Should I Send My Kids to Private School?

 

Every parent wants their child to receive a good education. But is the best education a private education?

 

Yes – Fiona
It’s true that a private education is expensive but in my opinion it is worth it. After all, the education that your child receives will dictate how successful they are throughout the rest of their life. My husband and I have made a number of sacrifices such as downsizing our home and giving up holidays in order to pay for a private education for our daughter.

When we were choosing a secondary school we did consider the local state school but the facilities there just weren’t anywhere near as good as the private schools we looked at. My daughter’s private school not only offers the best possible standard of teaching in core subjects such as English and Maths but also provides her with the opportunity to experience a wide range of music, sports and arts that she wouldn’t have had access to at a state school. The school has its own swimming pool, tennis courts and horse riding facilities.

The class sizes are also an important consideration. The classes at a private school are generally much smaller which means that the teachers can give each child individual attention. If my daughter was at a state school she would be in a class of 30 or more and I’d worry that her needs wouldn’t be met. There is a real family feel at my daughter’s school and I know that she is well looked after. For me, whatever the cost, the peace of mind that she is receiving the best possible education in a happy, loving environment is more important than anything else.

 

No – Mel
I don’t believe we should have a two-tier education system where those with money receive better facilities than those who cannot afford it. Excellent teaching should be available to everyone and if private schools were abolished, then the best teachers would be available to work in state schools for the benefit of all pupils.

Even if I could afford it, I wouldn’t send my children to private school. I believe that these sort of establishments cause children to grow up with a narrow perspective of the world, particularly if it is a single-sex school. In my opinion, it is better for children to mix with others from a variety of different backgrounds in a state school.

Some argue that state schools don’t offer the same opportunities as private school but I haven’t found this to be the case. My children are at state school and enjoy a wide range of activities – they perform in the school orchestra and enjoy dance and drama lessons. They have even visited Rome as part of their art lessons and have been on skiing trips. The teaching standards are also very high and so it’s not true that you have to pay to get a high quality education.

I know some parents think that children at private school are protected from problems like bullying, smoking and drug use but these things go on no matter how posh the school is. Buying an education is no guarantee that your children will be happy or successful just as a free education isn’t necessarily lacking in any way.

Categories: Education, private, private education, private school, private schools, School, state school, state schools, wide range

Should Sex Education be taught in Primary Schools?

 

Sex education is part of the national curriculum for mainstream UK secondary schools. But primary schools can decide themselves whether they teach the subject and this has led to teachers and parents alike asking whether sex education should be taught in primary schools.

 

Yes – Jude
It’s important for children to receive sex education from a young age – leaving it until secondary school can cause a number of problems. Children are much more sophisticated than they were a decade or two ago and it’s not unusual for them to be experimenting sexually at a young age. It’s therefore essential that they receive good quality sex education at the appropriate time in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies and unprotected sex.

Of course, the messages given at primary school will be suited to the age group of the children and will therefore give them a gentle introduction to the subject. Waiting until they are a bit older and then bombarding them with all the information at once can be very disturbing for some children and so it’s better to introduce them to the topic gradually over several years.

Children mature at different rates and some might be reaching puberty as young as ten or eleven years old – if we fail to teach them what is happening to their bodies, this can be a very scary time for children. It’s also important for children to know about sex and what is right and wrong so that they know to speak out if they are being sexually abused.

Some people say that children should be protected from sexual information but in a world where sex is on the TV, in magazines, and on music videos, there really is no getting away from it. It’s therefore better that they learn factually correct information from a teacher rather than believing playground gossip or scare stories from older siblings.

 

No – Walter
I don’t think children should learn about sex at school. It is a parent’s responsibility to teach their own child about the facts of life in the way that they feel is best. Children mature at different rates and whilst some nine or ten year olds may be able to understand, for others talking about this sensitive subject could be confusing and upsetting. It’s also very embarrassing for children to have to learn about these kinds of things alongside their classmates – it’s much better for them to learn in the safety of their own home.

I know many teachers also feel embarrassed talking about sex in lessons and it’s not fair to ask them to explain the facts of life to young children. They are not necessarily qualified to talk in this area and could give children vague or misleading information.

Primary school children should be allowed to enjoy their childhood for as long as possible. We should be protecting their innocence at this young age – rather than introducing them to the adult world.

For me, I think it is far better to wait until children start secondary school before introducing sex education into the classroom. Then it can be taught as part of their biology lessons in a scientific and correct way at an age when they are able to handle the information. Up until this point, I think the matter should be left to parents.

Categories: Children, children mature, Education, primary school, primary schools, schools nbsp, secondary school, sex education, young age

Govt calls for overhaul of sex education

 

Respectful attitudes to sex would become a core part of sex education in schools under an overhaul recommended to the Government.

The revamp would aim to broaden the subject beyond a narrow focus on the physical mechanics of sex and reproduction.

The proposal has come from Parliament’s health select committee after a cross-party inquiry which found New Zealand’s high teenage-pregnancy rate was partly the result of inconsistent and sometimes non-existent sexual and reproductive lessons in schools.

Sex education is mandatory, but the 18-month inquiry found programmes were “fragmented and uneven”, parents were able to keep children out of them and classes often focused on physical aspects of sex.

The select committee recommended that the Government give all schools two years to create programmes that meet Ministry of Health standards.

The Education Review Office would monitor whether schools were meeting the needs of students of all cultures, ethnicities and sexual orientations.

Cabinet ministers said yesterday that they would “partially accept” the recommendations.

The committee made 130 recommendations for changes to sex education and to healthcare, maternity care, alcohol abuse, nutrition and early intervention programmes.

