This page will be used to update families with information regarding student health.  Please check back frequently for updates.

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NEWS You Can USE from the High School Nurse’s Office!!

Including……. Tanning, Dating, Driving, and Immunization  Updates.

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Immunizations: Keep in mind that immunization recommendations have been issued for all children at the beginning of next school year:  Please check with your doctor to be sure your children are up to date.   The most frequently missing immunizations are:

1. A Tetanus booster containing  Pertussis vaccine-Whooping Cough known a “Tdap”
2. 2. A second varicella- Chickenpox vaccine. NOTE: If your child had the disease they do not need a vaccine.
3. MCV- the vaccine against meningitis.

If you have questions, please contact me, Anne Butterfield RN, at the following phone number: 872-9520, extension- 1356.

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Spring 2010 News From the Nurse’s Office

ATTENTION PARENTS OF GRADUATING SENIORS:  An individual health record is kept on your child from Kindergarten through the 12^th grade.  This record may be picked up by the graduating senior’s parent/guardian or by the graduating senior with written permission from the parent on or after Thursday June 3, 2010.

Medication in the Nurse’s Office:  Unused medications may not be sent home with your child at the end of the school year.   Parents/guardians may pick up their child’s medication in the high school nurses’ office beginning now until the end of the last day of school.

Students in 11^th grade are required by Pa state law to have physical exams on record in the nurse‘s office.  Forms will be sent home in June to incoming 11^th grade students in order that the physical be completed by the beginning of the ’10-’11 school year.   Completed forms maybe mailed to:

Anne Butterfield RN, CSN

Penn Manor High School

PO Box 1001

Millersville, PA  17551-0301

OR

Faxed to: 872-0934

OR

If brought to the high school, please specifically request that they be placed in the nurse’s mailbox.  THANK YOU

SUMMER HEALTH TIPS

It is TICK season; protect yourself and your family! For Center For Disease Control Info  click on: www.cdc.gov/features/stopticks/

Here comes summer, for excellent CDC information on HEAT RELATED ILLNESSES go to:

www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/heat_guide.asp

Before you hit the water to cool off, go to this excellent CDC WATER SAFETY web site: http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/index.html.

The Nurses of PMHS wish you and your families a happy, healthy, and safe summer break!!!

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Teens and tanning beds

For many teens – girls and boys alike – having a great tan is an important fashion statement. Whether going to the beach or to the prom, teens believe that a little bit of color (or a lot) can be very flattering. Some bask in the sun to get their glow, something we know for a fact is dangerous to their health. Others opt for what they believe to be a safer option – tanning salons. Unfortunately, tanning beds are no safer than baking in the sun.

Some teens argue that the tanning bed gives them a good “base,” so when they go out in the real sun, they won’t get burned. Tanning salons boast the use of UVA rays that “don’t burn.” The fact of the matter is that both UVA and UVB rays are involved in the development of skin damage that leads to skin cancer. Furthermore, UVA rays have a longer wavelength, allowing them to penetrate to the deeper layers of the skin to cause permanent wrinkling.

If your teen refuses to go out in public without a tan, suggest a sunless tanner. A wide array of formulations from reputable brands is available. And whether your child is pale, tan, or somewhere in between, make sure he or she uses sunscreen, too.
Read more:
Tanning addiction: The dark side of bronzed skin
The truth about tanning: Indoor and outdoor tanning dangers
Get a great-looking tan — without the sun

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When To Let Your Teenager Start Dating

Dating customs have changed since you were a teenager. The most striking difference is the young age at which children now begin dating: on average, twelve and a half for girls, and thirteen and a half for boys.

However, you might not recognize it as dating per se. The recent trend among early adolescents is for boys and girls to socialize as part of a group. They march off en masse to the mall or to the movies, or join a gang tossing a Frisbee on the beach.

Don’t confuse group dating with double-dating or triple-dating. While there may be the occasional romantic twosome among the members, the majority are unattached. If anything, youngsters in the group spend as much time interacting with their same-sex friends as they do with members of the opposite sex.

