Energy Drinks: What Effects can they have on our Students?

As we sat down to write about this month’s topic of drugs and alcohol awareness, we decided to examine it through a different lens than the typical approach. Rather than examine drug and alcohol issues and their potential harmful effects, we decided to look at a potential harmful substance that is readily available in our society. The substance we chose to focus on was caffeine, and more specifically to examine the effects of caffeine that is found in energy drinks that are readily available to our students.

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In this day and age, we are probably all familiar with the vast array of brand name energy drinks in stores and vending machines. They are advertised widely through television, the Internet and a variety of other advertising outlets. Energy drinks with names that evoke thoughts of high risk adventures and dangerous excitement, are often marketed as products that will increase one’s overall awareness, sharpen focus, and of course, provide much needed energy to succeed at what one is doing. These energy drinks are sometimes also referred to as sports drinks; obviously intended to lure athletes to purchase them.

The promise of added energy and alertness to a fatigued athlete or a tired student aspiring to get the edge is appealing. However, a closer examination of the ingredients in these products, specifically the caffeine, reveals that energy drinks also have potential negative effects on one’s body. Therefore, in this article we aim to:

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A Day in the Life of a SHAPE America National Health Educator of the Year

(Interview by Stefanie Brady, pelinks4u Editorial Assistant)

Heidi Stan is the Wellness Department Chair at Riverside Junior High School in Fishers, Indiana and has been with the district for over 7 years. Last year, the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America) named Heidi its 2014 National Health Teacher of the Year.

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Stan loves to teach. But her favorite part is finding new ways to teach creatively using a hands-on approach. Kids love being actively engaged in their learning and it excites me to watch them grow and learn. What especially motivates Stan is the way in which her knowledge about health and physical education is constantly expanding. “I love being able to educate students on things that will matter in their lives, 5, 10, 30, or even 50 years from now.”

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Drug Awareness Month 2015: What can you Do?

April is drug awareness month and as I sat down to write I wondered what you ideas I might have to share on the topic. Kids do lots of things they would never do on their own simply to be part of the crowd. Trying to keep them away from being in the in-crowd is like trying to choose their friends. It won’t happen. You cannot be everywhere as a parent or as a teacher and you cannot make them see things the way you do, especially when they are trying to break out of being Mommy’s little kid. They want to choose their own friends and for at least a lot of those formative years, many youngsters will decide to do things that will make them appear more grown up in their friends’ eyes.

In short, kids often make bad choices, unaware or unconcerned about the consequences. Sadly, all too often their actions not only ruin their adolescence, but sometimes their whole lives. While we would love to stop them from self-destructive behaviors, the most influence we have as teachers is to help them gain the wisdom to know the consequences of what they are choosing to do. We can also help give them the strength to resist dangerous peer-pressure. There are always the kids who think they are doing something good for themselves and shock us all when it turns out bad. Let me share a personal story of some dear friends.

My friend’s twin boys adopted in a foreign country and taken out of poverty at the age of eight had to overcome many obstacles when assimilating into this country and their school. First there was their unguided and poorly supported childhood. Before coming here, they had been pretty much on their own, having to fend for themselves, which often meant trying to procure food for themselves and their younger sisters. In their old life, there was often no one to feed them, set rules, or hold them up to any set of standards. Once here, they had to learn a new language and an entirely new set of behaviors. This need along with their impulsiveness and learning disabilities made it difficult for them to fit in. No one knows how they would have fared if they had not had each other, but the power of two makes more things possible – some good, some bad. Over the years they came up with some very original schemes, the last of which occurred as a result of something they thought they was good – taking protein supplements – but turned out not even close to being good.

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Art, Music, and Physical Education

Note: Reprinted from the Ahwatukee Foothills News, March 17, 2015, reprinted by permission.

Over the last few months, much has been written about funding for Arizona education. The seventeen percent decrease in funding in recent years and diversion of funds designated for education have prompted a variety of comments. Rarely mentioned, however, is the fact that art, music, and physical education programs have been dramatically cut as funding has decreased. Improving test scores in math and language arts seems to be the primary goal and “special” programs such as art, music, and physical education are the first to go when budget shortfalls occur. If and when funding is restored, these programs sometimes, referred to as “frills” are rarely restored.