The Government accepted 55 recommendations, partially accepted 54, noted 14 and rejected seven.

Committee chairman and National MP Paul Hutchison said he was encouraged by the Government’s overall response and was optimistic it would adopt the sex education proposals.

“Given the issues with the Roastbusters case and other recent cases, there’s a growing view that we need to do this. I would hope that the Government will look to the evidence and then form a basis of action.”

Others were sceptical.

Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmonds said it appeared the Government had no intention of requiring the ERO to monitor whether schools were meeting students’ needs in sexual health and education.

The inquiry found that the ERO had been “very passive” in monitoring sex education.

Labour health spokeswoman Annette King said the Government’s response was a “two-fingered salute” to two years of hard work because it did not commit to deadlines and half-heartedly accepted the recommendations.

Late last year, Prime Minister John Key said the Government would have to tread carefully in expanding sex education in schools because some parents felt it would cut across their responsibilities, while others felt more education would enable young women to know their rights.

Dr Hutchison said the Government would have to consult parents and schools. ”I think this area needs to be made … acceptable to the majority of parents and students so that they will regard human reproduction and health as a normalised part of general education, rather than putting their head in the sand over it.”

A former board of trustees member who resigned over “unacceptable” sex education classes at her school opposes recommendations that sex education programmes be mandatory for all schoolchildren.

Jo-Anne Sim resigned last month as a trustee of the Blaketown Primary School on the West Coast after a teacher taught what Ms Sim said were explicit lessons that were not appropriate for Year 7 and 8 pupils.

The classes included discussion about oral and anal sex, flavoured condoms, and pleasure points – despite parents having been told in writing beforehand that pupils would be taught only the basics.

Ms Sim said families should be given a choice when it came to educating their children about sexual health.

“Some parents like to be the people who give that advice in the family and guide the children at the right time,” she said.

But if sex education was to be taught in schools, it had to be by a health professional.

- NZ Herald

Categories: Education, Government, health, ms sim, Parents, Schools, select committee, sex education, sexual health

Why Are Rich People Having Better Sex?

Money, it seems, can’t buy you love but it might be able to buy you great sex – recent research suggests that socioeconomic factors correlate directly with a higher level of sexual satisfaction. This amazing result comes from research by the Spanish National Sexual Health Survey, from the Barcelona Public Health Agency who surveyed 9850 participants to determine the results. After analysing the data they found that sex actually better when you have money. People of lower socioeconomic status claim to be less sexually satisfied, particularly women who seem to be more influenced by these factors. The study looked at the level of education and where the participants grew up to reveal potentially critical differences. Over 92 per cent of women with a university education, for example, said that they were satisfied with their sex life, whereas only 81 per cent of women with less than a primary education agreed. This gap widens when it comes to contraception, where 62 per cent of women with less than a primary education used contraception within the past year, but this jumps to 81 per cent for women who had attended university.

Contraception may not be initially related to sexual enjoyment levels, but for many women, the use of contraception can lead to a less stressful experience with sex, because it reduces the risk of pregnancy and STDs. In fact, authors of the study noted that women of a higher socioeconomic standing tended to use contraception more frequently could also indicate a greater awareness of their needs in the bedroom, and a great ability to develop their sexuality with control. This is an interesting factor and one which is often overlooked in terms of sexual satisfaction – the ability to control your own needs and desires, rather than relying on other people to fulfil your sexual needs.

 

With regards to sex in your own life, isn’t it more enjoyable when you aren’t worried about an unwanted pregnancy or the health risks you could be putting yourself under? Removing these concerns from your sexual experience immediately makes it more enjoyable, something practically everyone can attest to. But there are other factors to remember too, not just our stress levels when we enter the bedroom. For example, the rates of sexual abuse were greatly different, with 4 per cent of women with a university education reporting sexual abuse, compared to 13 per cent of women with less than a primary education. It’s no shock that what may have happened previously can also impact what’s happening currently. And stress greatly differs the figures too. It’s no surprise that alleviating the worry of finances and debts lowers your stress levels overall, making the enjoyment of sex far easier.

 

People who are stressed tend to produce higher amounts of the hormone cortisol and when this is produced in large amounts, it can lower one’s libido. So it seems that those sensationalist headlines which claim that the rich have better sex lives in addition to better lives overall could actually be right, but in a different way. What this study shows us is that socioeconomic privilege can extend into more aspects of a person’s life than we first thought, and it’s those changes which actually influence our sex lives rather than being rich itself. but great sex should be a luxury we all enjoy, and aspects like stress, worry and contraception are all things which can be alleviated with a little planning and lifestyle changes, not just through how much money you have in the bank.

Categories: Education, primary education, Relationships, Sex, sex lives, sexual, Sexual Abuse, sexual satisfaction, Stress Levels, university education, wealth, Women

Sex School: What Does It Teach You?

Carrie Bradshaw did it, sexual researchers have done it, and now you can do it. ‘It’ refers to sex classes to improve your skills on everything from hand jobs to erotic massage. In today’s sexual revolution, grown-up sex education is becoming increasingly popular. They give you the chance to refine your technique and improve your skills in the bedroom for a better sex life overall. And it’s not just sexy singles opting for this form of education; couples are taking the leap at working on their sex life in a proactive way. These classes are popping up in major cities all over the place, and they’re causing quite a stir. People feel more confident when they’re informed, and there’s nowhere where that counts more than in the bedroom. Sex school could be the answer to every question you’ve ever had about sex, or even as just a way to stay abreast of the latest trends and tricks in sex. Learning about sex can also be embarrassing for people, so this creates a neutral and unbiased environment for your sexual education. But what are the best tips to take from this kind of class? We’ve compiled three of the best to begin your journey into the (not so) unknown.

