Txtng & Drivng...It Can Wait

On my journey to school for the first day of the new academic year I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed that the car behind me was driven by a student of mine. I was horrified that for the entire journey she was more interested in her cell phone than paying attention to the road.
I recently watched the excellent 10 minute video on the At&T website which ties in to their campaign to encourage drivers NOT to text while driving. Please take the time to watch the video and forward it to your friends and family.


Tips for Teens:
Be smart. Don’t text and drive. No text message is worth being distracted while you drive. Be in control.
Remember it’s your phone. You decide if and when to send and read texts so take control. Consider turning your phone off, setting it to silent or even storing it in the glove box before hitting the road.
Be caring. Never send a text message to a friend who is driving to meet you, or to anyone you know is likely behind the wheel.
Be a BFF. Friends don’t let each other text and drive. Visit www.facebook.com/att to take a pledge not to text and drive, and encourage your friends to do the same.

Internet Safety

It's the start of the new school year and all of our students will be watching this great video on internet safety. I was with a class of freshman girls yesterday, and after having watched the video they were asked if they knew anyone who had shared a similar experience to the one that was portrayed. At least 1/3 of the girls raised their hands.
This is a great video to watch and share with friends and other students.

Jamie Oliver - TedX Video

I love these TedX videos and here one of my food heroes presents his views on the poor state of nutrition here in America. He makes it sound so easy to solve the issues....and perhaps it is.
Jamies Food Revolution returns to ABC in June.

Safe Haven Law

Illinois School Code requires that ALL school health education classes MUST teach the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act. Also known as the Safe Haven Law this act has saved the lives of newborn babies that might otherwise be abandoned by their parents.

From 1991 to 1998, the incidence of newborn abandonment in public places increased 62% across the country. Dramatic accounts in the media highlighted the problem. In March 1998, a baby was found by two 13 year old boys who saw a body floating in 14 feet of water in the California Aqueduct. The red-haired, 20 inch girl was tagged Baby Jane Doe No.21 and given the name 'Grace'.

Similar issues across the country prompted states to follow the lead of Texas and provide some form of Safe Haven law.

The Safe Haven Law in Illinois allows a parent to safely relinquish an unharmed infant anonymously, without fear of prosecution.

This law provides a safe alternative to parents who might be under severe emotional distress or unable to provide for the basic needs of the infant.

• Distressed birth parents can legally and anonymously relinquish an unharmed newborn.



• Provides a safe place for newborns.



• Protects the parent(s) from arrest or prosecution for abandonment.



• Does not require that names be given when the unharmed infant is safely relinquished.



• Babies are handed in to an staff member at any hospital, police station, sheriff office, fire station, or emergency care facility.



• The parent has 60 days to reclaim the infant, after counselling and an inquiry. After 60 days, parental rights are terminated.



• Parents can voluntarily complete a medical and family history questionnaire for the newborn. This could be very useful for the child and the adoptive parents.

Remember, parents don't have to use the Safe Haven law. They could also consider a traditional adoption or an open adoption where records are kept and the possibility of future contact with the child is maintained. Public assistance and food stamps can help those who might be too poor to look after a child. The Family Services Agency can help young mothers afraid of the reaction of their parents.

Hands Only CPR

It's that time of year when my students receive CPR instruction and this time around things are a little different. Current accepted theory suggests that 'hands only CPR' is equally effective and lay people are more likely to perform CPR if they know that they don't have to perform the 'mouth-to-mouth' component. In class we showed this video but I thought that the Matthew McConaughey video clip might be more memorable for our students. For more information you could visit the American Red Cross website.

Voting With Your Fork

Those that know me know that I advocate for healthy foods as often as possible. I encourage my students to make healthy choices as often as they can. I also let them know that they can still eat 'fast food' occasionally but they should aim to select the less harmful items.

In this short post I have included some links that you can check out if you want ideas to improve your diet:

Buy from a CSA. This will allow you to purchase locally grown, organic and seasonal produce. This boosts the local economy, reduces the use of pesticides and air miles, and will make you feel a lot healthier. You can collect the foods from the farm, or a local location. I just signed up to a CSA offered by "The Gentleman Farmer".

Support your local farmers market. Out here in the suburbs we are lucky to have access to locally grown farm produce. I regularly visited the farmers market in Palatine last year, and the nearest one to school is in Libertyville. It's a little early to know exact locations and times but they will be printed online and in the Chicago Tribune. Check out this link for the latest information available.

