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The SCCoop
Words on Wellness
October 2019
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It was great to see
nearly 400 parents and kids come out to see "LIKE: A Documentary about the Impact of Social Media on Our Lives" at Langley and McLean. To continue this discussion and our 2019-2020 theme of Social Media Welness, we encourage you to join Westgate Elementary PTA to see Screenagers: The Next Chapter in early December. See below for more information and a number of other events we like!
This week has been FCPS Digital Citizenship Week. Ask your kids what they are doing at school to become better digital citizens. For more information, read
recommendations for each day of the week, as shared by Chesterbrook Elementary.
As always,
let us know
how the SCC can help in your community, school, and home!
Elizabeth Hale, President
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Operation Medicine Cabinet Cleanout
The SCC and our funding partner McLean Rotary will participate with Operation Medicine Cabinet Cleanout on National Prescription Drug Take Back Day this Saturday, October 26, 2019. The DEA's National Take-Back Day is a safe, convenient, and responsible way to dispose of unused or expired prescription drugs. All FCPD police stations have disposal containers
NEW THIS YEAR: they are accepting vape pens, e-cigarettes, and cartridges! (no batteries please)
The April 2019 Take Back Day brought in 937,443 pounds (468.72 tons) of unused or expired prescription medication. This brings the total amount of prescription drugs collected by DEA since the fall of 2010 to 11,816,393 pounds.
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SCC Screening of "Like"
Approximately 400 people attended gathered in the Langley High School and McLean High School auditoriums October 10 and October 15 to see the Safe Community Coalition’s free public screenings of the IndieFlix Original documentary “LIKE,” which takes a deep dive into impact of technology on young people. The film was also screened to all 9th-graders at McLean and and 9th- and 10th-graders at Langley.
In the film, young people discuss the pervasiveness of social media on their lives, admitting they have an unhealthy relationship with their phones. For all the positive qualities of connecting on social media, the constant interaction on platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat invariably leads to a harmful amount of self-comparison, a fear of missing out, and a deterioration of relationships that need face-to-face interaction to subsist. Exacerbating this is counting the number of “likes” as a measure of one’s self-worth and spending substantial time perfecting an online “brand” that can feel disingenuous when it doesn’t always mesh with reality.
What’s all this time online doing to our brains? In the film, adolescent medicine specialist Dr. Cora Breuner says, “There’s a lot of data that show that people get addicted to their phones because the same addiction centers light up as if you were using heroin.” Another part of the brain lights up on an MRI both if you’re in love and if you’re using your phone. “When kids say, ‘I love my phone,’ they really do!” says Bruener.
“The most important thing for young people to understand is that these devices are not designed for you,” says Max Stossel of the Center for Humane Technology. “You are not the customer; you are the product being sold here and are you really using technology or is technology using you?”
Following the movie, Dr. Clifford Sussman, MD, led discussion and took questions from the audience. Before the Q&A, he used a model of the brain to point out the different areas affected by screen use.
“The brain’s limbic system, what we refer to as the ‘animal or lizard brain’ thrives on immediate gratification – it’s the driver,” said Dr. Sussman. “Yet the prefrontal cortex, which serves as our brakes, isn’t yet fully developed in teens. It’s a constant struggle everyday between the driver and the brakes.”
Asked if there was a “right age” for kids to get a phone, Dr. Sussman said, “There is no definitive answer to that. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics doesn’t have a recommendation, perhaps because technology changes so quickly.”
Dr. Sussman stressed the importance of structure, especially on the weekends when there is a lot of time to fill. While overscheduling kids to the point of exhaustion is detrimental, not having enough structure can backfire. “Downtime to many kids means screen time,” explained Dr. Sussman. Parents need to be cognizant of all screen time – video games, social media, YouTube, Netflix, TV, etc. “Kids who receive continuous stimulation have a lower tolerance for boredom, and the lure of the screen grows more powerful as the vicious cycle continues.”
A balanced relationship with digital technology is the goal. For those who want to regain some balance, consider reframing the intent from “spending less time on your phone” to “spending more time on your life.”