Tap into all your senses

Exploring your partner and your own body sensually is important for pleasure in the bedroom. Try blindfolding yourself to take the emphasis off the visual, and then let them touch and talk to you while you’re blindfolded. You may find it useful to touch them with something other than your hand, such as a feather or a silk scarf. Becoming a sensory explorer and seeing your partner in a different way, and having them explore your body in more ways than just looking at it, makes for a more intimate and arousing experience. It’s important to take the importance off of looks and place it on other more sensory experiences, which is what sex boils down to after all.

Touch “everything but”

Imagine being incredibly aroused but not being able to act on your urges – the sexual tension would be through the roof. That’s what some of these classes teach – to do this deliberately and experience a heightened orgasm as a result of your efforts. Begin by touching everything except your partner’s genitals, starting with a feather-light touch and lightly touching parts of the body to heighten the sensitivity. Keep going until your partner can’t wait anymore, then move on to sex – you’ll be amazing by the reaction.

Use both hands

When you’re giving your partner a handjob, you shouldn’t be afraid to use both hands. Get your hands well lubed up and slippery, then experiment with different sensations such as using your palms to apply light but firm pressure, and stroking up and off in one swift motion then immediately sliding your palms downwards slowly. You want to mimic penetration as best you can. Try lubing up your hands and lightly gripping both hands around the penis, gently turning them in opposite directions as you slide them up and down. There are multiple ways to arouse your partner in this way; in fact, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask your partner what they like and then practice it with them.Take a little class of your own in your bedroom and talk about what turns each of you on, then act on it – it could be the best bit of education you’ve ever had!

Categories: Advice, bedroom, Couples, Education, hands, partner, Sex, sex life, sex school, sexual

How to Help Your Loved One Deal with Bipolar Disorder

When a loved one’s wellbeing is affected by bipolar disorder, there’s no overstating how important family wellness is to their recovery. Your love and support can make all the difference to that person, whether you do that by learning about the illness, offering hope and encouragement, keeping track of symptoms, being a partner in treatment or all of the above. It’s important not to neglect your own wellness in caring for someone close to you, so remember to find a balance between supporting your loved one and taking care of yourself.

 

Helping a family member or friend with bipolar disorder can be difficult, even though you’re not the one with the mental health issue. Your loved one’s moods and behaviour affect you and other family and close friends, as you have to cope with reckless antics, outrageous demands, explosive outbursts, and irresponsible decisions. Once the whirlwind of a manic episode has passed, it’s often up to you to deal with the consequences, and if your loved one is going through a period of depression, it can fall on you to pick up the slack. Most people with bipolar disorder are able to stabilise their moods with proper treatment, medication, and support, but your support can be instrumental in reaching that goal. Let’s take a closer look at what that involves:

 

1. Educate yourself: While it’s important for your loved one to be well-read on the subject, it can be really beneficial if you learn about bipolar disorder too. If your loved one does educate his or herself and you don’t, it can be frustrating for them to talk to you, as you don’t fully appreciate the details of the disorder. If you learn everything you can about bipolar disorder and your loved one doesn’t, on the other hand, you at least will be equipped to help your loved one and keep things in perspective. As the more mentally stable one in the relationship, education about the symptoms and treatment options is a more feasible option for you right now, and your loved one can learn from you when they’re able.

 

2. Encourage your loved one to seek help: Even if you become an expert in all things bipolar, you alone are not enough to help your loved one through to recovery. You are not a medical professional, or a magician, and so your loved one should seek help from someone who can do the things you can’t. Your loved one’s prognosis will be in much better shape if he or she seeks treatment early on, so make sure you do what you can to encourage them to get professional help. Don’t wait to see if your loved one will get better without treatment – they won’t.

 

3. Be someone your loved one wants support from: It’s important that you demonstrate real understanding during this time, as you’ll be no use at all if your loved one doesn’t perceive you as someone worth talking or listening to. Make sure your friend or family member knows that you’re there if he or she needs you, whether that entails lending a sympathetic ear, giving encouragement, or providing assistance with their treatment. Don’t assume that your loved one knows you’re there for them; remind them that you care about their wellbeing and will do what ever you can to help.

 

4. Be prepared to wait: In all areas of wellness, patience is key. Even if your loved one is committed to treatment, is diagnosed early and has the best medical and personal support teams in place, getting better will take time. There’s no quick fix or permanent cure for bipolar disorder, so be patient with the pace of recovery and be ready for setbacks and challenges.

Categories: bipolar, bipolar disorder, Disorder, Education, family member, nbsp, Support, treatment

How to Manage and Control Your Bipolar Disorder

Although bipolar disorder is a major health concern, that’s not to say that you cannot help yourself. Aside from the treatment or medications you’re given by your medical team, you can do much to look after your own wellbeing, manage your moods and stay balanced. We’ve rounded up the best things you can do to ensure your wellness:

 

1. Get involved in your treatment: Your treatment process will go so much better if you become a full and active participant. Learn everything you can about bipolar disorder, from your treatment options to all the symptoms, so you can recognise them yourself. Once you’re well-informed, you can collaborate with your doctor or therapist in the treatment planning process. Your programme will change all the time, so it’s important to work as your healthcare provider’s partner, and keep channels of communication alive and well. Be honest about your symptoms and any medication side effects.

 

2. Keep track of your symptoms and moods: It is essential that you are closely attuned to the way you feel, as it’s far better to discern the early warning signs of a mood swing than to wait for full-blown mania or depression. By the time mood swings are apparent to most people, it’s often too late to do anything to stop it so closely monitor subtle changes in your mood, sleeping patterns, energy level, and thoughts. Also try to identify the triggers, or outside influences, that have led to mania or depression in the past.

