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Planning 10 - Mr. Berra: Day 22

Drivers Education

Driver Education

You are turning 16 this year, and to most students that can mean only one thing: I get to get my driver's license! But do you know all the steps it takes to accomplish this goal? Check out the ICBC website and find out all the details on Getting Your License.

Once you know what's going on, you will need to start practicing for your Learner's test. Take the Driver Practice Test to see where you are and what you will need to study up on.

Driving is a big responsibility and comes with lots of risks and great rewards. It will be nice not to have to rely on Mom and Dad to get you to all of your sporting events and social engagements, won't it? (For Mom and Dad too!)

Oh, the freedom!

However, you will need to be aware of several things when you take to the road:
 

One way you can always ensure a safe ride home is with the Family Contract where you and your parents agree that you will pick each other up if you are ever in a situation where you need a ride home. Remember, this works both ways!

Sexual Health

Sexual Health

This is a touchy subject (no pun intended!) and is uncomfortable for many people to talk about. How you feel about sexual health is all about your personal beliefs and values and

these are different for everyone depending on your background and influences. It requires you to examine how you feel about your body and society's attitude towards sex. Here, you will find no value judgments, only information to help you make the best decisions possible about your sexual health.

Now, you may have had the opportunity to hear Jennifer, from Vancouver Island Sexual Society talk about STIs, birth control, healthy relationships and sexual decision making, or maybe not. (We are working on having a video of her session here soon!) Take The Sex-fu Challenge to find out what you have learned or what you already know.


Assignment

Using the Vancouver Island Sexual Health Society website, complete the Sexual Health Assignment.

Oat Babies

The Oat Family

 

Part of the Health Unit in Planning 10 is understanding healthy relationships. To this end, you and a partner will become the “parents” of 5 lb bag of oats for the period of one school week. The objective of this exercise is to find out what it takes to work with someone else for the betterment of each of you and a third, otherwise helpless, party. There will be several parts to this process and you and your partner must document all of them.

To Begin:

Find out who your partner for the project is.

  • Get a colored paper from the teacher. This is the sex of your ‘baby’
  • Get all the sheets for the project.
  • Create a plan for you and you partner to look after the oats and make it comfortable and cared for.
  • Figure out how much the child will cost you and relate it to your income.

The Challenge:

You and your partner will be responsible for the oats for one school week. (5 days)

  • The oats can never be left alone – one of you must always be with it or make arrangements for babysitting.
  • Everything you do with your oats must be documented in a scrapbook that will be handed in on the last day of the semester.

The scrapbook must include: (Numbers 1 - 6 are done together and only one copy is handed in)

1. Schedule of who is responsible for it when.

2. Feeding and changing schedule. (Your ‘baby’ will need to be fed every 4
hours)

3. Babysitting (if necessary) who, when, how long, signed by them. Forms available from the teacher.

4. A journal and pictures of what you and your oats did for the week, including any special events.

5. A chronicle of all of the Challenges scenarios given out during the week, and your explanations of how you dealt with them.

6. A financial plan.

INDIVIDUALLY:  (These are done by EACH of you and may handed in separately)

7. A paragraph stating how you felt about parenthood.

8. A paragraph stating how you feel your partner dealt with parenthood.

9. A paragraph about how the 2 of you worked together, what challenges you faced, and how you overcame them.

The Method:

In order to keep track of everything, you will need to check in with me for each feeding and changing. Here’s how you will do that:

  • Every time you feed and change your ‘baby’, you will need to e-mail me at jmarshall@sd63.bc.ca to show that you have completed that requirement. Your e-mails will be time stamped and I will check you off on my master list as having done it.
  • Please make sure that it is the person who is responsible for the ‘baby’ at the time who does the computer work. I will be checking the times against your logs.
  • You should have about 5 feeds a day. You can skip the middle of the night feed, but must feed the ‘baby’ before you go to bed even if it hasn’t quite been 4 hours. For times during school, use the library on your break or lunch time.
  • You do not need to write anything in the e-mail, just put “Baby’s name fed and changed” in the subject line. If you need me to know anything else, add ‘Please read’ and I will know to open the e-mail.
  • If you have left the ‘baby’ in the care of a babysitter when the ‘baby’ should be fed, make appropriate arrangements for the e-mail to be sent. You will have to discuss this with your partner.
  • You will lose 5 marks every time you miss a feed/change. A ‘miss’ means over half an hour past feeding time. If you only miss by a minute or two, marks will be deducted from the 5.
  • If you break your ‘baby’, you may buy a new one, but you will forfeit 20 marks for doctor’s bills.
  • If your ‘Baby’ is not available on the first day, you will forfeit 20 marks.
  • 5 marks will be deducted for each case of “abuse” reported to me by anyone. All of your teachers have been notified that the ‘Babies’ are to be treated as you would a real infant, and cases of neglect, such as the babies being left alone on a desk top or on the floor, constitutes abuse.
    •  

Just to add to the fun:

Each day in class, you and your “family” will be receiving challenges that you must deal with. These could be anything from winning the lottery to having a second child. In your scrapbook, you must explain how your “family” deals with each of them.

Marks:

This project will be worth 125 marks for the feeding/changing. The scrapbook is worth 65 marks.

Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating

Assignment

When you move out, chances are very good that you will be required to feed yourself. You may do this already. In either case, it would be a great idea to know how to look for and

prepare nutritional meals. This assignment looks at basic nutrition as well as some ideas for healthy and delicious meals.  Use the Healthy Eating template to complete the assignment.

When you are done, click on the arrow to upload:

Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders
 

 

Our society's preoccupation with body image is reflected in the fact that, at any given time, 70% of women and 35% of men are dieting. More seriously, a 1993 Statistics Canada Survey reported that in women between the ages of 15 and 25, 1-2% have anorexia and 3-5% have bulimia. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses, with 10% to 20% eventually dying from complications.

Clearly, these potentially life-threatening conditions are a growing problem. Despite their collective label, these disorders are not about food. Eating disorders are a way of coping with deeper problems that a person finds too painful or difficult to deal with directly. They are complex conditions that signal difficulties with identity, self-concept and self-esteem. Eating disorders cross cultural, racial and socio-economic boundaries, and affect men and women.

Eating disorders can be difficult to detect. The media glamourization of so-called ideal bodies, coupled with the view that dieting is a normal activity, can obscure a person's eating problems. It can be difficult for a person with an eating disorder to admit they have a problem. Knowing how to support someone with an eating disorder is also a challenge. Treatment is available - it can be a long process, but an eating disorder can be overcome. If you think that you, or someone you know, has an eating disorder, it is important to learn the facts. Gaining an understanding of these conditions is the first step in the journey to wellness.

Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating

Three chronic eating disorders have been identified.

Anorexia nervosa is characterized by severe weight loss due to extreme food reduction. Symptoms include:

  • refusal to keep body weight at or above the normal weight for one's body type
  • dieting to extremes, usually coupled with excessive exercise
  • feeling overweight despite dramatic weight loss
  • loss of menstrual periods
  • extreme preoccupation with body weight and shape

Bulimia nervosa results in frequent fluctuations in weight, due to periods of uncontrollable binge eating, followed by purging. As well as a preoccupation with body image, symptoms include:

  • repeated episodes of bingeing and purging, usually by self-induced vomiting, abuse of laxatives, diet pills and/or diuretics - methods which are both ineffective and harmful
  • eating beyond the point of fullness

Binge-eating disorder, or compulsive eating, is often triggered by chronic dieting and involves periods of overeating, often in secret and often carried out as a means of deriving comfort. Symptoms include:

  • periods of uncontrolled, impulsive or continuous eating
  • sporadic fasts or repetitive diets

Warning signs

Eating disorders can be difficult to detect. Someone suffering from bulimia can have a normal weight, but the activities they are engaging in can be deadly. Here are some warning signs:

  • low self-esteem
  • social withdrawal
  • claims of feeling fat when weight is normal or low
  • preoccupation with food, weight, counting calories and with what people think
  • denial that there is a problem
  • wanting to be perfect
  • intolerance of others
  • inability to concentrate

What causes an eating disorder?

When someone has an eating disorder, their weight is the prime focus of their life. Their all-consuming preoccupation with calories, grams of fat, exercise and weight allows them to displace the painful emotions or situations that are at the heart of the problem and gives them a false sense of being in control.  

There is no single cause. An eating disorder generally results from a combination of factors. Psychological factors include low self-esteem, feelings of inadequacy or lack of control, depression, anger or loneliness. Interpersonal factors include troubled family and personal relationships, difficulty expressing emotions and feelings, history of physical or sexual abuse. Media promotion of unrealistic images and goals, along with its tendency to equate a person's value with their physical appearance is another contributor.

The possibility of biochemical or biological causes is being studied. Some people with eating disorders have been found to have an imbalance of chemicals in the brain that control hunger, appetite and digestion, possibly as a result of the disorder.

Treatment for eating disorders

The sooner someone seeks help, the sooner they will benefit from treatment. However, people with an eating disorder usually work very hard to keep it secret, and find it very difficult to acknowledge that they have a problem. Diagnosis can be difficult, since the symptoms of eating disorders often occur in combination with depression, anxiety and substance abuse.  

A multi-disciplinary approach is the most effective treatment route. This involves a thorough medical assessment, nutritional guidance, support, medical follow-up, individual, group and family therapy. Because eating disorders have a profound negative impact on all family members, the entire family may need counselling.

What can I do?

If you are struggling with an eating disorder, you are not alone. Many men and women have eating disorders and there is no shame attached in asking for help. The problem is too big to fix on your own, and help and support are available.

If you think someone you know has an eating disorder, learn what you can about these conditions. Express your concerns calmly and in a caring way. You can't force someone to change their behaviour, but you can let them know that you care and want to support them. Encourage the person to seek professional help. Don't lay blame and focus discussions on feelings, not food. Examine your own issues around food and weight. Be supportive, but do not enable the behaviour.

Where to go for more information

For further information about eating disorders, contact a community organization like the Canadian Mental Health Association to find out about support and resources in your community. Visit our website at www.cmha.ca. In addition, the National Eating Disorder Information Centre keeps a national listing of treatment services and resources online at http://www.nedic.ca/.

(This article is taken from: http://www.cmha.ca/bins/content_page.asp?cid=3-98)


Please click on the following link to view Dying to Be Thin.