But what does the evidence tell us about these “special programs?” It tells us that they really are special, not frills. Lets take a look at the evidence. Students who participate in the arts read more often, are four times more likely to do public service, four times more likely to be in a math or science fair, and three times more likely to bet elected to a class office than other students.

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SHAPE America Announces 50 Million Strong by 2029

Congratulations!
Today is your day,
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

(Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!)

At the recent SHAPE America National Convention in Seattle, President Dolly Lambdin made a historical announcement. During Wednesday’s opening General Session following an opening message from First Lady Michelle Obama, Dolly informed the audience of SHAPE America’s new statement of purpose.

This fall, students starting preschool will graduate as seniors in 2029. SHAPE America is committing to ensuring every single student regardless of ability will by then be physically active and healthy. Clearly an ambitious and somewhat daunting goal, the 50 million strong by 2029 statement was reminiscent of President John Kennedy’s 1961 vision to put a man on the moon within a decade, and return him safely back to earth. And similar to Kennedy’s moonshot vision, SHAPE America plans to succeed.

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Do or Do Not. There is No Try

Years ago, business visionary Peter Drucker challenged companies to imagine what they’d look like if they hadn’t inherited their present structure. In other words, what would they do differently? What would success look like? It was a novel way to think about change and to resist complacency. A way for companies to anticipate how to stay relevant in a fast-changing world.

Similarly challenged, I’m confident that most physical educators would imagine success as a world in which all of their students choose to be physically active and healthy. It’s something clearly not a reality today but indisputably desirable. The tough part has been translating this vision into practice. Having a clear destination is one thing, but like summiting a mountain, choosing the best route to the top is harder to agree upon. And within the physical education profession, despite consensus about what we’d like to achieve, agreeing on how to get there continues to elude us. This isn’t new. Looking back, it pretty much characterizes our history since the birth of our professional association, the Association for the Advancement of Physical Education (AAPE) 130 years ago.

Unresolved divisions and differences of opinion over professional practice have for more than a century handicapped efforts to move the physical education profession forward. Contentious debate has prevented us from realizing our potential and getting the respect we’ve worked hard to deserve. The lack of agreement on content and outcomes has muddled our mission, confused our thinking, and bewildered the outside world as to what “good” PE looks like. While we may argue otherwise, to the public there’s no difference between physical activity, physical education and athletics, and PE teachers and coaches.

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Turning Drills into Games

In December, I wrote about how Deliberate Practice can enhance the drill structure of youth sport practices. In the midst of the article I conceded that practices that appear solely focused on skill acquisition can seem a lot less fun to both player and coach. I went on to promise to detail ideas aimed at enhancing the fun of Deliberate Practice drills. This month I plan to deliver on that promise and look at ways to make well thought-out drills which follow Deliberate Practice principles remain effective while also adding some fun.

Several years ago, Lockwood and Pearlman (2008) wrote a fantastic article suggesting how to enhance youth sport practices. They included the top four reasons kids play sports in the first place: (1) to have fun, (2) to be with friends, (3) to learn new skills, and (4) to be active (Coakley 2007; Ewing & Seefeldt 1996; Gould, Feltz, Horn, & Weiss 1982). Since we got drill efficacy out of the way in my last article, let’s take a look at what can make Deliberate Practice drills fun in your practices.

Breakthrough Basketball sells an ebook with 60 fun drills in it (60 Fun Basketball Drills and Games for Youth Coaches). I believe there are commonalities to the games that are featured in such books (you can find more than one if you look online) that you can apply to your drills and liven up your own practices. With a little thought and application of the principles I’ll lay out in this article you can come up with many of your own “fun drills”. In order to facilitate a “fun practice” filled with “fun drills” consider (1) challenging your athletes, (2) making drills similar to games situations, and (3) varying the “have to” – “want to” ratio.

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