In my 8th grade health class, we are discussing the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle. This involves plenty of daily exercise, the proper nutrition, cutting out any use of drugs/smoking, promoting safe sex, etc. In today’s world it seems like these acts are not decreasing but actually increasing. Obesity is at an all-time high, it seems as if every time you walk in a middle school hallway, you see a teenage pregnancy and drugs are now the “cool” thing to do. Besides having a mandatory health class in middle school and high school, how else can we communicate and educate our younger generation about what it takes to lead a happy and healthy lifestyle? How young or at what age do you think these lessons should be taught? Should technology, for example apps/games, be applied to help teach these lessons?
14 Comments
Pat Tracy
3/29/2015 09:25:35 pm
Devin, I agree with what you are saying. There is a trend of unhealthy behavior and there needs to be actions taken against it to make sure people are living lifestyles that will allow them to live love and enjoyable lives. One type of technology that I have been seeing more of is fitbits (the watch that tracks activity, steps, etc.) which is very helpful for trying to be active. Drugs are a difficult concept to tackle because of the multiple societal forces that impact the use of drugs. I mean overall as a society we believe a pill is a cure for everything, we have a headache, take a pill, if you are feeling sick, take a pill. Additionally, children see shows like Weeds, Entourage, or others, and promotes the use of drugs. There is a strong need to address this issue as a society, and I believe it is with our youth. For teenage pregnancy, there should just be a constant effort to promote safe sex through advertisement and classes.
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Devin Beasley
3/30/2015 07:13:35 am
I believe that we should start teaching kids about living a healthy lifestyle as young as we can. Yes, drugs and safe sex would obviously have to wait until they are of a decent age to address the issue, but I think nutrition, exercise, etc. can start from when they are in kindergarten even. I think the use of technology can also help as well. FitBits are a great way to track steps, sleep, etc. Also, some apps on Ipads that promote positive eating habits and exercise from the characters in the games that kids play I think could go a long way. Once kids are in the 5th, 6th grade, I think the classes, speeches, forums about safe sex and drugs need to be hit hard in schools incase kids are not hearing it in their lives away from school.
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Kim Welch
3/30/2015 12:24:24 pm
Hi Devin, this is Kim Welch. I thought your topic is one that a lot of people ponder, including me. As far as when children should be introduced to exercise, I would have to say ASAP. Introducing kids to basic exercises should begin no later than Kindergarten, because it will help instill in children the need to make exercise a part of their daily routine. The earlier they begin to develop a lifestyle that incorporates daily exercise, the better. Technology, such as Nintendo Wii, step counters, and just about anything that is fun and gets kids moving would be a wonderful tool to help engage students in exercising. I know at our school, we have a portable Nintendo Wii set-up that is used for our 3rd graders whenever we have indoor recess – due to weather. It is an awesome tool, because students still can get exercise even while they’re stuck indoors. When it comes to the topic of living a healthy lifestyle (no drugs, etc.), I would start teaching kids about those topics as early as 4th and 5th grade. At least in my school, I know the topic of drugs, alcohol, etc. is even going on with some of the 3rd graders, so 4th grade might be that “magical year” to begin teaching kids about ways to be safe, and how to live long, productive lives. I try to set an example for my students about living a healthy lifestyle. I don’t drink, smoke, etc., and I exercise twice a day. I do exercises with my students each and every day as well, so they know that I practice what I preach. Having good role models is a very important resource every child needs, because children are always looking up to someone.
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Jodi Himmelberg
3/31/2015 03:55:08 am
I think the problem could also be tackled at home to. I think part of the lifestyle choices such as eating right can be tackled by parents and teachers. I don't think we need to just educate the child but the parent as well. Often time people just don't have a clue of what a healthy diet includes and how much exercise is needed for them let alone their child. I also think that society has become more accepting of certain lifestyles and that we have to educate students on the repercussion of living such lifestyles...what could happen. I think if you just level with them and tell them of side effects, students usually make informed choices.
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Taylor West
3/31/2015 04:36:26 am
I think its kina funny in an ironic way. On the idea you think we would be teaching kids, and promoting parents to do the right thing to teach their kids the right thing to do. It seems too hard to get that point across, to American kids. I did notice that teen pregnancy is an all-time low. Then is used to be.