Dr. Ron Eagar, a pediatrician at Denver Health Medical Center, views group dating as a healthy way for adolescents to ease into the dating pool rather than dive in. “The number-one benefit is safety,” says the father of two grown children. Going out in mixed groups also gives boys and girls an opportunity to just enjoy one another’s company, without the awkwardness and sexual tension that can intrude upon a one-to-one date.

One-to-One Dating

At what age are children old enough to date “solo”? Not before they’re thirty-five. Preferably forty.

Many of us feel that way when we imagine our son or daughter disappearing into the night arm in arm with a young lady or a young man.

As a general guideline, Dr. Eagar advises not allowing single dating before age sixteen. “There’s an enormous difference between a fourteen- or fifteen-year- old and a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old in terms of life experience,” he says. You might add or subtract a year depending on how mature and responsible your youngster is. Community standards might be a consideration. Are other parents letting their teens date yet?

Love and Relationships

While parent-teen conversations must encompass the hormones, hydraulics and other biological aspects of love and attraction, equal time should be devoted to thoughtful discussions about love as the most powerful and heartfelt of all human emotions.

Love is a subject of unending fascination for adolescents. Topping their list of questions is, “How do you know when you’re in love with somebody?” They are also genuinely curious about their parents’ courtship and marriage (“Mom, did you fall in love with Dad at first sight?”) and, if applicable, divorce (“Dad, how can two people love each other for years and years, then stop being in love?”).

Having an imperfect romantic résumé yourself does not disqualify you from initiating this conversation. You might say, “I haven’t always made the wisest decisions when it comes to love, but I’ve promised myself that the next time I become involved with someone special, I won’t settle for anything less than a healthy, honest relationship. When you’re older and ready to start dating, I hope that you will do the same. We both deserve the best, right?”

Call It Puppy Love, It’s Still Love

Adults generally take a cynical view of teenage romance, as if it were a chemical imbalance in need of correction. “It’s all about sex,” they say. “You know what they’re like when their hormones start raging.” A boy and a girl float down the street holding hands, dizzy in love, and all parents see is testosterone and estrogen out on a date.

Just look at the words used to describe affection between two young people: “infatuation,” “crush,” “puppy love.” If it feels like love to the two puppies, isn’t it love? To reiterate a point made earlier, it wasn’t all that long ago that many couples got married in their teens.

“Parents should never minimize or ridicule a first love,” says Tucson pediatrician Dr. George Comerci. “It is a very important relationship to teenagers, and it’s important for another reason, in that it is their first intimate relationship with someone outside their family.”

When “going out” evolves into “going steady,” it is natural to worry that things are getting too serious too soon. If you see schoolwork start to suffer and friendships fall by the wayside, it is reasonable to restrict the number of times Romeo and Juliet can rendezvous during the school week. High-school romances tend to have limited life spans. Those that endure until graduation day rarely survive the post-high-school years. If one or both young people leave home, the physical distance has a way of opening an emotional distance between them, and eventually the relationship coasts to a halt.

First Heartbreak: Helping Your Teenager Cope

The breakup of a romance can be painful at any stage of life. Still, when an adult relationship ends badly, at least the wounded party knows from having weathered other disappointments that the all-too-familiar hollow feeling and veil of depression will inevitably lift.

Teenagers haven’t yet learned how resilient the heart is. The first time they experience romantic rejection, the sadness can seem bottomless. Parents need to treat a brokenhearted youngster’s feelings seriously.

“Breakups are one of the major precipitators of suicidal gestures in young people,” says Dr. Eagar. The vast majority of kids, though, will get over their hurt and be fine. Moms and dads can aid the healing process by being generous with their time, patience and hugs. A little extra sensitivity helps, too, for in this situation, knowing what not to say is as important as choosing the right words.

Acknowledge your teen’s pain but assure her that she will be happy again. “I understand how upset you are, and I know you may feel like your sadness is never going to go away. But it will, and probably sooner than you think.”

Do not use this opportunity to reveal how you never liked the newly insignificant significant other in the first place. Your son may be venting his rage at the girl who dumped him, but don’t be fooled. It will probably be some time before he abandons the hope that she’ll realize her mistake and come crawling back. Remember, too, that teen relationships on the wane frequently flicker on again.

