Student Health

By Marcy Kramer

NORTHFIELD – Those of us who live in Northfield like to think that drugs aren’t a problem in our small, isolated, intellectual town, but are they something we should be concerned about?

  Northfield School Resource Officer Thad Monroe says “It would be a stretch to say that I make one arrest per week,” related to drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.  Although he does go on to say that “The rules I have to follow… to look for drug violators make it much easier for teachers to catch the students at school than it is for me.” 

  So, maybe we should be more worried about preventing drug use and treating those already using.  Recovered drug addict and former NHS student Greg Anderson said he started using drugs the summer after 8^th grade because he was “worried about fitting in in high school.”

  Anderson was first introduced to drugs through marijuana and cigarettes.  He said after he used marijuana for the first time “I was sober for a day and then I was high for the next week.”  But marijuana was just the beginning.

  “Hanging out in that environment just led to other things,” Anderson reflects.  At the height of his use he was using coke, heroin, oxycotin, ecstasy, acid, mushrooms, marijuana, and methamphetamines.

  He tells some startling tales about the things he would do to get drugs.  Anderson remembers, “Drugs came before everything else.  I had to be high all the time.  All my friends were either users or dealers.”

  He remembers a time when he was dealing coke, but he found a new connection that was cheaper and so he ripped off the old drug dealer.  “Then a month later he called me up to come to his house.  The minute I walked in I knew something was wrong.  He had a shotgun in a bed sheet and he was threatening me with it.”  Anderson reflects, “he was using meth and could have shot me right there.”

  This was happening in our small seemingly innocent town. Anderson even remembers that his “first connection with coke was from the High school.”  Officer Monroe agrees, “Crack is much more of a city problem while meth tends to be in wider use in the more rural areas.”

  But things are being done to control the use of drugs at NHS.  Anderson remembers that he received random drug tests, which he didn’t pass, and then the school administration told his parents.  “I broke down in the principle’s office.  This was the first time I had accepted help.”

  Officer Monroe agrees that it is easier for teachers to catch students than it is for the police.  He states, “If I want to search a student for drugs I have to see the drugs in the possession of the student or get a warrant from a judge to search the student.  The school administration can search any student they suspect may have drugs or other items against school rules.”

  So what can we do to prevent kids from using drugs?  Anderson says “Kids don’t take it seriously,” or they think they won’t get caught.  Officer Monroe adds, it is easier, “for friends and teachers who know to see the changes in the users’ behavior from what it was before they started using.”

  Anderson also adds that once they’re using “you can’t say anything to change it, but if they want help tell them there is a different solution to their problems.”

  There are so many consequences to drug use, legal, emotional, and physical.  Officer Monroe states that “possession…of any amount of controlled substance can be a felony, which can start at a year in jail or $1000.00 fine or both and go up from there.”

  There is also an even bigger deterrent, Officer Monroe adds, “Most of the murders in Minnesota are drug related … an argument over drugs, the money gained in death was going to be using to purchase drugs, or the killer commits the act while on the drugs.”

  Anderson definitely agrees, “It’s not worth it, it’s really not.”  He adds with the hint of a smile, “I feel good about what I’m doing now, I still get those thoughts, but I don’t ever want to go back to that.”

Students Reach Out to Help

The Blood Drive at Northfield High School

By Marcy Kramer

Northfield – Students at Northfield High School lined up to volunteer to help others by donating blood.  The annual blood drive at the high school took place on February 24^th, 2006. 

  Northfield High School students not only gave blood, National Honor Society students also helped to organize the event, and there are even students at the high school who have had occasion to receive blood transfusions.

  The National Honor Society (NHS) has organized the blood drive in the spring now for many years.  Kathy Kopseng says the blood drive “is a great experience and an opportunity for all kinds of people to give.”

  Kelsey Cowdin, a member of the NHS steering committee who helped organize the event this year was pleased with the turnout.  “I think that it went really well, actually we had a lot of walk ins and the people who didn’t show up were for good reasons, like being sick.”