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Parenting in Anxious Times Discussion
On Sunday, October 27, 10 am, at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Jennifer Weaver,
a psychotherapist and professor who specializes in treating children and adolescents in anxiety disorders and
the founder of Weaver & Associates based in McLean, will discuss the epidemic of anxiety in children and what parents can do. Anxiety can be a healthy natural function which we need to survive (and remember to do our homework). However, our culture is seeing increasing levels of less useful kinds of anxiety, especially in our children. Jennifer will discuss possible causes and ways we can support our children in developing and maintaining good mental health in anxious times.
These parenting and family discussions are sponsored by St. Peter’s as a community service. There is no charge and all are welcome, regardless of creed.
Sunday, October 27th, 10-11 am
4250 N. Glebe Road, Arlington, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Parish Hall
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#TakeDownTheStigma
Speaker Series
The Eric Monday Foundation proudly presents a series of programs to educate and support parents in the community and to raise awareness of mental health.
Raising Resilience: Teaching Kids to Handle Life's Inevitable Obstacles
Presented by Rachel Bailey, Parent Coach
November 6, 2019, 7pm
Vienna Community Center
- Does your child fall apart when losing a game?
- Devastated to not make a team?
- Does your child freak out when things don’t go their way?
- Does your child avoid situations when they will have to face something difficult?
Our children are constantly facing challenges from academics, athletics, and social relationships. Inevitably, things don’t always go their way and the result can cause stress, disappointment and frustration. Join the discussion and learn tips and tools to guide your children through these challenges and help build resilience (or “grit”). Resiliency can be the most important tool to guide our children through the emotions they experience when facing obstacles and can help develop skills that contribute to their development and success.
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Don't miss the 6th Annual Joshua Ball!
The Josh Anderson Foundation (JAF) is in its seventh year of operations and has been working hard toward the day when no teen dies by suicide. JAF has reached 85 schools and close to 90,000 students with its mental health initiatives and is working to expand JAF's signature program, Our Minds Matter, to all high schools in the Metro DC Area.
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Screenagers: Next Chapter
The award-winning producer, Dr. Ruston, has released her new documentary about the relationship between technology and mental health. This documentary, "Screenagers: Next Chapter," was recently featured on “Good Morning America.”
It not only discusses parent/child struggles, but also shares stress resilience skills that parents can use with their children.
The Westgate PTA is bringing Screenagers: Next Chapter to Westgate Elementary School! All are invited. Please join the PTA on December 5 at 7pm. You can find more information and buy tickets for the evening at the following link:
Screenagers: Next Chapter Presented By Westgate PTA
. Please consider donating tickets as well!
Let's encourage and support families in becoming informed advocates for their children.
Where: Westgate Cafeteria
When:
Thursday,
December 5, 2019, 7pm
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Kids + Technology = Questions
Wondering about the impact of technology on your child? You are not alone! Many PTA members have reached out to us with questions about technology use in classrooms, cell phone use on school grounds, FCPSOn’s rollout in all high schools this fall, using screens for homework, and much more...
National PTA has been a partner to parents on digital parenting topics for over 5 years, exploring in-depth the issues that are on the minds of today’s families, and connecting parents with tools, research and supports to make the best decisions for their children.
The FCCPTA Health and Wellness Committee understands that technology use and related concerns vary from family to family. Through a series of meetings in 2018-19 we realized we would serve our members best by providing a catalog of questions and answers to all things technology in FCPS.
The committee worked with FCPS to host a Parent Technology Forum in Spring 2019 featuring a carousel-style group discussion resulting in more than 130 questions. Those questions were taken back by FCPS Instructional Technology staff and are answered below.
Please click on the following links for questions and answers about:
- Health (addiction, screen time limits, physical activity, blue light exposure)
- Privacy & Security (students’ information, content sharing, YOUTUBE, inappropriate content, age-sensitive material)
- Financial Aspects & Logistics (fees for parents, costs for school, cost for county, repair, updates, lost devices, teacher training, tech support)
- Pedagogical (Educational) Implementation (Special Ed, teacher interaction, blended learning, learning games)
- Student Conduct (cyberbullying, sexting, social media misuse, SR&R)
Information provided in response to these questions is provided by FCPS and is not an official policy or position of FCCPTA. All information provided is believed to be accurate and will be updated in a timely manner if necessary.