Allow your child to feel sad. To tell someone who is upset, “Hey, cheer up! It’s not that bad!” (or words to that effect) essentially implies that she does not have a right to her emotions. However, blues that linger for more than a few weeks may warrant professional counseling.

Encourage him to get together with friends—but don’t nag. When he’s ready to socialize, he’ll do so without any prompting.

Share a story from your own adolescence. “My first year in college, I fell madly in love with this girl named Elyse. We spent every moment together. I couldn’t imagine ever being with anyone else, and I thought she felt the same way about me.

“One day, out of the blue, she told me that our relationship was getting too serious, and that she wanted to date other people. I was crushed! I moped for weeks. I used to spy on her around campus; some nights I’d stand outside her dorm just to see if she walked in the front door with anybody. My friends couldn’t stand to be around me, and I don’t blame them! I’d get all morose and moan about Elyse, Elyse, Elyse.

“Now I’m thankful that she broke up with me. Because if she hadn’t, I’d never have met your mother!”

Source

Caring for Your Teenager (Copyright © 2003 American Academy of Pediatrics)

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Behind the Wheel: Helping Teens Become Safe Drivers

There is no underestimating the significance of a driver’s license to teenagers. The arrival of that laminated card opens up a world of possibilities, symbolizing freedom and a growing independence from adults.

As far as boys and girls are concerned, the day they pass their road test can’t come too soon. But from a developmental standpoint, the license may indeed come too soon. Hence the disproportionately high rates of automobile-related injuries and fatalities among this age group. Youngsters aged sixteen through nineteen make up just one in twenty motorists, yet they are behind the wheel in one in seven accidents that kill either the driver or passengers. Sixteen-year-old drivers are more than twenty times as likely to have a car crash than other motorists; seventeen-year-olds, more than six times as likely.

The chief reason for adolescents’ poor safety record is their lack of experience in handling a car and sizing up and reacting appropriately to hazardous circumstances like merging onto a highway, making a left-hand turn at a crowded intersection or driving in poor weather conditions.

Inexperience aside, teenagers may lack some of the motor coordination and judgment needed to perform many of the complex physical maneuvers of ordinary driving. According to Dr. Richard Schieber, a child-injury specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, “Teens are relatively clumsy compared to how they will be as adults. Driving may be one of the first skills where they have to coordinate their eyes, hands and feet. They’re also more likely to miscalculate a traffic situation and are more easily distracted than older drivers.” Immaturity and the adolescent propensity for taking risks— by speeding, tailgating, cutting off other cars and so forth—frequently endanger lives as well.

What You Can Do

Give your youngster extra practice behind the wheel. School driver’s-ed programs and private driving instruction typically provide a total of six hours on-the-road training when the number actually needed to become reasonably proficient is closer to fifty hours, however—or about two hours a week spread over six months.

Once a teen acquires a learner’s permit, by passing a vision test and taking a written exam, she may drive when accompanied by a licensed driver aged twenty-one or older. “Parents should give kids as much time in the driver’s seat as possible,” advises Dr. Schieber, “in as many situations as possible. You start with basic skills, then introduce other scenarios,” such as driving at night, on country roads, in bumper-to-bumper traffic, on freeways, at dusk, in rainy weather and so on. It’s a good idea to ask your youngster’s driver’s-ed instructor which areas have been mastered and which ones need work. In addition, get into the habit of handing your teen the car keys when you’re out running errands together. There is no substitute for experience.

Institute a graduated licensing program. Although many states allow boys and girls as young as sixteen to obtain a license, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that youngsters not receive an unrestricted license until age eighteen or until they have been driving under adult supervision for at least two years.

A number of states have added a middle step as part of a graduated licensing system. Passing the road test gains novice drivers aged sixteen or older (the minimum age varies according to state, as do the restrictions) a provisional license. For the next year, they may take the wheel independently during the day. But after dark, they must have one licensed adult in the vehicle with them. At the end of their probationary period, they are awarded a full license, provided that their record is free of moving violations and car crashes.

