Planning 10 - Mr. Berra: Day 21

Unit Six: Health

What am I doing?

The aim of this unit is to develop an understanding of your personal responsibility for attaining and maintaining your overall health. You will learn about fitness, nutrition, personal road safety, substance use and abuse, facts about sexuality, HIV/AIDS and nutrition.

Please share this letter with your parents before you start this unit

Why am I doing it?

By the end of this unit you will be able to:

• Analyse factors that influence health (e.g., physical activity, nutrition, stress management)
• Analyse health information for validity and personal relevance
• Demonstrate an understanding of skills needed to build and maintain healthy relationships (e.g., effective communication, problem solving)
• Analyse factors contributing to a safe and caring school (e.g., respect for diversity, prevention of harassment and intimidation)
• Evaluate the potential effects of an individual's health-related decisions on self, family, and community
• Analyse practices that promote healthy sexual decision making (e.g., recognizing influences, accessing accurate information, applying informed decision-making skills)
• Analyse practices associated with the prevention of HIV/AIDS
• Analyse strategies for preventing substance misuse (e.g., recognizing influences, accessing accurate information, applying informed decision-making skills)
• Analyse individual and societal practices associated with road-related risk reduction and injury prevention (e.g., obeying speed limits, wearing seatbelts, driver education)

Stress

Seventeen-year-old Marissa is juggling many roles. She has a demanding part-time job, plays two varsity sports, is studying for the SATs, and is trying to decide where to go to college and how to pay for it. She also has a term paper and an Internet project due this week, needs to

find a date and a dress for the prom, is worried that she has gained five pounds, and is afraid that her best friend is mad at her. While Marissa used to feel confident and excited by life's challenges, she has recently been feeling overwhelmed, out of control and "stressed out."

Marissa's story is typical of the daily pressures teens face.

"Stress" is defined as the way our bodies and minds react to life changes. Since adolescence is a period of significant change, including physical, emotional, social, and academic changes, many teens are under more stress than at any other time of life.

Teenage Stress Factors:

• academic pressure and career decisions
• pressure to wear certain types of clothing or hairstyles
• pressure to try drugs, alcohol or sex  
• pressure to fit in with peer groups and measure up to others
• adaptation to bodily changes
• family and peer conflicts
• taking on too many activities at one time

It is very important for teens to learn to handle stress, as long-term build-up of stress that is not handled effectively may lead to problems, including physical illness, anxiety or depression, which call for professional help.

Teenage "Stress Overload" Signs:

• increased physical illness (headaches, stomachaches, muscle pains, chronic fatigue)
• "shutting down" and withdrawal from people and activities
• increased anger or irritable lashing out at others  
• increased tearfulness and feelings of hopelessness
• chronic feelings of worry and nervousness
• difficulty sleeping and eating
• difficulty concentrating

Our body's natural reaction to life events that we perceive as overwhelming is the "fight or flight" response, which may produce a faster heart rate, increased blood flow, shallow breathing, a sense of dread and a desire to escape. However, teens can teach themselves to perceive life challenges as being within their control and can even change their body's reactions to such events, promoting a lower heart rate, deeper breathing, clearer thinking and feelings of calmness and control. There are many stress management skills that promote the relaxation response.

Stress Management Skills for Teens:

• Taking deep breaths accompanied by thoughts of being in control ("I can handle this")
• Progressive muscle relaxation, (repeatedly tensing and relaxing large muscles of the body)
• Setting small goals and breaking tasks into smaller manageable chunks
• Exercising and eating regular meals, and avoiding excessive caffeine
• Focusing on things you can control and letting go of things you cannot control
• Rehearsing and practicing feared situations (e.g., practicing public speaking or asking someone out on a date)
• Talking about problems with others, including parents, older adults and friends
• Lowering unrealistic expectations
• Scheduling breaks and enjoyable activities, such as music, art, sports, socializing
• Accepting yourself as you are and identifying unique strengths and building on them, but realizing no one is perfect!

Source: This article was originally published in Rhode Island Family Guide.

Click on the Stress Power Point to learn more.

Take the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale to find out what your stress level is.

