Online Safety for Kids: Your Digital Footprint & Digital Imprint

Lesson Overview

Staying safe online means different things to different people. Knowing what your digital footprint is, is part of staying safe and healthy. A digital footprint is the trail of information you leave behind when you use the internet. Depending on your values, priorities, age, life stage, school, family expectations and other factors, you’ll want to set and keep boundaries that work for you.

Activity

Talk about digital imprint.
1. A digital imprint is the impact that your online activities leave on you, including things you see, hear or read and also things other people say and do to you online.
2. A digital imprint isn’t necessarily good or bad. It exists and your thoughts and feelings about it and the effects it has on you depend on a lot of different factors such as your values, priorities, age, life stage, school and family expectations.
3. What do you see, hear and read online? Are there things you feel like are a waste of your time or disturbing to you? What do your parents think? Do they have rules about what’s OK and what’s not?
Introduce the idea of a digital footprint.
1. A digital footprint is the trail of information you leave behind when you use the internet.
2. A digital footprint isn’t necessarily good or bad. It exists and your thoughts and feelings about it and the effects it has on you depend on a lot of different factors such as your values, priorities, age, life stage, school and family expectations.
3. Your digital footprint is made by things that are visible such as social media posts from you and other people. This includes photos, status updates, check-ins at locations, online groups and sites that you’ve liked or joined, and posts from other people that you’ve shared.
4. It also includes things that can be learned about you based on your activity such as websites you visit, personal information you enter, messages and emails you send, and so on.
5. When you really start to think it about, it’s A LOT of data!
Do some exploration of digital footprints.
1. Ask for suggestions of famous people to search for online. As a group on a screen that everyone can see, search for those people to give them an idea of how easy it can be to find content about individuals.
2. Ask them to work in small groups and make lists of words that describe the type of content they find when they search for those famous people. Make different lists for each person. Share some of those words with the larger group.
3. Have a conversation with questions like: Are these words mostly positive? Negative? How do you think these people feel about their online presence? How would you feel if all of this information was out there about you?
Hand out the “Your Digital Footprint” worksheet. Allow them to work individually or in pairs to explore their own online presence. Have them look at all the social media sites they use (Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) and also do an internet search of their names. What do they find? What do they think about that? Are there things they would like to change? Has anyone tagged you in something that makes you uncomfortable or gotten access to your accounts and posted about you?

Reconvene the group and talk about what they found. Were there any surprises? Do they have any ideas for things they’d like to change?

Conclusion

What can you do if you discover things you don’t like about your digital footprint?

Tighten your restrictions on social media:
1. Only accept friend/follow requests from people you know in real life.
2. Set privacy settings so that information about you (including images) is not visible to the public.
3. Change settings, if necessary, so that others need your permission to tag you in posts.
Delete things that you don’t want others to see. They may not completely go away if they have been shared by others or stored somewhere, but you can usually at least make them harder to find.
Reset passwords. Make sure they are strong and do not share them!
Carefully consider every time you post or share whether you want it to live on forever, because it might.

Online and On Guard: Is It Cyberbullying?

Lesson Overview

This lesson explores what it means to stay safe online. It focuses on cyberbullying and helping young people understand what it is, reflect on their experiences of it, and learn ways to prevent it or stop it.

Introduction

Cyberbullying happens when kids bully each other through electronic technology such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, group chats, online games, or other platforms. Bullying, as described by stopbullying.gov, is “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.”

Cyberbullying can happen in very small ways, such as consistently posting mean comments or messages, or very significant ways, such as spreading widely unkind or false information about someone.

This lesson focuses on helping kids understand what cyberbullying is, why it’s not okay, and how to stop it.

