Celebrate October Events and Help Keep Children Healthy
October 5, 2009 - The month of October presents several opportunities for schools to enhance the physical, mental and emotional health of children.
October 4 – 10, 2009 is the fourth Annual National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week. Sponsored by the Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights (PACER), the event encourages communities nationwide to work together to increase awareness of the prevalence and impact of bullying on all children. According to PACER, every day, more than 160,000 children nationwide stay home from school to avoid bullying and more than 60 percent witness bullying daily. The results of bullying can be devastating or even tragic and detrimental to one’s physical and mental health. PACER’s website has resources for elementary school students including: a coloring book, a tool kit, a lesson plan, videos, and a suggested reading list. In addition, their website offers resources for middle/high school students such as: a video contest; ways to form a bullying prevention committee and request a governor’s proclamation; and a “tell us your story” feature.
Bullying can cause many mental health problems among students. One way to increase awareness of mental health issues is by celebrating special events. October 10, 2009 is World Mental Health Day. Sponsored by the World Federation for Mental Health, this campaign addresses the continuing need to make mental health issues a global priority. This year’s theme is “Mental Health in Primary Care: Enhancing Treatment and Promoting Mental Health.” The theme intends to emphasize integration, that is, the need to align the diagnosis, treatment, and care of mental illnesses with the mainstream healthcare system. Schools can help with that process by having a coordinated school health model in place whereby students are provided with counseling and psychological services and referrals to health care providers for the diagnosis and treatment of their mental health condition(s).
Health care providers who through an integration of services can help kids with mental health issues, are the ones that enable kids to maintain good physical health as well. October 5, 2009 is Child Health Day. This year’s theme is “Every Child Deserves a Medical Home.” A “medical home” stands for a health care provider that offers high-quality, family-focused health care, that is, he or she: knows the child well; has seen the child at least once in the past year for a well-child visit; usually spends enough time with the family, explains things so you can understand, and provides interpreter services if needed; gives telephone advice or urgent care when the child needs it; helps get specialty care, services, and equipment when relevant; and talks about specialist visits. It is important for schools to reiterate the need for parents to find “medical homes” for their children as kids who receive those services will be more likely to be healthy and do better in school.
For more information on the National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week, click here. For further information on World Mental Health Day, go here. And to learn more about Child Health Day, click here.