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December
2011 'News of Hope'
Wishing
everyone a Happy Holiday
season!
The above photo was
taken while driving
across the prairie
of eastern Alberta, Canada
at sunrise, with a
fresh flurry of snow
highlighted by the
morning sun. Sometimes
it is the simplest
moments that bring
the rush of joy. May you
have such moments during
the season and
throughout the coming year!
DECEMBER
NEWSLETTER
CONTENT
• Teens and High
School Stress: 15 Facts
Parents Should Know
• Major
Increase Seen in
Emergency Room Visits
Involving Energy Drinks
• Rise
in Stimulant Abuse
Concerns Colleges
Access
13 years of newsletter
articles on our website!
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Teens
and high school stress:
15 facts parents should
know
Tthe
holidays are all about
joyous moments of good
food, gifts, laughter
and love of family and
friends. But the reality
is that demands and
expectations increase
and our stress levels
rise.
USE this experience of
STRESS to stop and think
about stress in both
your life and that of
your children ALL YEAR
THROUGH. It’s no fun
and it bleeds the joy
and sense of meaning out
of our lives.
Awareness is the
primary initial
ingredient in reducing
stress in our lives.
We can reverse the trend
of excess stress
starting with the
holiday season –
commit to boundaries on
the amount of time
you’ll spend in
preparations and,
instead, make time to
play a game or have a
chat with your kids,
share baking or take a
walk together, and make
the extra effort to
include your teens –
regardless of their
“attitude”! They
need you, parents, and
they are asking for more
communication – see
below.
Now, excerpts and links
from an excellent and
comprehensive article on
teen stress by
Sue
Scheff,
BrowardCountyParenting
Teens Examiner
November
28, 2011
Continue reading on
Examiner.com Teens
and high school stress:
15 facts parents should
know - Fort Lauderdale
Parenting Teens |
Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/parenting-teens-in-fort-lauderdale/teens-and-high-
school-stress-15-facts-parents-should-know?CID=examiner_alerts_article#ixzz1fgPdy2As
S-T-R-E-S-S
It's not
only for adults!
One of the greatest
lies ever perpetuated
about the teen years is
that they're supposedly
"the best years of
your life." Ask any
high schooler these days
how he or she genuinely
feels about this
statement and the
opposite sentiment might
very well end up relayed
instead. Every year,
more and more pressures
regarding classes,
getting into the right
college (or deciding
if college is even the
right choice), families,
jobs, extracurricular
activities, friends,
relationships, and other
stimuli just keep
burbling away beneath
their still-developing
forms.
Suffice it to say,
this avalanche of stress
hinders their progress
and personalities far
more than it helps, but
many think they have no
real alternative.
Without persistently
striving toward an
unattainable perfection,
students find themselves
trapped between success
or failure, with no
"gray areas"
in between. And the
situation worsens every
year, although there are
plenty of things
administrators,
teachers, parents, and
even the teens
themselves can to do
promote calmness and
balance. Before that,
though, they should
understand exactly
what's at stake when it
comes to stress and
anxiety in the high
school classroom.
1. Most
high school students
consider cheating OK:
According to a CNN poll
of 4,500 high schoolers,
around 75% engage in
"serious
cheating,"
2.One
in five teens qualify as
clinically depressed:
According to Mental
Health America's
estimates, 20% of teens
are clinically
depressed, and the real
tragedy lies with how
their parents and
teachers approach the
subject
3. Stress
ups the suicide rate…:
A poll of 804 teachers
revealed that 73%
considered school (and
life in general) far
more stressful for
students than in the
previous decade
4.…oh,
and self-harm, too:
As reported by The
Guardian, 46% of polled
teachers claimed they
knew of kids in middle
and high school harming
themselves. Cutting
seems to be the most
popular trend beneath
this tragic umbrella
5. The
same thing happens in
the U.S., too:
The problem of
depression, anxiety and
suicide transcends
nationality,
6. Some
schools have purged the
AP Program altogether…:
Despite the prestige
heaped onto offering
Advanced Placement
classes and harboring
students who get stellar
scores on the affiliated
exams, some schools have
decided to forgo them
completely.