 

3. Be prepared: If you do spot any warning signs of mania or depression, it’s helpful to have a wellness toolbox of coping skills and activities to draw from. These things will be unique to you, but many bipolar sufferers often find certain practises helpful; talking to a supportive person, getting a full eight hours of sleep, cutting back on your activities, attending a support group, calling your doctor or therapist, doing something fun or creative, exercising, writing in your journal, increasing your exposure to light and cutting back on sugar, alcohol, and caffeine.

 

4. Get ready for emergencies: For those times in which you experience a relapse into full-blown mania or severe depression, you need to have an emergency action place in place that someone else can follow. Your action plan should include a list of emergency contacts, a list of all medications you are taking (including dosages), a list of any other health problems you have, your treatment preferences and a list of symptoms that indicate you need others to take responsibility for your care.

 

5. Find the right support: While taking charge of your own health is important in bipolar disorder, having a strong support system is vital to staying happy and healthy. As well as surrounding yourself with supportive individuals, you also need to avoid or limit contact with people who drain your emotional energy or leave you feeling discouraged, ashamed, or guilty. This is good advice for anyone to follow, but especially for those who suffer with bipolar disorder – why wouldn’t you just want to spend time with people who truly value you and make you feel better?

 

6. Develop a daily routine: Every little thing you do in life has a significant impact on your mood. By building a structure into your life – including set times for sleeping, eating, socializing, exercising, working, and relaxing – you can help stabilise your mood swings. Regular exercise is vital for treating depression, so try to incorporate at least 30 minutes of activity five times a week into your routine. This can be as simple as going for a walk.

Categories: bipolar, bipolar disorder, blown mania, depression, Disorder, Education, Mood Swings, nbsp, Support, treatment, warning signs

How To Talk To Your Teenage Child About Sex

Sex education has always been a sensitive subject. How much should you teach children about sex? And how early should you start to teach them? These are very difficult questions that are faced by all parents who are bringing up their children. Indeed it is also a problem that is faced by schools as well. Almost all sensible schools teach some sort or form of sex education and the controversy that surrounds that is always high. The fact is that the most important sex education that your child can get happens at home – and this leaves you free to set the boundaries. But given this is the case, it’s important to be geared up with the facts for what is sensible to teach them and when. So, here’s our guide to talk to your teenage child about sex.

 

Sex education at school is a great way of teaching children the basics of sex. Teenagers are notoriously difficult to talk to about sex and as awkward as it may seem, you are the person who needs to take the responsibility in education them about the reality of sexual activity and sexual intercourse. By reinforcing and expanding on what they have learned in sex education classes you are setting them up with a fantastic foundation with sexual knowledge. Indeed you are setting them up for their lives to be able to have a happy and healthy sexual time.

 

We are all exposed to sex all of the time. Through the mediums of advertising, news and other media including films, TV and books, sex surrounds our daily lives. While this is a bad thing for some people who would not like their children to be exposed to this sort of thing all of the time – we look at it as an opportunity. The fact is that children become relatively desensitised to sex and that means you can talk to them more openly and honestly about. So, one of our number one tips about talking to teenagers about sex has to be: seize the moment – when there is a news story or a scene in a TV show, talk the opportunity to discuss good sexual practices and bad ones. Remember that it is far more awkward to sit a child down to have a “chat about sex” than it is to just bring it up naturally in conversation.

 

Remember to consider your teenager’s point of view – don’t give them a lecture, make it a sensible discussion where nothing they say is ridiculous, just a step in the process of their learning. Don’t try to scare them off having sex – it is natural to be protective of your child, but you must also be realistic, and if they find themselves happy in the situation to have sex, it is better they have the true facts of the situation rather than lies designed to make them fear sex.

 

Make sure that you don’t just talk about the facts – teenagers need to know that there is much more to sex than just the raw, physical act. It is important for them to understand about the right ways to go about sex and about feeling comfortable in what they are doing.

 

There are plenty of topics surrounding sex that you’ll need to deal with including big questions such hanging around what do if they think they might be gay, or that their partner wants sex and they don’t but they don’t know how to tell them. You should be equipped to answer their questions and keep them feeling confident.

Categories: Child, Children, Education, nbsp, sex education, sex nbsp, talk, talking to teenagers, teenage child, teenager

New Sex Ed Curriculum: Useless Facts, Omits Vital Topics

The Sex Education Forum have spent the last year campaigning for Education Secretary Michael Gove to keep the term “sexual health” in the curriculum, but were sadly “disappointed” in their attempts. In the new programme of study for science, the Department for Education has taken out all references to the term, which may put your children’s sexual wellness at risk in the future.

 

As it stands, the curriculum states that pupils should ‘consider how knowledge and understanding of science informs personal and collective decisions, including those on substance abuse and sexual health’. The reason why the Forum – which represents organisations and charities including the NCB and Brook – has been battling to keep the term “sexual health” is due to fears that teachers will avoid talking about this subject to children if all references are removed from the curriculum. This puts the wellbeing of children and teenagers at risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancies, as they won’t be properly educated about contraception and risky sexual behaviour.

 

Not only does the new programme of study – which will come into effect from 2014 – omit the term “sexual health;” it also discourages teachers from explaining ‘how reproduction occurs’ and from talking about hormones. This latter restraint will certainly be tricky considering that talking about puberty is still expected of teachers, albeit being a subject included within the non-statutory part of the curriculum. Moreover, the new curriculum comes a week after David Cameron has openly backed the Telegraph Wonder Women campaign to bring sex education into the 21st century – it’s no wonder that Forum chair Jane Lees said the Government was sending mixed messages about sex education!