Activity

Talk about cyberbullying. Have a short conversation using the following questions:
- Have you ever heard of cyberbullying? What do you know about cyberbullying? Think of a time when you saw/heard of cyberbullying – what are some examples of cyberbullying your thought of? (Suggest no names are used, rather “he” or “she”/”him” or “her”) Write their responses on a flipchart, whiteboard or chalkboard.
- Are there things people do to one another online that could hurt feelings but that most people don’t considered bullying? What are some examples? Write these down as well. They might mention things like making mean comments on social media or posting pictures of others without permission.
Explain that cyberbullying happens when people are intentionally and consistently mean to each other through electronic technology. If you’d like, you can read the definition from stopbullying.gov, “…unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.” It can happen in small ways, such as comments on posts, or very significant ways, such as threatening someone or spreading unkind or false information about them. Cyberbullying hurts the people who are bullied. It can also hurt people who bully by making them look bad and making them feel sad about their own choices.
Do the Online and On Guard…Is It Cyberbullying? activity, which describes different scenarios and asks youth to sort them into four different categories of social interaction, including bullying. As they sort, facilitate a discussion about why they put the items where they did. There may be disagreements. Try to come to a shared decision about where to put each item, letting them know that every situation is unique and this activity is just to get them thinking. Validate all their ideas to encourage more discussion. Allow them to talk about their own similar experiences but stop them if they start to talk about specific examples that involve other people, letting them know that telling other people’s uncomfortable stories can actually be a form of bullying. Questions to help with the conversation can include:
- Why did you choose this category?
- What if we change something about this example? Would that put it in a different category? What kind of change would cause you to move it?
- What other examples would you put in each of these categories?
As a group, make a list of things that people can do to help stop cyberbullying. Here are some things you can add if they aren’t mentioned:
- If someone is being mean to you or someone else online tell a teacher, parent or other trusted adult.
- If someone is being mean to you or someone else online, tell them to stop. Sometimes quietly standing up for yourself or someone else is enough to convince a bullying to back off.
- Only accept friend/follow requests from people you know in real life. Set privacy settings so information about you (including images) are not visible to the public. Every time you post or share, carefully consider whether you want it to live on forever, because it might.
- Use good passwords and never share them with anyone. Generally, the longer the password, the stronger it is. Adding complexity, such as uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters, makes it even stronger.
  - uppercase letter (e.g. A, B, C, D, E)
  - lowercase letter (e.g. a, b, c, d, e)
  - number (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
  - special character or symbol (e.g., ! @ # $ % & * _ + ~ . ,>)
  - Make your password memorable for you. Don’t use information people know about you, such as family members’ names, pet names, addresses or license plate numbers. And don’t repeat characters more than three times in a row.
- Ask your parents or caregiver to help you if someone if cyberbullying to help you decide how you should respond. If your caregive is asking for your password – maybe be willing to share it so that they can help protect you. Remember, sometimes caregivers ask for passwords not because they don’t trust you, but because they are helping to protect your from cyberbullying!
Create a “Bully-Free Zone” agreement or pledge. Ask them to commit to a short list of things they will do to help keep each other safe and healthy online and to sign the agreement. This can include simple things like, “Be kind,” “Ask before posting,” and “Treat others with respect.”
One possibility is to use the THINK model:
Always THINK Before You Post
T=Is it true?
H=Is it honest?
I=Is it inspiring?
N=Is it necessary
K=Is it kind?
If not, should you post it?
What to do if you or a friend is being bullied:
- Support them by listening to their story and reassuring that their feelings are fair. “I totally get it.” “That is not OK that they did XYZ.”
- Offer to help them find an adult who can help them problem solve. “I think we should go talk to Mrs. XX – she always knows what to do” or, “My dad helped me one time when BLANK happened – I think he could help with this too.”
- If your friend is nervous about getting help but you really feel like they need help, talk to a trusted adult who can help you problem solve your job as a friend. You can start by saying “I want to talk to you about something in confidence” so that they know it is an important and sensitive topic.

Conclusion

There is no one easy way to stop any kind of bullying from ever happening, but by introducing young people to these ideas now you help them start to build the tools to prevent or stop it from happening if and when they encounter it.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing how to recognize, prevent or stop cyberbullying.

Additional Instructor Resources

Tobacco and E-cigarettes

Lesson Overview

Tobacco companies use messaging, advertisements and now different flavors in their tobacco products to try and gain new consumers that could potentially be life-long users. By knowing the dangers, risk factors, and marketing strategies associated with cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and the relatively new e-cigarettes young people will be aware of and able to discuss reasons not to use any type of tobacco product.

*Note: This lesson can take up to several hours (each activity below can be done separately in less time).

Introduction

What happens when you use tobacco:

It causes your heart rate and blood pressure to increase, and your major blood vessels to become smaller, making your heart work harder.
It slows your ability to heal.
It reduces the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream, making you short of breath.
It decreases your taste and smell.
It causes your blood to clot faster. Smokers have a higher chance of heart attack, stroke and circulatory problems.