One of my food hero's is Jamie Oliver the British TV chef and food advocate. I think he's great not because he's English, but because he believes that we should all have access to affordable healthy foods, particularly in schools. His second season of the Food Revolution has just started on ABC. You can watch the episodes online at this link. You can also sign up for Jamies Food Revolution online and you will be sent further information about local food events in your community.

I show the excellent documentary Food Inc in class. Michael Pollan, the food journalist who appears in this movie, has written some excellent books. If you can you should find time to read one of the following: "Food Rules: An Eaters Manual", "In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto" and "The Omnivore's Dilemma" (which is also available in a young readers edition).

Other quick tips that I can recommend include:

Stop drinking soda and other sweetened drinks.

Eat at home, preferably together as a family, instead of eating out.

Encourage your school to stop serving junk foods.

Consider having 'Meatless Monday', go without meat for one day a week.

Try growing your own herbs, vegetables or fruit.

Read food labels. Demand to know what is in your food.

Advocate for better food information in your school and community.

The Epidemic Of Unhealthy Food

As a Health teacher it really inspires me when I hear of students taking the lessons learned in class and applying them elsewhere. The nutrition unit that we have just completed is one of the topics that seems to inspire many students and their families. At this time of year I receive emails from parents saying that they have changed their eating habits based on the advice of their child.
One of my students, Maggie, wrote a paper in English class about the problems that she saw facing America and attitudes to food. Please take the time to read her paper below and post some feedback as she becomes the second guest blogger on this site!

America has a diverse culture. It is a culture of many countries, all melded together. America is also a culture of food, as diverse as our origins. A culture of food that has now become reliant on the principle of convenience and quantity. A culture of food that is making us slowly grow fatter and fatter. This way of life now so common in our country must be reversed before it is too late. We need to get rid of this unhealthy balance for three reasons: for our health, for our economy, and for our communities.

Obesity in America has been on the rise at an alarming rate, especially in children. In 1985 less than 10% of Illinois’ population was obese. In 2009, 26.5% of the population was obese. That is a huge gain, but is still nothing compared to some other states, of which over 30% of the population is now obese. Our culture of fast food and high fructose corn syrup are causing us to grow bigger and bigger. If a person is obese, they’re often a few pounds heavier than the average person. But, the underlying problems of obesity are the most worrying. These include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. Obesity reduces the average person’s life expectancy by 6 to 7 years. Eating such unhealthy food often leads to obesity, which can lead to deadly consequences.

Part of the reason America has become addicted to unhealthy foods is because it is so common in our economy today. The government heavily subsidizes corn, which leads to the heavy use of unhealthy sweeteners, like high fructose corn syrup. The average American consumes about 60 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup every year. It’s is most every kind of food imaginable, even ketchup. Since our unhealthy food is subsidized, it is often much more expensive to buy healthy food. The balance between healthy and unhealthy food has been upset, and we are now paying the price for it. For example, a burger at McDonalds can cost just $1, while the average price for a pound of strawberries is $1.50. Although that 50 cents may not seem like much, to a struggling family it can be the deal breaker.

This plague of unhealthy food deeply affects our communities. How many times have we seen small, family owned grocery stores go out of business, while the big superstores grow and grow? In those stores there is a plethora of unhealthy choices. It has also been found that the rate of obesity is higher in poorer communities, especially in immigrants. This clearly shows the endless loop of having to choose the cheap, unhealthy food and the consequences which leave the poor in even more poverty and with their health compromised. This in turn causes the poor to no longer to be able to pay for their medical bills, which often leads to the loss of their jobs and livelihood.
It is almost unavoidable to not consume unhealthy food. It is cheap, convenient, and everywhere we look. It is just disgusting when you think about it, and something needs to be done.

We need to start in our own school. It reflects the current attitude of our country today. We need to be able to ask for labels on our food, and make a wise and healthy decision. We need to re-balance the prices of food in our cafeteria, so that people don’t have to sacrifice healthy options just because they are expensive. We need to expand the time we have for lunch, so that we won’t just spend the time in a line for the healthy choices and spend more time eating. By starting in our own school, we can slowly spread our healthy habits to others, and hopefully reverse the epidemic of unhealthy eating that is all too common in our society today.