 

According to Lees, ‘The Sex Education Forum is disappointed that the new National Curriculum presents a confusing picture about sex education that will hinder teaching about this vital subject. While puberty is clearly included in science, teachers are discouraged from explaining “how reproduction occurs” and about hormones. Omitting sexual health from the curriculum fails to prepare children properly for adult life. The Government has missed a perfect opportunity to link up their education policy with their stated commitment to improving the nation’s sexual health, just days after the Prime Minister talked about the need to modernise sex and relationships education to make sure it is relevant to the lives of children today.’

 

Lees added, ‘We urge both primary and secondary schools to consult pupils about their sex and relationships education (SRE) to make sure that what they provide responds to their needs.’ This assertion has the support of wellness experts, who have argued that the current curriculum is too skewed towards the “mechanics” of reproduction rather than giving due attention to good relationships, sexual health or the sex education that pupils really need – and that’s just the current curriculum! The new curriculum is taking a step backwards, expecting pupils to only learn about ‘reproduction in humans (as an example of a mammal), including the structure and function of the male and female reproductive systems, menstrual cycle (without details of hormones), gametes, fertilisation, gestation and birth, to include the effect of maternal lifestyle on the fetus through the placenta.’

 

If that sounds a little clinical, wait until you read the addition in the non-statutory guidance section. ‘Pupils should draw a timeline to indicate stages in the growth and development of humans,’ it says. ‘They should learn about the changes experienced in puberty. Pupils could work scientifically by researching the gestation periods of other animals and comparing them with humans; by finding out and recording the length and mass of a baby as it grows.’ Rather than being concerned about safe sex and healthy relationships, I’m sure all parents want their kids to learn about animal gestation and draw a nifty timeline – that will really take care of their sexual health (if I’m allowed to use that term.)

Categories: current curriculum, curriculum, Education, education forum, New Curriculum, relationships education, reproduction occurs, Scientific Knowledge, sex education, sexual health, term sexual

Money Worries:How to Stop Your Finances Harming Your Health

Whether you lose your job or your savings take a hit, money worries can really give your emotional wellbeing a knock. You can feel shock, anger, guilt and a sense of powerlessness at your situation, as well as the stress of trying to solve the problem. This can affect your mental health with anxiety and depression, so now it’s more important than ever to take care of yourself and your family.

 

Financial wellness can be affected by many life events, including unemployment, redundancy or retrenchment, redeployment, losing your job, losing a large investment, or losing your retirement income. At first, tackling the problem can be difficult as you’re still in a state of shock or disbelief at what has happened – you can’t fix something until you realise it exists! You can also be too anxious or worried about the future to form a solid plan, as well as a deep sense of loss for the future plans you had already made, which may not now be possible. Plus, the anger you feel at your situation or members of your family, and the embarrassment you feel at getting yourself into this mess, can cause you to become isolated from others.

 

When you put these emotions together, it doesn’t make a good recipe for getting back on your feet. Most people find that these feelings fade a little with time, and so they are able to move forward. However, if your distress and anxiety lasts for longer than a few weeks, you may be at risk of mental health problems, such as depression. Ask yourself the following questions, and if you answer yes to any of them, you may need to seek a doctor or other health professional:

 

1. Do you find it hard to do your normal everyday activities, such as going for a walk, preparing meals or talking to your friends and family?

 

2. Are you using alcohol or drugs to help you cope or feel better?

 

3. Is it difficult for you to relax and sleep?

 

4. Have you been acting more angry, irritable or intolerant around other people than usual?

 

5. Have you been feeling overwhelmed, not able to cope and thinking about suicide?

 

Aside from seeking help from a professional, there are things you can do to stay on top of your emotions during this difficult financial time. Firstly, write down every worry you have. It’s not helpful to have all these anxious thoughts floating around in your head on a loop, but writing them down will help you to take some control of the situations. Once you’ve identified your concerns, list them in order of importance so you know which ones to tackle first. Next, arm yourself with information and advice, be it from organisations or the internet. It might help to talk to someone who understands financial issues such as budgeting, saving, investing and managing debts, as they can explain things clearly and help you to get your head around things.

 

Aside from this, you need support from your friends and family members. It’s important to remember that you’re not alone in this, and getting your loved ones involved will help as they can share the burden, and help you to remain positive. You should speak to your doctor about your lifestyle, as this can really affect your mood. Ask about stress-management techniques, maintaining a balanced diet and exercise programme, and ways to eliminate or avoid smoking, drugs and alcohol.  Finally, you need to be patient and positive. It takes time to recover from a major loss like this, so think about times in the past where you’ve overcome obstacles, and apply this to your current situation.

Categories: Education, Family, family nbsp, feel, Finances, financial, health, Medical Help, Mental Health, Money Worries, nbsp, Support

Lack of Sex Education Leads to Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Worrying statistics emerging from Western Australia seem to indicate that sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are on the rise. The cause of this sexual health problem seems to be a lack of sex education amongst young people leading to them taking unnecessary risks due to lack of knowledge.

A recent report was published by the WA Health Department which showed a significant spike in the number of reported cases of STDs in the state, and this has led to further calls for an improved sexual education programme to be put in place to protect the wellbeing and sexual wellness of young people.

The report also highlights particular areas of concern, such as the increased rates of gonorrhea in particular, and the fact that 54% of cases of this disease are reported by young people in the 15 – 24 age bracket.