Other facts:

Tobacco makes your teeth turn yellow or brownish in color.
Smoking makes your skin wrinkle more.
Your breath, hair, clothing and household furnishings all smell like smoke if you smoke or live with a smoker.
Secondhand smoke can have harmful effects on the health of your entire family.
Seventy-five percent of smokers have at least one parent who smokes.
Restaurants and public places don’t allow smoking.
Your furniture, curtains, and carpeting smell like smoke if you smoke in your home, which you don’t notice. (This smell is caused by thirdhand smoke.)
Cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. Many others are known to be toxic.

The human body was not designed to smoke.

Adding Up the Cost – Financial Facts

Smoking one pack each day, at $7.50 per pack costs:

$7.50 a day
$52.50 a week
$210 a month
$2,730 a year
$13,650 in 5 years
$27,300 in 10 years
$68,250 in 25 years.

Nationally, the total health care cost of smoking is estimated at more than $167 billion every year.

E-cigarettes

What is an E-cigarette?

An e-cigarette is a device used in place of smoking tobacco. It is also known as an electronic cigarette, e-cig or water vapor cigarette.
An e-cigarette is a small tube that is often made to look like a cigarette. However, they do come in many varieties.
All major tobacco companies own and make e-cigarettes.

How Do You Use An E-Cigarette?

Nicotine liquid or nicotine-free liquid (often called “juice”) is put in the e-cigarette.
Each time you take a puff, the liquid moves past a small metal coil.
The coil heats up and warms the liquid causing it to come out as steam that looks like cigarette smoke.
You breathe in and out the steam, which is usually called “vaping.”

Is The Steam Just Water?

The steam you breathe in and out is not just water. It is vaporized chemicals found in the liquid, along with any chemical changes from the heated metal.

Are E-cigarettes Safe?

E-cigarettes are not regulated (controlled). They are also not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The chemicals used in the liquid do not have to be safe or listed on the label.
Private testing has found many harmful chemicals in the liquid including:
- lead
- arsenic (found in rat poison)
- formaldehyde (used to preserve dead tissue)
- glycol (used in antifreeze).

Testing has also found chemicals known to cause cancer in humans.

The chemical glycerin (used in soap and beauty products) has also been found in the liquid. At this time, there is no information on how breathing in glycerin will affect your body.
It is very common for there to be more or less nicotine that what is listed on the label. It is possible for nicotine-free liquid to still have nicotine in it.
The nicotine in e-cigarettes is usually not filtered the same way it is in FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapies (such as patches and gum). This allows harmful chemicals from tobacco to be in e-cigarettes.
E-cigarettes have become popular, very quickly. This means there hasn’t been time to get results on long-term studies on the safety or health effects of e-cigarettes.

Activity: Tobacco Quiz

Begin with the interactive quiz about tobacco. Have youth take the quiz individually or work together as a large group and display the quiz on a large screen.

Activity: What’s Actually in a Cigarette?

Tobacco is just one of many ingredients in cigarettes. They actually contain over 7,000 chemicals – including at least 69 that are known to cause cancer. Distribute the “Toxic Chemicals in Cigarette Smoke” handout to show youth some of the most prevalent examples.
Have youth work in teams to find images from magazines or the Internet of products that contain some of the same ingredients that are found in cigarettes.
Give each group a poster board and ask them to create a poster that raises awareness of the chemicals found in cigarettes. They may want to title it something like “That’s What’s In a Cigarette?” or put the names of the chemicals at the top and the images below that. Encourage them to be creative and also try to get the message across that there are lots of unhealthy and even dangerous ingredients in cigarettes.
See if you can find a place to display the posters where others will be able to see them and learn from them.

Activity: Why Use Tobacco?

We know a lot about how bad cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes and juices are for our bodies. But we also know that lots of people still choose to use these products. So why is that? Lead a conversation with young people about why they think some people choose to use tobacco. You can use these and other questions as prompts:
Why do you think some people start using tobacco?
- What’s appealing about it?
- What do they think will happen because it?
- What do you think they know about it before they start?
- How old do you think most people are when they start?
Why do you think people continue using tobacco once they have started?
- Do most people want to stop?
- Why or why not?
- If they do want to stop, why don’t they?