Assignment

All of us have heard the term Health and have a basic understanding of what that means. However, there are several ways of staying healthy.

Click on this Health Powerpoint to see what they are and answer the questions at the end.

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

Analysis of Health Information 

"How are you feeling?" is a common question a friend might ask just after you've been sick. You may respond by telling your friend how you are feeling at that point in time. A not so common question might be, "How is cutting back on french fries better for your health?" While this may initially seem like a strange question there are other health topics that don't necessarily connect directly to your current health, but can have a long term impact on how you feel.

How you protect yourself from the sun, allergies, food safety, proper back care or your eating habits all have an impact on your overall health. In this assignment, you will select a health topic and find at least three websites that provide information on this topic. Your task will be to assess the information provided by the three websites for how truthful and useful the information is.

Assignment

1. Select a health topic that you would like to investigate. It should be related to teens and your life. The following links may help you to choose a topic:

   WebMD - a great list of health related topics to start your research

   Public Health Agency of Canada - The federal government website for health topics for teenagers.

   BC Health Guide - Click on Health Topics A-Z

2. Find at least three websites that provide information on your chosen topic. Choose one website you would recommend.

3. Fill in the Website Evaluation Worksheet for your assessment of the website.

Bullying

Bullying is a problem that has been around for as long as most people can remember and can take many forms, from pushing and shoving, to ignoring someone, to spreading rumors both in person and on the internet or social media. The advent of social media has created a new tool for young people to stay anonymous and hide behind that anonymity when tormenting others, sometimes not even being aware of the results they are achieving. The results of bullying can be deadly, with some young people being so mercilessly hounded, that they feel there is no alternative but to commit suicide.

It doesn't have to be this way.

The light of awareness is being shined on bullying in all its forms, making more people aware of the issue, and causing even governments to examine it and look for solutions for what can be done.
 

Assignment

Using the websites provided and any others you can find, create a Powerpoint presentation about bullying that could be used to present the topic to a class.

Websites:

www.bullying.org
www.cyberbullying.ca - Look at the margin on the right and click through the menu items.
www.bullyingcanada.ca - Check out resources, video library (for news clips), the definition of bullying, also look along the top menu (left to right) for stories, etc..
www.definetheline.ca - Good resources for cyberbullying.

Criteria:

1. The powerpoint must be 5 slides.
2. The following information must be included:

• Your target audience.
• A definition of what bullying is, including the different types of bullying.
• At least one case study (example) of a bullying situation.
• At least one video. (Youtube or other source)
• A thorough plan of how you think bullying should and could be dealt with, including consequences for the bully, if any.

                    Please make sure that you give the sources for any resources that you use.

       3.  The powerpoint should be engaging and interesting for the audience.

Marks:

The powerpoint will be marked as follows:

Substance Abuse

Examples of the use of legal and illegal substances can be found all over the world, and from the beginning of recorded history. From Canadians getting their caffeine-fix in their morning cup of coffee, to Andean Indians chewing on leaves of the coca plant to decrease hunger and increase stamina, some substances have become acceptable within cultures. Other substances, like cocaine and heroin, have addictive qualities that have made them illegal. They also carry with them enormous consequences for both the user and society. Other drugs can belong to both groups and have some of the qualities of both legal and illegal substances. Alcohol can be a legal drug, but, if abused, can become addictive and have a detrimental effect on the abuser and everyone around them.

Watch the video: Through a Blue Lens

This video was filmed by members of the Vancouver Police force, known as "The Odd Squad" to educate young people about the dangers of drug dependence. It is an honest, hard - hitting, and award winning look at five addicts living in Vancouver in the neighborhood known as the Downtown East Side.

Assignment

You have a choice whether or not to do this project online. You can print it off and hand it into the teacher directly, or hand it into the dropbox. All directions for this assignment are on the sheet. Fill out this Chart.

Resources

Streetdrugs.org - Information on a variety of legal and illegal substances. A good place to start your research

CLN Substance Abuse Theme Page - BC based CLN provides a variety of relevant links

National Institute on Drug Abuse

The Partnership for a Drug-free America