On the flip side, there are positives to observe in the fact that more STDs are being reported, as this means that young people are at least aware enough to get tested. The high rates do, however, lead to serious questions about how young people are viewing sex and their attitudes towards safe sex.

Sexual health has been a taboo issue for a long time, meaning that people do not tend to talk to young people about it. This trend has to change, however, as open discussion is the only way to tackle the serious sexual health problems that are starting to infest the younger generation.

As well as a lack of sexual education, it is thought that young people engage in risky sexual behaviours due to other factors such as peer pressure and the influence of drugs and alcohol. Combined with a lack of knowledge about contraception or avoiding STIs, this can lead to very serious health problems.

Categories: diseases, Education, Sex

Vegetroubles: Getting Your Children to Eat More Healthily

Getting your child to eat their dinner can be a monumental task, but getting them to eat vegetables? Forget about it! How do you get your kids to eat in a way that benefits their wellbeing, without descending into screaming matches and tantrums?

Firstly, evaluate how wellness-centred your own diet is. It’s easy to care about your children’s health, but family wellness depends on everyone being healthy – which means you. Your children follow your example, so how do you expect your child to eat veggies if your plate is stacked sky-high with fatty foods and refined sugar? You need to eat vegetables if you expect your children to do the same, and everyone will benefit.

A time-honoured trick to get kids eating vegetables is to disguise them in their favourite foods. If spag bol is your child’s dish of choice, puree vegetables and stir them into the sauce. You can even chop up vegetables and hide them under layers of lasagne. This will help them get used to the taste of vegetables, so when you present them with the real, whole produce, they’ll be surprised to find that they actually like it.

However, though tricking your kids into eating what’s good for them is sometimes necessary, a better, long-term solution is to teach them about healthy eating, and get them excited about food. If your child is involved in the cooking, or even the growing, of fruit and vegetables, they will be proud of what they have made/grown and therefore more than likely eat it. Plus, the earlier you teach them to cook, the earlier you can put your feet up and let them take care of dinner!

Also, never underestimate the power of novelty utensils. A regular, old silver knife and fork? Boring! Cutlery adorned with Spongebob Squarepants or Peppa Pig? Pass the carrots! Ok, perhaps the effects of novelty cutlery aren’t quite that immediate, but you get the point. Having utensils, cups and plates with your children’s favourite characters on will help them to see that mealtime is a fun time, and they’ll want to eat their food more. You could even try going to a pottery shop together as a fun, family say out, and making and painting your own plates and cups.

Vegetroubles: Getting Your Children to Eat More Healthily

Categories: Cutlery, Education, vegetables

How Does Immigration Status Affect Children’s Education?

Your immigration status affects your children’s prospects later in life, especially with regard to their future financial wellness. This is according to a new report, combining new and older research from UC Irvine and Pennsylvania State University scholars, which says that education is the culprit for affecting family wellness.

The report is based on research of Mexican-American children as part of a broader project tracking how Mexican immigrants and their families integrate into US society. It was discovered that the kids of unauthorized immigrant parents — particularly those whose mothers are in the country illegally — tend to wind up with fewer years of education than children whose parents are US citizens or are in the country legally. The effect can even trickle down to the next generation of children, albeit to a lesser degree.

The results of the report showed that – all else being equal – the unauthorized status of mothers alone appears to reduce children’s schooling by about a one-and-a-quarter. This means the difference between attending some college and not finishing high school, which can seriously affect the wellbeing of young adults. Not only do Americans without a high school diploma earn about half a million dollars less over their lifetimes, they also die about seven years earlier than those with some college.

When it came to the third generation, their disadvantage was estimated to be proportionately less, but nonetheless non-trivial. The researchers surmised that grandparents lacking legal status could be partly responsible for a schooling gap of about 1.1 years between male third-generation Mexican Americans and their non-Latino white peers. The report – which is part of a larger project funded by Brown University and the Russell Sage Foundation – explained that when families live ‘on the margins of society,’ it impedes how the entire family integrates across generations.

Not only does living on the margins affect your family’s integration, but also your bank balance. The report revealed that the first generation’s immigration status dramatically affects how much a family earns and saves, and how much gets passed along to future generations in property, education and other investments. Again, this effect trickles down to the third generation, because if your parents are here illegally, you may have to contribute more toward supporting your parents later in life.

Categories: Education, Immigration Status, Research

What Parents Need to Know About Their Child’s Education

Every parent wants the best education for their child, and will go to great lengths to get it: moving house, hiring tutors, or even resorting to home education. But how good is the educational system in reality? It is difficult for many parents to know for sure, relying on their child’s reports and parent-teacher meetings to figure out if their son or daughter is receiving the best education possible. And as the English education system undergoes reforms by the government, debate is rife regarding the academic curriculum.

 

An economist at Stanford University, Eric Hanushek, reports that a bad teacher will lose their pupils half a year of education, and a good teacher will gain their pupils half a year. In effect, some pupils could gain a year’s advantage over others and excel in education. However, Hanushek reports that determining good teachers from bad is extremely difficult, and often academic success depends on the students themselves. One of the most significant factors regarding intellectual abilities is vocabulary. An article in the City Journal explained that a child’s vocabulary was a strong indicator of their future academic success. It has been suggested that a content-rich curriculum would help improve vocabulary. Also known as ‘domain immersion’, in this system a child will learn different words in known context. This approach repeats words and contexts gradually so that they are learned over time. An alternative to this system is ‘how-to-ism’, which avoids simple factual knowledge, preferring to give the children the intellectual tools and abilities to approach new knowledge by themselves. Some of the country’s most elite professors of education favoured ‘how-to-ism’ over a content-rich curriculum, but many parents disagree.