Take notes on a flip chart or white board about the different reasons people give. See if you can agree as a group on at least three reasons people choose to use.

Activity: An Honest Tobacco Advertisement

1. Now that young people have learned about many of the ingredients in tobacco products and what these products can do to the body, it’s their turn to make an ad…a truthful one. Show some sample advertisements for cigarettes from magazines, the Internet or other sources. Talk about the meaning of the ads with the youth – or have them talk about it in small groups.

Here are some questions to use as a guide:

How is this company trying to get you to buy or want their cigarettes?
Who is the intended audience for this ad? How do you know who the intended audience is?
Do you think that having or not having the cigarettes will make a difference in your life?
Do you know anything about cigarettes that the advertisement is not telling you?
Do you think this ad would make someone want to use their product?

2. Have young people discuss what a truth-telling ad for cigarettes would look like.

3. Decide what format to use – print or video or audio – and have the youth work in teams to create their own honest ads.

4. Share the ads with one another and with others if there is a place to display them.

Conclusion

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing the negative effects and consequences of using tobacco and e-cigarettes.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Blowing smoke: understanding the effects of tobacco and e-cigarettes

Additional Instructor Resources

Super Sleep

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand how important sleep is to growing bodies and minds. The youth will determine how many hours of sleep they should get each night and learn how to track healthy sleeping habits in a sleep diary.

Introduction

Introduce the topic of sleep by asking the questions below and facilitating a discussion with the participants’ answers.

How many hours should kids sleep every night? Let young people guess first. Then tell them the answer according to the following guidelines:

ages 3 to 10: 10 to 12 hours each day
ages 11 to 12: about 10 hours each day
teenagers (ages 13 to 17): about nine hours each day.

Then ask them: OK, so if you get up at (use an example of a time they might get up), what time should you go to sleep at night to make sure you get enough hours in? Help young people figure this out if they cannot do it on their own.

Why do kids need plenty of sleep? Let the youth answer, but make sure they understand the following reasons why sleep is important:

Sleep plays an important role in healthy growth and development. Your body needs the deep rest it gets during sleep to help your muscles, bones, and skin prevent injury and illness and helps your brain develop well.
Sleep also helps you remember what you learn, pay attention and concentrate, solve problems and think of new ideas. Studies show that people can focus better when they’ve had enough sleep, that’s especially important during school. Having enough sleep simply makes you feel better during the day.

Is all sleep the same? Let young people answer first and then explain that just like nature is full of cycles (the earth rotates, causing cycles of light and darkness – day and night; the moon has cycles) we have cycles in our sleep as well. Our bodies can’t get fully rested unless they are able to go through all the cycles several times. Explain that there are five stages in one cycle of sleep. Each cycle of sleep takes about 90 minutes. That means that within 10 hours of sleep we go through about six cycles and 33 stages of sleep.

Stage 1 and 2: You first fall asleep, but are not yet in a deep sleep.
Stage 3 and 4: You are in a deep, restful sleep. Your breathing and heart rate slow down, and your body is still.
Stage 5: You are in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Your brain is active and you dream.

Activity: Healthy Bedtime Habits

Ask the youth to think about what bedtime is like right now.

How do you sleep best? (Have kids demonstrate their favorite way to sleep.)
Do you sleep with any special blankets, stuffed animals, pillows etc.? (Have kids raise their hands to answer.)
What kinds of things things help you relax and feel sleepy?
What makes it easier for you to go to sleep when you need to?

Can you name some things that might help you have better bedtime habits? When young people come up with helpful ideas for how to develop good sleep habits, ask them to write them down on a piece of paper in checklist form. (Alternately, create a master checklist based on the answers and distribute copies.) Possible answers:

Try to go to bed at the same time every night. Your body gets used to a schedule and will be ready to sleep.
Don’t drink sodas with caffeine, especially in the afternoon and at nighttime.
Make sure your bedroom is cool, dark and quiet.
Exercise during the day. Running and playing at least 3 hours before bed helps your body get ready for sleep.
Avoid big meals before bedtime. Drink a glass of warm milk or have a light, healthful snack like fruit.
Have a bedtime routine. Do the same relaxing things before bed each night, like taking a warm shower, reading or listening to quiet music. Your body will know it’s time to get ready to sleep.

