to show up for each other. Pain is not always noticeable and someone experiencing emotional pain can often feel isolated. People who experience depression may appear angry, irritable, withdrawn, and/or quiet. If there is any concern, lean in, trust your instincts, and ask yourself, “is this behavior different for this person?” Your show of care and concern may help someone experiencing suicidal thoughts. Asking “are you thinking about suicide?” opens the door for a caring conversation about how someone might be hurting and how you might be able to support.

It is very important that parents keep their contact information current.

Be sure to let your school office know if you have a new address, email or phone number.

The parent or guardian marked as the primary contact in the student information system will receive automated communication.

Messages will also be sent to the student’s home phone number contained in the database, if different from the primary contact phone number.