 

What is most important is the need for students to fully grasp vocabulary skills, in order to approach other aspects of the curriculum with success. A combination of different approaches could be the ideal route, but parents need not rely solely on the educational system. Encouraging your child to be able to read, write, and pronounce a variety of words in a variety of contexts will be a valuable and positive experience to them.

Categories: Children, Education, School

An ACE Approach: Non-Profit Tells Teens About Climate Change

When Cy Maramangalam strolled onstage at James Blake High School’s auditorium in Silver Spring, Maryland, sporting jeans and a shaved head, he looked more like he was about to introduce a hot new band than do a talk on environmental wellness.  However, Maramangalam is from the Alliance for Climate Education, or ACE, a non-profit which has put on multimedia climate change presentations for more than one million students across the country.

As cartoon characters and graphs danced on a giant screen behind him, Maramangalam explained that carbon dioxide levels are higher than they’ve ever been in 800,000 years, and that this is driving up the globe’s thermostat. He said, ‘Jacking up the temperature toward this point should be freaking people out, but it’s happening quietly.’ According to recent polls, students in the US learn little about climate change at school, and even many adults have a fuzzy notion of what causes it, and so ACE aims to fill a big gap.

The new K-12 science standards issued in April include, for the first time, climate change. However, even though the standards were written by a consortium of science and education groups in consultation with 26 states, they are only voluntary and could take years to roll out. Therefore, Maramangalam hopes to educate young people quickly about a topic that scientists say – for the sake of human wellness and the planet’s wellbeing – must be urgently addressed.

Maramangalam told the students, ‘You’ve inherited a country that’s all about living large,’ explaining that each person takes up not only the space occupied by their home and school, but also land in Iowa to grow their food, in Brazil and China to make all their “stuff,” and in the Middle East to get fuel to drive around. He asked, ‘Can you believe that the average American teenager uses about 21 football fields of Earth’s resources to live?’

According to Matt Lappe, ACE’s education director, today’s high school students are ‘going to be the generation to feel the impacts [of climate change] hardest and first, and so in some sense we target high-schoolers, and young people in general, because they really have a right to know climate science.’ The presentation itself seemed to make a big impact on students, with senior Danielle Snowden noting, ‘It was kind of scary. I didn’t realize that it was that big of an issue. I just thought, you know, we should do better. But it’s like, we have to do better.’

An ACE Approach: Non-Profit Tells Teens About Climate Change

Categories: Climate Change, Education, Teenagers

Are We Teaching Our Children About Healthy Sexuality?

A large part of sexual health is healthy sexuality (they even sound the same!) but this doesn’t seem to be something we openly discuss. Sure, the media love showing you sexualised images of women (and some men) but does that imply that we’re a nation that knows about sexual wellness? Healthy sexuality is not something you’re born knowing, you have to learn it. Why? Because healthy sexuality is the basis of preventing sexual violence and making your community safer.

Let’s define what we mean by healthy sexuality: having the knowledge and power to express sexuality in ways that enrich your life. This means guarding your wellbeing against violence by making informed choices, and having consensual and respectful. It all comes down to values and how we interact with one another. This begins with communication, which means going beyond “no means no” and listing bad behaviours. When you teach your kids about healthy eating, you don’t just list bad foods – you also show them how to eat in a healthy way. The same goes for healthy sexuality: talk about what it means to respect boundaries and to communicate with a partner. Communication is key in all relationships.

When you’re talking about healthy sexuality, you can’t avoid discussing respect. The main focus of bullying and sexual harassment in schools is gender norms; our culture’s “rules” about how men and women are supposed to behave. Students who don’t fit the norm of their gender are often targeted, and research has shown that there’s a link between perpetrating gender-based bullying and sexual harassment and perpetrating sexual violence in later life. This means that starting early, and teaching your children about respecting the right to gender expression, will make your child’s school and community safer in the long-run.

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of knowledge. If you equip your children with the knowledge and skills of healthy sexuality, they are more likely to be an engaged bystander. Being comfortable in addressing issues of sex, consent, and respect, makes you feel more comfortable intervening in a situation that may be sexually unsafe for someone else. You’re not only helping your child’s sexual wellness, but countless others’ also.

Are We Teaching Our Children About Healthy Sexuality?

Categories: Communication, Education, Healthy Sexuality

Are We Teaching Our Children About Healthy Sexuality?

A large part of sexual health is healthy sexuality (they even sound the same!) but this doesn’t seem to be something we openly discuss. Sure, the media love showing you sexualised images of women (and some men) but does that imply that we’re a nation that knows about sexual wellness? Healthy sexuality is not something you’re born knowing, you have to learn it. Why? Because healthy sexuality is the basis of preventing sexual violence and making your community safer.

Let’s define what we mean by healthy sexuality: having the knowledge and power to express sexuality in ways that enrich your life. This means guarding your wellbeing against violence by making informed choices, and having consensual and respectful. It all comes down to values and how we interact with one another. This begins with communication, which means going beyond “no means no” and listing bad behaviours. When you teach your kids about healthy eating, you don’t just list bad foods – you also show them how to eat in a healthy way. The same goes for healthy sexuality: talk about what it means to respect boundaries and to communicate with a partner. Communication is key in all relationships.

When you’re talking about healthy sexuality, you can’t avoid discussing respect. The main focus of bullying and sexual harassment in schools is gender norms; our culture’s “rules” about how men and women are supposed to behave. Students who don’t fit the norm of their gender are often targeted, and research has shown that there’s a link between perpetrating gender-based bullying and sexual harassment and perpetrating sexual violence in later life. This means that starting early, and teaching your children about respecting the right to gender expression, will make your child’s school and community safer in the long-run.