Activity: Sleep Diary

A good night’s sleep is important. Keep track of your sleeping habits using a sleep diary.

After a full night of sleep, you wake up ready for a new day of school, fun activities or family time. You use a lot of energy throughout your day to go to school, play outside, do your homework, participate in sports, practice an instrument, and play with your friends. After all of that, your body needs sleep! Your body is just like a car’s gas tank, full in the morning and empty at the end of the day. If your family has a car, your parents have to fill up the car’s gas tank. Getting enough sleep will help you to fill up YOUR own gas tank! A full tank gives you enough energy to stay busy and do your best each and every day!

When you get enough sleep, you can:

pay attention better in school
be creative
fight sickness so you stay healthy
be in a good mood
get along with friends and family
solve problems better.

When you don’t get enough sleep, you can:

forget what you learned
have trouble making good choices
be grumpy and in a bad mood
have trouble playing sports/games
be less patient with brothers, sisters and friends
have trouble listening to parents and teachers
become sick more often.

You should talk to your parents and doctor if you:

have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep
snore or have trouble breathing while you sleep
have weird feelings or “growing pains” in your legs
feel sleepy or tired during the day.

Conclusion

Ask the young people to use this sleep diary to keep track of their sleep over the next week to help them know how healthy their sleep habits are or are not.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing healthy sleep habits at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog(s)

Promoting a good night’s sleep

Are your kids getting enough sleep?

Additional Instructor Resources

Your Kid’s Sleep

Splash! Why Is It Important To Bathe?

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand why we need to bathe on a regular basis—with an emphasis on bathing several times a week. The youth will take part in a demonstration that helps them visualize how germs are spread from person to person. Finally, they will practice proper hand-washing with soap.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following notes about cleanliness. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions about why it is important to bathe.

How often a person should take a bath or shower depends somewhat on individual preference and family and cultural norms. But there are several reasons that it’s important to make sure kids know why we bathe, including:

Physical Health—Regular baths or showers with a mild soap, followed by drying with a clean towel, help wash away germs and prevent illness, infection, and other problems.
Mental Health—Taking a bath or shower in the morning can be invigorating and help you wake up. If you prefer bathing in the evening, it can be soothing and help you calm down.
Social Health—Bodies have smells…lots of them. The less often we clean ourselves the more likely we are to develop noticeable odors. Sometimes these can turn people off. The appearance of not being clean can also cause us to feel self-conscious and insecure. Most people don’t need a lot of deodorant, special creams, or perfumes to look, feel, and smell clean as long as they are following a regular cleaning routine.

Introduction

Begin by asking the youth: “why is it important for us to regularly take baths or showers?” Most young people will be able to answer this but many children do try to avoid the bath at some point in their lives, so reinforcing the concept is a good idea. Use the information from the Instructor Notes above as appropriate.

Activity: Looking for Germs

Explain to the youth that one very important reason to take a bath or shower is to wash away germs that can make us sick. Tell them they are going to demonstrate how easy it is to pass germs around.

Explain that germs are a lot like glitter in that they get on everything we touch or that touches us. That’s why it’s so important to bathe ourselves at the end of a day or a time we’ve been very active or gotten dirty.
Give each young person a small amount of petroleum jelly to rub on their hands.
Then sprinkle their hands with a bit of glitter. Have them shake hands with one another, and touch pieces of paper or other objects that can get a little bit glittery. (Caution…this can get MESSY!)
Once the youth have experienced how easy it is to spread germs (by touching other objects), instruct them to wash their hands thoroughly to remove all glitter.
To assure proper hand-washing, we need to rub all surfaces of our hands using soap and clean running water to make a lather. Rub hands for at least 20 seconds.
Once everyone has had a chance to wash their hands, ask the youth about their experience and note that a quick rinse didn’t remove glitter or germs.

Activity: Hand Washing

Teach young people a song to the tune of “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush.” The words are, “This is the way we wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands; this is the way we wash our hands, to make sure they get clean.”
Explain that this song can help you make sure you wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. Using a clock or timer, see how long it takes you to sing the song. For example, if it takes 10 seconds to sing the verse, young people can sing it twice so that they know that they have washed their hands for at least 20 seconds.
Have the young people each practice washing their hands while singing the song.
If time permits, ask for suggestions of other verses and mime them as a class. They might suggest, for example, “This is the way we wash our hair.”