Florida was the first state to adopt a graduated system for motorists under eighteen, in 1996. The following year, its rate of automobile injuries and fatalities among fifteen-, sixteen-, and seventeen-year-olds dipped by 9 percent. Other states that have joined this growing movement have reported similar reductions.

You don’t need to wait for your state to pass a graduated-licensing law to institute a program of your own devising. Perhaps you will choose to set the probation period at six months instead of twelve; or, conversely, you could prolong the learner’s-permit stage from the usual period of six months to twelve months, as Georgia and North Carolina have done. Extend driving privileges at a pace that you feel your teenager can handle.

Spend an afternoon teaching your youngster how to perform routine car maintenance such as checking the air pressure in the tires, the water level in the battery, oil and transmission fluid and the windshield-wiper fluid. Also show her how to change a flat tire. If you can afford it, consider enrolling in an automobile club that provides road service.

See to it that your adolescent’s car meets all safety standards. While it’s an admirable goal for a teenager to want to save up to buy his own car, newer models with modern safety features are beyond most young people’s budgets.

Ideally, youngsters should be driving midsize or full-size cars equipped with air bags. In fact, a big ol’ clunker is preferable to a spanking-new compact, because it offers more crash protection. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety suggests avoiding sleek, high-performance vehicles, which may tempt teens to speed. Sport utility vehicles are generally frowned upon for teens as well; their higher centers of gravity make them less stable and more likely to roll over. Having a heavy-duty roll bar installed will greatly enhance their safety.

Set a good example for your kids. As a parent, you are a powerful role model. No speeding, no weaving in and out of traffic, no drinking and driving, no fiddling about for a compact disk to put in the CD player, no chatting on the cell phone, no fits of road rage because the car in front of us is poking along, and seat belts at all times.

Teaching A Teen To Drive (Without Driving The Two of You Crazy)

The Allstate Insurance Company suggests these valuable tips for productive driving lessons:

1. Before getting started, discuss the route you’ll be taking and the skills you’ll be practicing.
2. In an even tone of voice (please, no barking like a drill sergeant), give clear, simple instructions: “Turn right at this corner.” “Brake.” “Pull over to the curb.”
3. If your teen makes a mistake, ask him to pull over, then calmly discuss what he did wrong.
4. Encourage your teen to talk aloud about what he’s observing while driving.
5. After each session, ask, “How do you think you drove today?” Let him point out any lapses in judgment or other gaffes. Then evaluate his progress together. Be sure to offer praise where appropriate.
6. Keep a log in which you enter the route taken and your critique of each skill practiced.

Rules of the Road

Even after a young person receives her license, she’s still in the process of learning how to drive. A number of clear safety guidelines and appropriate penalties should be developed with her input before she starts to drive. These “rules of the road” can include:

• No driving or riding with others under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.
• Because teens are easily distracted, insist that they have no more than two friends in the car at a time. Consider implementing a no-friends rule for the first few months of licensed driving.
• No eating or drinking while driving.
• Music must be kept at low to moderate volume.
• Everyone in the vehicle must wear a seat belt at all times. Failure to use seat belts more than triples the risk of injury in a serious crash.
• No nighttime driving. Driving when it’s dark is inherently more demanding, especially for adolescents, who are four times as likely to die in a car crash at night than during daylight hours. In cities that have instituted curfews for young people, the teenage fatality rate has gone down by one-fourth.
• No driving when tired or upset.
• No driving beyond a certain distance from home. If your youngster wants to travel beyond the boundaries you’ve established, he must ask permission.
• No talking on a cellular phone when the vehicle is in motion.
• No picking up hitchhikers, unless it is someone they know well, and no hitchhiking themselves.

Breaking any of these rules constitutes grounds for some form of penalty. Minor offenses call for a stern warning. Repeated violations and serious infractions will cost him the keys. For how long is up to you.

