During the last 3 decades, the prevalence of obesity has tripled among persons aged 6-19 years. Multiple chronic disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and high blood glucose levels are related to obesity. Schools have a responsibility to help prevent obesity and promote physical activity and healthy eating…

Adolescence is an important period of physical, social, psychological, and cognitive growth. No longer children and not yet adults, adolescents make significant choices about their health and develop attitudes and health behaviors that continue into adulthood. Substance use disorders among adolescents can impede the attainment of important…

Long and frequent deployments, with short dwell times in between, have placed stresses on Army children and families already challenged by frequent moves and parental absences. RAND Arroyo Center was asked by the Army to examine the effects of parental deployments on children's academic performance as well as their emotional and behavioral…

School violence has mushroomed into a devastating epidemic and is deteriorating the basic foundation of education. In this article, the author will present several teaching strategies for preventing school violence from becoming an arduous enigma within the classroom and school environments, and focus on assessment and reflection in order to…

This report summarizes a conversation that took place in April of 2010 in Washington, DC regarding high school reform and Native American, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian students. The meeting was co-sponsored by the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) and the National Education Association (NEA). The meeting was attended by a broad…

Comprehensive high schools have been unable to meet the needs of all students (Cotton, 2004). Students face challenges, and some have been labeled "at risk" for various reasons. These students constitute a unique group who often require more time, energy, and resources than large, comprehensive schools can offer. Consequently, they fall behind on…

The national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) monitors priority health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults in the United States. The national YRBS is conducted every two years during the spring semester and provides data representative of 9th through 12th grade…

Given the current trends of physical inactivity, overweight and obesity rates, and chronic disease prevalence, understanding appropriate levels of physical activity, healthful nutrition, and risk reduction for chronic-disease is crucial. The purpose of this study was to identify perceptions of the effectiveness of an online personal health and…

The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) believes that the school nurse is in a prime position to support the health and wellbeing of pregnant and parenting students and contribute to their lifelong success by linking them to resources and advocating for policies and practices that promote high school graduation. It is the position of NASN…

A comprehensive, integrated, three-tiered model (CI3T) of prevention is a framework for proactively meeting students' academic, behavioral, and social skills. At the tertiary (Tier 3) level of prevention, functional-assessment based interventions (FABIs) may be used to identify, develop, and implement supports based on the function, or purpose, of…

A comprehensive approach for providing behavioral health services to youth is becoming increasingly emphasized. Latino youth are at increased risk for substance abuse, mental health concerns, unsafe sexual practices and HIV, and these outcomes have been empirically connected to individual, family and community-based stress. Despite this knowledge,…

House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities unanimously expressed concern for the growing trend in cyberbullying during a hearing last June 24. The event, which featured National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) board member Barbara-Jane Paris and other witnesses, including TV personality Dr. Phil…

Objective: Suicidal members of the U.S. military often fail to disclose their suicidal urges and behaviors. Military suicide prevention efforts may therefore be enhanced if they also target less stigmatized psychosocial factors that may decrease risk of suicidality. In keeping with Bronfenbrenner's (1977, 1994) model, this study simultaneously…

The disappearance of traditional sex education during rites of passage in African societies has left many youth uncertain of where to look for information. Against this backcloth, the objectives of this study were to identify knowledge gaps amongst adolescents in Kenya regarding sexuality, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health. A thematic analysis was…

"Alabama Education News" is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the "Code of Alabama", as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about…