How Often Should You Take a Bath?

One common question can be how often children should bathe or shower. While some resources will advocate the importance of bathing daily, we advocate a routine of bathing several times a week.

Conclusion

At the end of the session, you can reiterate that while bathing and washing are personal things and everyone gets to make their own choices about them—including whether to shower or take baths and how often—there are good reasons to have a regular routine. You can also emphasize that it especially impacts others around us if we don’t keep our hands clean. Check out our Starter Kit program and find all of your classroom lessons for kids in one place.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish so that families can continue the conversation about healthy washing habits.

Skin: Caring for the Largest Organ

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand the basic structure, function, and care of skin. Youth will be introduced to the topic with an online interactive quiz. They will read about the skin, including tips for its care, then get creative by designing products and giving persuasive presentations.

Introduction

This lesson focuses on three aspects of skin: its basic structure, the jobs it does for our bodies and how to care for it. You can introduce the topic by having young people take the Online Quiz either individually or as a larger group. Discuss the answers. Were there any answers that surprised you?

Give each of the young people a copy of the Skin Handout. Review the diagram and headings. If time permits, youth may want to read this before starting the activity below.

Activity

In small groups, invent new skin-care products and try to “sell” them to the rest of the class. The youth can do this as a written advertisement (preferably with some art…like a magazine ad), a pretend radio ad (spoken with no actions) or a pretend video/television ad (incorporating actions). Be sure to include:
- a description of your product (a cream, a cleanser, or something less common…be creative!)
- the problem it solves
- why people should buy it.
Young people do skits or presentations for others about skin health and skin care. Tell them the goal is be persuasive…to convince their peers to do their best to keep their skin healthy. If they have access to the Internet you can allow them to look up additional information.

Conclusion

Skin health and skin care will always be an important part of our lives. Encourage young people to take the handout and newsletter home as references they can keep and perhaps share with other family members.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, which also includes these tips, so that families can continue discussing skin health at home.

Additional Instructor Resources

Safe and Fun, In the Sun!

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand how to keep their skin safe in the sun. The youth will identify signs of melanoma and take note of any moles to watch on their own bodies.

Introduction

Start by telling the youth that everybody needs some exposure to the sun. It is our body’s main source of Vitamin D which makes our bones stronger and healthier by absorbing calcium. Most people do not need a lot of sun exposure to get the vitamin D that they need, in fact too much unprotected sun exposure can cause damage to the skin, eyes, and even cause skin cancer.

There are many ways to prevent these dangers.

Young people should wear a sunscreen with a SPF (sun protection factor) of 30 or higher while in the sun.
They should also be especially careful from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. when the sun is the strongest.
It is important that sunscreen is reapplied often, especially after getting the skin wet.
It may be helpful to wear long sleeves and a hat to protect the skin from overexposure.
Tell the youth that wearing sunglasses with 100% UV (ultraviolet) protection while outside will help protect their eyes from being damaged by the sun.
Remind the young people that their skin can get burned even on cloudy days so make sure to be careful if spending time outside.

If the skin does burn, there are some things you can do to make it feel better.

Take a cool bath.
Apply pure aloe vera gel to any part of the skin that is sunburned.
Use a moisturizing cream to rehydrate the skin to treat itching.

Activity: Body Map

Hand out some laminated photos with different types of skin cancer for the class to pass around. Tell them that a lot of skin cancers show up in moles. Teach them about the ABCDE’s of a mole (see right). Visit What Does Melanoma Look Like? for more information.
See if the youth can find any moles on their arms or legs. Have them inspect the mole using the ABCDE’s for skin cancer.
Have each young person make a skin map of their bodies:
- Hand out a copy of the body ‘map’ using the template provided.
- Have each young person look at their arms, hands and neck and fill in any moles, birthmarks or freckles they have, onto the body “map.”

ABCDE’s of a Mole

A = Is it asymmetric or irregular in shape?
B = Does it have a border that is ragged or notched as healthy moles generally don’t.
C = Is it a funny color (red, black, mixture of colors)?
D = Is it larger in diameter than a pencil eraser?
E = Is it evolving or getting bigger? Any change in shape, color, elevation or any new symptom such as bleeding, itching or crusting is a danger sign.