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of knowledge. If you equip your children with the knowledge and skills of healthy sexuality, they are more likely to be an engaged bystander. Being comfortable in addressing issues of sex, consent, and respect, makes you feel more comfortable intervening in a situation that may be sexually unsafe for someone else. You’re not only helping your child’s sexual wellness, but countless others’ also.

Are We Teaching Our Children About Healthy Sexuality?

Categories: Communication, Education, Healthy Sexuality

Could Phone Apps Help to Improve Asthma Education and Care?

Apps are a good way to remind patients to get vaccines, and educate them on ways to self-manage their chronic asthma and allergies. This is according to researchers at the National Association of Paediatric Nurse Practitioners 2013 Annual Meeting, who believe that smartphone apps are becoming an increasingly viable solution to overcome gaps in traditional patient reminder systems, and a useful patient education tool.

The problem with traditional vaccine outreach reminder methods, such as telephone calls, mailed paper reminders, and in-person home visits, is that they are dependent on the reliability of your patient contact information. According to Jessica L. Peck, DNP, RN, MSN, CPNP-PC, CNE, CNL, of Capstone College of Nursing at the University of Alabama, ‘Providers have expressed a need for alternative recall methods that are not so time, labour and financially intensive. With 194 US smart phone users projected by the year 2015, the opportunity to harness technology for this purpose is present.’

Kathy Chojnacki RN, MSN, CPNP-AC, and Jodi Shroba RN, MSN, CPNP, both of Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Missouri, cited another wellness benefit that apps provide; improving health literacy among patients with chronic asthma and allergies. They wrote in a poster session, ‘Mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones are become more cost effective and more readily available forms of electronic communication. The healthcare system is primed and ready to utilize these devices in clinical practice.’

For their poster, Chojnacki and Shroba assessed the overall benefits and limitations of several apps for allergy, asthma and rhinitis, as well as exploring opportunities for integrating mobile technology into clinical practice. The AshtmaMD app revealed several benefits to asthmatic wellness, providing methods that patients can use to reduce symptomatic days, asthma-related ER visits, rescue therapy use and need for inhaler use to provide symptom relief.

However, some of the apps used inaccurate or incomplete medical information from online sources, had a lack of wireless internet capabilities, reduced face-to-face interactions between providers and patients and were deemed to be too costly to implement in institution-wide systems. Yet, in spite of these concerns, the authors concluded ‘the increased use of smart phones and mobile devices provide the perfect climate for integration of applications into patient care.’

Could Phone Apps Help to Improve Asthma Education and Care?

Categories: Apps, Asthma, chronic asthma, clinical practice, Education, mobile devices, msn cpnp, patient, Patients, Reminders, rn msn

The Reality of Sex Among Teenagers

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that American high school students are having sex – it’s actually a fairly obvious fact. When you look at the combination of statistics, MTV reality shows and simply talking to teenagers, it is becomes blatant that there are a substantial number of high school students engaging in some form or another of sexual activity. Those who like to claim otherwise are often either in denial don’t want to admit the truth or aren’t interested in the facts. Well, here are the facts:

Every year, U.S. teens go through as many as 850,000 pregnancies and young adults under 25 suffer about 9.1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs) according to the Advocates for Youth website. The website also reports that by the time that young people have reached the age of 18, 70 per cent of the females and 62 percent of the males have had sexual intercourse.

It is absolutely vital that high schools that don’t currently run sex education classes initiate programs teaching students proper condom usage, birth-control methods and advice for the proper precautions to take against contracting STIs and pregnancy.

Regardless of how any individual feels about teenagers having sex, no one can any longer deny that it is happening and that we need to educate young people so that if they are going to make this choice, they at least do it safely and properly.

People who try to convince themselves otherwise need to face reality and understand that the best action is to educate teenagers on how to protect themselves and be safe about their sexual activity.

Schools that now implement abstinence-only programs are not being realistic about what current teenage lifestyles. Although there are certainly many teenagers out there who choose to not have sex during high school, there are also plenty who are going to experiment sexually regardless of how strongly their schools ban it.

The Reality of Sex Among Teenagers

Categories: Education, high, high school, reality, school students, Sex, sexual, sexual activity, Teenagers, young, young people

Will Sex Education be Watered Down?

It is thought that sex education in schools could be at risk of being “watered down” if the proposed changes to England’s science curriculum go ahead. According to a team of experts, sex education should be “unambiguously” included in science lessons. A coalition of organisations has formed to promote this idea.

The letter has been signed by more than 100 organisations and individuals ranging from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to Mumsnet, the Sex Education Forum and the National Children’s Bureau. The group argues the planned changes will not help schools create an honest and open culture around sex and relationships and is more like to foster problematic ideas within schools. It urges the government “to put any adult squeamishness about sex aside”.

Its mission statement says: “The National Curriculum science is the only compulsory part of sex and relationships in education in schools and must teach children about how their bodies work to prepare them for growing up and to protect them from harm.”

The group is specifically concerned that children will not be taught about sexual reproduction and puberty at an early stage and that some will already be experiencing changes in their bodies without having been taught about what to do with them and that they are a normal aspect of growing up.

The Sex Education Forum says that the plans leave a gap in teaching about reproduction in primary school. The forum highlights the section in the draft which says that six- and seven-year-olds should be taught about the process of reproduction and growth in animals but which also says that at this age pupils “should not be expected to understand how reproduction occurs”.

Will Sex Education be Watered Down?

Categories: Education, education forum, forum, reproduction, Schools, science, sex education, taught