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Dawn Macklin
4/1/2015 10:32:39 am
I believe we need to teach children about healthy eating and exercise at a very young age. If they can be taught at a young age and can begin the healthy habit of eating right and exercising they will have a good start. When I taught preschool in addition to modeling healthy habits and talking about good nutrition and making good food choices we also had a week or two where our theme was nutrition. We also made sure that the children got outside to play every day. We also tried to educate parents on this also. Talking about it in parent/teacher conferences, sending home articles in our parent newsletters, asking them to send healthy snacks (instead of sugary snacks) for birthdays and special party treats. Sometimes it sinks in with the parents and sometimes it didn't and some parents were just going to do what was convenient for them. That's a battle that will always be fought.
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4/1/2015 01:56:33 pm
Healthy living is best taught by example. From kindergarten through a student's senior year, curriculum should include activity that promotes stress reduction, physical activity, and information about making healthy choices. Healthy living should also be displayed through benefits given to teachers and administrators that contribute to ones overall health. Our society seems to be lopsided. Positions are being cut with more responsibilities being put on existing employees with stringent expectations (pressure, pressure, pressure). We need to display and promote balance within an individuals life Our society's focus seems to be all towards performance. Quality of health and overall life seems to take a back seat. Providing individuals with information is good, but I believe what is displayed and communicated non verbally will have a more dramatic affect on student's behavior.
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Jeromy Layman
4/5/2015 11:58:26 am
I think that healthy lifestyle choices should begin at a young age, that way they are ingrained on the student and reinforced. Something that I think would be really interesting would be to have a school-wide initiative that rewarded healthy choices. A lot of times healthy habits are not enforced at home, so I think that there should be parent workshops to educate parents. There should be perks for attendance at the workshop and then the follow through.
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Tyler Fritz
4/5/2015 02:35:13 pm
I agree with what you are saying here. At a young age you really should try to start living a healthy lifestyle. As you get older you will this lifestyle will stay with you. A lot of teaching kids how to live healthy lies on the parents and the other adults in the kids life. The parents are basically responsible for their kids eating habits and they need to take that seriously. Everyone should get information maybe a pamphlet or something to help them learn the ways to a healthy lifestyle, the kids can take this home with them and have their parents read it too. Hopefully this would be beneficial to the parents and ultimately the kids.
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Ryan Ellis
4/6/2015 05:11:55 am
The mandatory physical education classes in middle and high school are not as effective as most people think mainly because kids show up for a grade but a bunch of them are not graded on participation. These lessons should be taught at the earliest possible ages, elementary school. Even though we have recess in elementary school some kids don't participate in any physical activity and they should be graded on their participation so that they realize they have to have some form of exercise (for obvious health reasons). The earlier we start our kids in PE the more used to it they will be later in life and they'll participate more. I think that apps and technology can only play a minimal role in PE mainly because its all about the physical exercise and not about getting online with computers. There are a few games out there that integrate technology into fitness but most sports are just physical and need its students and coaches to be attentive.
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Simon Barinas
4/10/2015 12:25:19 am
I think that more than technology helping which it will be a huge factor in the matter, but the education about this must come first from home, if the parents create this culture in their household, and the child is taught to differentiate wrong from right, whatever is out there with technology and television should not have an effect on the students.
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Paden Kleinhesselink
4/13/2015 01:46:30 pm
As most of the class has said, I think we need to teach our children the importance of proper nutrition as soon as we can. I also believe it starts at home. As parents, we have to teach our kids whats good and bad for our bodies. We have to make them get off of our devices and go outside and play and get dirty. With technology today, I have seen younger and younger people get sucked in and all they do is play around on their phones. I didn't have a phone until I was driving. I think this has to be done now too. We need push more to get our kids outside.
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J. Golden
4/27/2015 11:19:11 pm
I honestly don't think technology or apps should be used to help with child obesity. I believe that this problem needs to be solved with being active outside and not by the use of technology. Drugs and safe sex are a tough and difficult topic to talk about. It seems now that children are getting into these at an earlier age than ever before so what exactly is the right age to address this problem? I think it would be in the 5th or 6th grade age group.
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Terry Keown
5/4/2015 07:36:56 pm
In as much as I can appreciate the use of technology to aid in developing better skills sets toward having a wholesome lifestyle I can't help to think that technology is partly responsible for America's upward trend toward a more obese population due to inactivity. Therefore, in light of this fact I don't believe our youth need another game or application to thwart the problem. But rather they need a way to balance their life between the technological they use and the body they are not. Here though lays the problem. How does one accomplish this balance when technology and social media has become a required staple in america's diet. The answer to this question is that we can't change the current state of affairs we are in now. But, we can influence future generations to find this balance by increasing the incentives they have to lead a more productive, healthy, balanced lifestyle.
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Student BlogThis blog is for class conversations for ED 514 at Central Methodist University. These post are by the students of ED 514. We invite input form other teachers about how they use technology in their classrooms. Archives
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