Conclusion

Each young person should bring the body ‘map’ home to have the rest of the body completed with the help of a parent. Tell the youth that they can look back to the body ‘map’ if they see any new or changing spots.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, which includes tips for keeping skin safe in the sun and instructions for watching the ABCDE’s of moles.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog(s)

Summer sun protection

Sun protection – we’ve got you covered

Additional Instructor Resources

Sunwise for Kids computer games by EPA.gov

Books:

What Are These Spots On My Skin by Scott Naughton
Skin Sense: A Story about Sun Safety for Young Children by Lori Lehrer-Glickman

Power Off!

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people define “screen time” and potential problems with spending too much time looking at electronic screens. They will analyze how much of their day they spend in front of electronic screens and think of healthy ways to limit their screen time.

Introduction

Help the youth define screentime by asking these questions and discussing as a group:

What exactly is screen time? (Screen time includes time spent in front of the TV, computer, phone/texting, or video game playing.)
How much screen time do you have?
What are some ways you can cut down on screen time?

Activity: How Much Screen Time Do You Have?

Ask young people to write down their screen time each day for one week. They track their total numbers of hours each day. It could also help for them to write down what type of screen time it is. This will give them a visual sense of how they’re spending their time throughout the week.

After young people have tracked their screen time for a week, discuss the group’s results with the following questions:

How much screen time do you usually have in the morning, before school? Is this your routine just about every morning?
Do you have any screen time during school? How much?
What about after school, before dinner?
How about during dinner?
How about at night, after dinner?
How about on Saturdays? Sundays?

Young people might be surprised by how much screen time pediatricians (doctors who take care of children) think is healthy for youth to have each day.

Ask the youth, how much for kids 2 years old and younger? (Have the young people write down a number.)

Next, how much for kids older than 2? (Again, have them write down a number.)

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the following for screen time:

Children younger than 18 months: No screen time, except for video-chatting.
Children 18 months to 24 months: If you want to introduce screen time to your child, choose high-quality programs and watch them with your child.
Children age 2 to 5: Limit your child to 1 hour or less of high-quality programs each day. Watch these programs with your child to help him/her better understand them.
Children age 6 and older: Set a screen time limit that is right for your child and the whole family. It’s important that screen time never replaces healthful behaviors such as physical activity, sleep and interaction with others.

Ask the young people, how do you feel about this? Does it surprise you? (Getting feedback from them will help them to feel like they’re part of this process.)

Can you guess what some of the reasons are for why you should only have two hours or less? Ask them for their ideas, but make sure they get this message:

One of the main reasons is that the more screen time you have, the more time you spend sitting or lying down, and not really moving your body.
The less time you spend moving your body, the higher the chances are that you could end up having too much extra weight on your body.
Extra weight can cause health problems now, and when you get just a little older. Health problems include: weaker heart and bones, high blood pressure, and diabetes. These conditions used to only be found in older people, now pediatricians are seeing younger kids with these conditions.

Activity: Cutting down screen time

Now we need to take a look at the amount of time you spend in front of a screen each day to figure out ways to get it to about two hours or less, if it’s not there already. Here are some simple things you can do:

Try to remember to turn off the television if nobody’s really watching.
Plan ahead! Look at the shows that are going to be on each day, and choose which ones would be good to watch.
Turn off the television and games when eating meals.
Avoid eating while at the computer or watching TV. This helps keep us from eating too much.
Set a timer to help us remember to get away from the TV or computer or whatever screen we’re using, because it’s easy to lose track of time when you’re in front of a screen.

Ask the youth to come up with some ideas of things they would like to do to replace screen time with other things. And let’s make them things that will be fun to do as a family, or fun for you to do with your friends, or sometimes just fun for you on your own.

Remind young people that this is just one of many lessons about breaking habits that aren’t so healthful and replacing them with habits that are healthful. Changing habits is challenging for everybody—kids and parents. We can all help each other, and remind each other we’re doing this to make improvements in our health, but also to have fun together as a family.

Conclusion

Set screen time goals for the next week. Some examples include:

Turn the television off if nobody’s really watching it.
Eat our food in the kitchen or dining room. No screen time while eating!
Do not text during family meals or other time set aside for family activities.