Please contact us here
if you have suggestions, concerns or questions that are not answered already. Last updated August 2019.
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If you can’t avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it.
Often, this involves changing the way you communicate and operate in your daily life. Express your feelings instead of bottling them up. Be willing to compromise but be more assertive. Manage your time better.
(
Helpguide.org
)
If you can’t change the stressor, change yourself.
Reframe problems. Try to view stressful situations from a more positive perspective. Look at the big picture.
Take perspective
of the stressful situation. Focus on the positive; this simple strategy can help you keep things in perspective.
(
Helpguide.org
)
Take a break from a stressor.
It may seem difficult to get away from a big work project, a crying baby, or a growing credit card bill, but when you give yourself permission to step away from it you can gain a new perspective and
feel less overwhelmed
.
It’s important to not avoid your stress (those bills have to be paid sometime), but even 20 minutes of self-care is helpful.
(
American Psychological Association
)
Breathing is the foundation to de-stress and heal.
Our normal shallow breathing starves the body and brain of oxygen, which affects the immune and cardiopulmonary systems. Develop the practice of taking several deep diaphragmatic breaths in a tense moment; it clears the mind, body, and soul.
(
The Stress Institute
)
Scientific research supports the practice that quieting the mind, body, and soul offers great health benefits.
Find a quiet place, get comfortable, focus on a one- to five-word phrase you fancy and repeat it over and over. Take deep diaphragmatic breaths, in and out, in and out. You may want to set a timer in the beginning for 10 minutes so you won’t worry about time. The practice sends healing hormones into your body for relaxation and health.
(
The Stress Institute
)
Be aware of your unhealthy coping methods to dealing with stress.
Turning to food, alcohol or drugs often just turns one set of problems into another that can balloon out of control. It’s better to avoid those unhealthy
coping mechanisms
from the start, and find good ways to keep your stress under control.
(
Psych Central
)
The practice of journaling has health benefits.
Journaling reduces stress by removing the worry and thoughts racing over and over in your mind. You move these worries, concerns, hopes or dreams out of your body onto the paper.
(
The Stress Institute
)
Affirmations can affect our health.
Research indicates every thought and emotion creates a chemical release into our bodies, which affect our mental, physical and spiritual health and well-being
.
Negative self-talk
can be damaging; giving positive messages wards this damage off.
(
The Stress Institute
)
Friendships are strong indicators of mental, physical and spiritual health.
Friendship is not a luxury, but it is essential to work-life balance and your health. Studies show that isolation decreases immune functioning and increases mortality risk.
(
The Stress Institute
)
Exercise regularly, sleep, and eat a healthy diet.
Physical activity plays a key role
in reducing and preventing the effects of stress. Make time for at least 30 minutes of exercise, three times per week. Aerobic exercise does wonders for releasing pent-up stress and tension. Well-nourished bodies are better prepared to cope with stress. Start your day right with breakfast, and keep your energy up and your mind clear with balanced, nutritious meals throughout the day. Reduce caffeine and sugar. Get enough sleep. Adequate sleep fuels your mind, as well as your body. Feeling tired will increase your stress because it may cause you to think irrationally.
(
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
)
Heighten your awareness of the moment by focusing intently on an object.
Notice a pencil’s shape, color, weight and feel. Or slowly savor a raisin or a piece of chocolate.
Mindfulness leads to relaxation.
Realize that managing stress is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Everyone is different, and reacts to stress differently.
(Multiple Sources)
Article originally published in
Success
(edited for clarity and length by IndieFlix)
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As part of our Social Media Wellness theme, we'll be highlighting articles about interesting things going on with our personal tech and social media. Here's one about taking pictures of moments instead of savoring them from
The Washington Post
.
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Safe Community Coalition | mcleanscc.org
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