“Teens need to understand that driving the family car is a privilege not a birthright,” says Dr. Schieber, a pediatrician since 1981. He encourages parents to stand firm on issues of automobile safety. “If it means that a kid has to take the bus to school or can’t borrow the car for a date, maybe he’ll think twice about committing the infraction in the future. Parents have the obligation and the liability to help their child grow, in this case by stepping in and teaching them responsibility when driving.”

Source

Caring for Your Teenager (Copyright © 2003 American Academy of Pediatrics)

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Healthy Drinks for Kids

There’s a lot of talk about getting kids to eat healthy, but what about getting them to drink healthy? What a child drinks can drastically affect the amount of calories consumed, as well as the amount of calcium needed to build strong bones.

Serve Water and Milk

For kids of all ages, water and milk are the best choices, so let them flow. Not only is water calorie-free, but drinking it teaches kids to accept a low-flavor, no-sugar beverage as a thirst-quencher. Because a cup of milk has 300 milligrams of calcium, it can be a big contributor to your child’s daily needs.

Here’s how much calcium kids need each day:

• toddlers (ages 1 to 2 years): 500 milligrams of calcium daily
• kids (ages 4 to 8 years): 800 milligrams
• older kids (ages 9 to 18 years): 1,300 milligrams

Current dietary guidelines recommend that children ages 2 through 8 consume 2 cups (480 milliliters) of low-fat milk (or equivalent dairy products) every day. Children 9 years and older should have 3 cups (720 milliliters) per day.

When kids drink too much juice, juice drinks, sports drinks, and soda, these beverages can crowd out the milk they need. Sugary drinks also can pile on the calories.

This chart shows the calories and sugar in different beverages:

DRINK	SIZE	CALORIES	SUGAR
Water	8 oz (240 ml)	0	0 g
Low-fat milk	8 oz (240 ml)	100	11 g
100% orange juice	8 oz (240 ml)	110	22 g
Juice drink (10% fruit juice)	8 oz (240 ml)	150	38 g
Powdered drink mix (with sugar added)	8 oz (240 ml)	90	24 g
Soda	8 oz (240 ml)	100	27 g

Put Limits on Juice

If your child likes juice, be sure to serve 100% juice. Also follow these recommended limits:

• up to 6 months old: no juice
• 6-12 months old: no more than 2-4 ounces (120 milliliters) per day, always served in a cup
• 1-6 years old: 4-6 ounces (120-180 milliliters) of juice per day
• 7-18 years old: 8-12 ounces (240-360 milliliters) of juice per day

Say No to Soda

Soft drinks are commonly served to kids, but these carbonated beverages have no nutritional value and are high in sugar. Drinking soda and other sugared drinks is associated with tooth decay. Colas and other sodas often contain caffeine, which kids don’t need. In addition, soft drinks may be taking the place of calcium-rich milk. A recent study found that 1 in 8 preschool-aged children drank 8 ounces of soda and fruit drinks (not including 100% fruit juice) and drank less than the recommended 16 ounces of milk each day.

If soda habits start when kids are little, chances are they will drink increasing amounts as they get older. In older kids and adolescents, drinking soda has been linked to excessive weight gain and other problems.

That said, many kids like soda and will request it. As a rule, don’t serve it to babies, toddlers, or preschoolers. With older kids, let them know it’s a once-in-a-while beverage. Don’t ban it entirely if your kids like it now and then — that’s likely to make it more alluring and them more inclined to overdo it when they get the chance!

Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD
Date reviewed: March 2008

This information was provided by KidsHealth^®, one of the largest resources online for medically reviewed health information written for parents, kids, and teens. For more articles like this, visit KidsHealth.org or TeensHealth.org. © 1995-2009. The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth^®. All rights reserved.

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News release regarding Clinic results–January 11, 2010

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Nurse’s Notes Newsletter — Click on the title to read the newsletter

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Backpack Safety

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H1N1 Flu notice – August 19, 2009 Click on the title to read the letter.

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There are many reasons your child might not have health insurance – but whatever the reason, CHIP may be able to help. And CHIP has recently been expanded through the Cover All Kids initiative, so that all uninsured children and teens can have access to affordable, comprehensive health-care coverage.  Information can be found at www.CHIPcoversPAkids.com.

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