Keep track of your screen time each day. When you’ve reached two hours, replace your screen time with a healthy activity. If you’ve had plenty of exercise already, read a book, make artwork or crafts, or even just have a conversation with other family members.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, which also includes these tips, so that families can continue discussing ways to limit screen time at home.

Additional Instructor Resources

Decreasing Screen Time Article

Wash Hands for Health!

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand the importance of hand-washing. Youth will learn how to wash their hands and color a worksheet with the proper hand-washing steps.

Introduction

Germs are everywhere, but we can take action to reduce them and lower our chances of getting sick! Washing your hands is the easiest way to reduce the risk of spreading germs that cause infections. Everyone can benefit from learning good hand-washing techniques. You should wash your hands after using the bathroom, blowing your nose, coughing, sneezing, and before eating.

If you cannot get to a sink, clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Hands get more germs on them than other parts of your body.

When you touch your eyes, nose or mouth, the germs can get inside your body and can make you sick. And when you have germs on your hands, you can spread the germs to other people and make them sick too.

Germs on your hands can also get on food you eat and can make you sick. That’s why it’s important to wash your hands before helping with any food preparation and before meals or snacks.

To help stop the spread of germs you should cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hands. Put the used tissue in the waste basket and go wash your hands.

Activity

We know that germs can make us sick. But where are germs and how do they make us sick? What can we do to stop germs from making us sick? Wash our hands!

Today we’re going to learn why we need to wash our hands and how to wash germs away the right way.

Engage the youth in a discussion about the right steps to good hand-washing. Refer them to the “Simple Steps for Squeaky Clean Hands” handout. Read through steps one through six and show good hand-washing if a sink is available. The youth can color the worksheet as well.

Ask young people, how long should we wash our hands to be sure to get the germs off?

You should wash your hands for as long as it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song. And be sure to wet your hands with clean running water (warm or cold)… and use soap!

Depending on the age of the youth, you might want to post hand-washing tips near the sink in the bathroom.

Conclusion

Conclude the lesson by handing out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, which also includes these tips, so that families can continue developing healthy hand-washing habits at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Practicing good hand-washing techniques will help keep germs away

Smile Bright! Tooth Care

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand why it is important to brush and floss their teeth. The youth will observe effects of corrosive liquids on eggshells as a demonstration of how harsh materials affect tooth enamel.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about dental care for children. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

There are many more reasons to keep your teeth clean than just having a nice smile, though that’s a good one too! Tooth decay (also known as cavities or dental caries) affects children in the United States more than any other chronic (long-lasting) infectious disease. If not prevented or properly treated, it can cause infections that may lead to problems with eating, speaking, playing, and learning.

The combination of dental sealants and fluoride has the potential to nearly eliminate tooth decay in school-age children, but good habits are also still a part of the equation.

Brushing your teeth twice every day keeps your teeth—and your gums—clean and healthy. Even if you don’t have permanent teeth yet, you still need to brush. If you don’t brush, the permanent teeth growing underneath can be damaged by the tooth decay that can be growing on the surface.

And you need to brush permanent teeth every day because that’s the best way to keep them healthy. Those teeth need to last your whole life! Healthy teeth are one sign of good health.

Activity

Use hard-boiled eggs to demonstrate the impact of different substances on teeth.

Explain to young people that eggshells are similar to the enamel (hard surface) on our teeth and just like eggshells, our teeth can be damaged if we don’t keep them clean and healthy.
Fill one cup with soda (cola or other carbonated sugar beverage) and place an egg it.
Fill one cup with vinegar and place an egg in it.
Fill one cup with water and place an egg in it.
Explain to young people that everyday for several days they should check on the eggs to see what’s happening with them.
After several days (3 to 5) remove the eggs from the liquid. Ask the youth to describe what they notice. The youth will see that the egg in the soda is stained, the egg in the vinegar is soft and pitted, and the egg in the water is fairly intact. Explain how cola, vinegar or other substances can cause damage to our teeth just like it did to the egg shell. Brushing and flossing and drinking plenty of water help to keep our teeth clean and healthy.
Ask the young people what they think about the experiment, and whether there is anything they’ll change about how they treat their teeth now that they’ve done the experiment.

Conclusion

Remind young people that taking care of their teeth is an important part of living a healthy life. Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing dental health at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Get brushing: February is oral care month!

Additional Instructor Resources

Healthy Me Checklist