7. …and
managed to implement
some successful
alternatives, too:
Along with jettisoning
the AP Program, some
schools — like the
aforementioned Beaver
Country Day School —
have decided to
implement other measures
to keep students from
succumbing to stress.
8. And
the teachers on the
front lines could be
doing better as well:
Regardless of whether or
not they work in a
school experimenting
with more
stress-reduction
methods, teachers
themselves could
generally do better when
nurturing mentally and
emotionally healthy
students,
especially those
teachers with Advanced
Placement kiddos under
their care.
9. It
starts much earlier than
high school:
Increased college
competition means
increased high school
competition. Increased
high school competition
means increased middle
school competition.
Increased middle school
competition means
increased elementary
school competition.
10. Female
students feel it harder
than their male peers:
A survey conducted by
the Associated Press and
MTV discovered that of
the 85% of students
claiming they
experienced "stress
at least sometimes"
(if not more than that),
most were female.
Forty-five percent
reported they felt it
"frequently,"
11. Girls
are more likely to
suppress their stress:
Not only are female
students more likely to
experience hefty amounts
of stress, they also
typically handle it more
discreetly than males.
However, the boys don't
always handle it
healthily, either
12.School
ranks as the highest
stressor in high school
students' lives:
For both females and
males between the ages
of 13 and 17, school
stood as their primary
conduit of super stress.
13. GPAs
are increasing:
In California, at least,
where state schools saw
a significant rise in
the GPAs of incoming
freshman between 2003
and 2009.
14. Parents
can exacerbate the
situation…:
Even the most
well-meaning, loving
moms and dads (or
grandparents or aunts or
uncles or legal
guardians) run the risk
of contributing to
Little Junior or Muffy's
ever-mounting anxiety.
15. …but
they're also key in
making it better:
Dr. Cohen-Sandler's
research revealed that
less than 50% of the
most stressed-out female
students believed their
parents and guardians
didn't notice the mental
and physical cracks
forming. Along with
"less stress"
and "more
sleep," the
primary thing this
demographic desires is
more communication and
support from parents and
guardians.
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As
you read the next
two articles, consider:
How
does stress influence
our kids use of
energy drinks/excess
caffeine and other
stimulants? The
pressure/stress to meet
expectations of family,
parents and society are
driving our kids to
unhealthy life choices.
Be a healthy role
model...
Awareness is the key!
NOTICE and make healthy
choices:
Rest, sleep, exercise,
take walks in nature.
Simple moments are as
vital as high-energy,
adrenalized excitement
in all of our lives!
Major
Increase Seen in
Emergency Room Visits
Involving Energy Drinks
The
number of emergency room
visits related to energy
drinks jumped from 2005
to 2009, according to a new
government report.
The Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA)
found more people are
combining energy drinks
with drugs and alcohol.
The
number of hospital
visits linked to energy
drinks rose more than
tenfold, from 1,128 in
2005, to 13,114 in 2009.
SAMHSA said 52 percent
of visits made by 18- to
25-year-olds involved
combinations of energy
drinks with alcohol or
other drugs.
The
report found 64 percent
of hospital visits
involving energy drinks
were made by males;
visits by males were
more likely than visits
by females to involve a
combination of energy
drinks and alcohol or
illicit drugs. Visits by
females were more likely
to involve energy drinks
combined with
pharmaceuticals.
The
report notes that energy
drinks are flavored
beverages that contain
high amounts of
caffeine. They usually
have other additives,
such as herbal
supplements, vitamins,
or guarana, a plant
product that contains
concentrated caffeine.
The high doses of
caffeine in the drinks
act as a stimulant on
the central nervous
system and
cardiovascular system.
The
amount of caffeine in an
energy drink can range
from 80 to more than 500
milligrams, compared
with about 100
milligrams in a
five-ounce cup of
coffee, or 50 milligrams
in a 12-ounce cola, the
report states.
“Energy
drinks used in excess or
in combination with
alcohol or drugs can
pose a serious health
risk,” news
release, combining
energy drinks with
substances of abuse
increases the risk of
serious, even
life-threatening injury.
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A
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Photo
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