  The blood drive at Northfield High School had 99 people sign up and collected 66 units.  Kopseng reflected, “The turnout was about he same as other years but the end result was less.”

  The disparity was mostly due to illness.  Cowdin commented however “all the other schools the blood drive had been to that week were over their estimates so I guess it all evened out.”

  66 units of blood is still a sizeable amount and will be able to help many people.  Kopseng contemplate, “I think, in general, students here want to help.  If you give then the opportunity they’ll rise to the occasion.”

  Cowdin agrees that Northfield “is a pretty good community for helping others.”  “Fundraisers always do really well.”

  Although the blood drive is not a fundraiser.  Cowdin adds, “It’s a way of helping others that’s not just giving money, people have to spend some time and maybe even endure a little bit of pain.”

  Kopseng was also extremely proud of the response.  “90 kids put their arms out, 25 – 30 Honor Society kids volunteered, it just involves a lot of people. I mean, 40% of the blood collected by the Red Cross is from high schools and colleges”

  Northfield High School students are not only donating to the blood drive but benefiting as well.  Just ask junior Bianca Lutchen.

  Lutchen received blood transfusions every two weeks for a year when she was five and six years old.  “I had cancer, osteogenic sarcoma, it’s a bone cancer” Lutchen says matter-of-factly.

  She still remembers it vividly.  “I had chemo every other week, but you would end up going back on your weeks off to have a blood transfusion because you got so sick.”

  Lutchen also tried to donate blood this past month at the blood drive.  “But my iron was too low” Lutchen said with a sigh.

  Lutchen also feels exceptionally strongly about the cause of donating blood.  She said “There is a low amount of blood right now, I don’t think a lot of people know that.  And lots of people just won’t give it.”

By Marcy Kramer

NORTHFIELD - America has a growing obesity problem.  Scientists predict that if obesity keeps progressing at the rate it is now then by the year 2100 100% of the population of the U.S. will be obese.  The government, attempting to combat the problem, has revised the food pyramid and issued a new and improved version in hopes of encouraging Americans to be healthier.

  The new pyramid is based on tailoring portions to fit the person. Nutritionalist Shelley Strobel states “the most recent revision of the pyramid goes a step farther to individualize the pyramid based on age, gender, and level of physical activity.” The new food pyramid suggests that a specific proportion of your diet be meats, dairies, fruits, vegetables, etc. instead of allocating a specific number of servings.

  Part of the problem is promoting healthy eating habits from an early age.  Strobel also added that the food pyramid can be “a great teaching tool for general nutrition information.”  If a child learns the importance of eating healthy and how to eat healthy when they are young it becomes habit and they are more likely to continue this into their adult life.

  According to the National Food and Drug Administration, a healthy diet “emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat free or low-fat milk and milk products; includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts; and is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars.”  Strobel adds that the new pyramid “stresses the importance of a balanced diet, physical activity, and of limiting “empty” calories.”

  When why is America ’s gut still growing?  Strobel asserts that a “major cause of the growing obesity problem in the U.S. is the disparity between the number of calories we eat and the number of calories we burn each day.  Technology has allowed us to accomplish daily tasks more efficiently than ever before.” 

  Obesity is especially troubling in children and teenagers.  Kids don’t always make positive eating choices, especially at school where the possibilities for lunch seem almost endless.  When asked whether kids make good decisions when choosing a lunch, food service associate, Nancy, at Northfield High School , stated that “some do and some don’t.”

  Strobel states that school hot lunches “must meet applicable recommendation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommend that no more than 30% of an individual’s calories come from fat, and less than 10% from saturated fat.  Regulations also establish a standard for school lunches to provide one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances of protein, vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium, and calories.” 

But what about a la carte and other lunch options, especially at the high school.  Strobel says that the a la carte items aren’t “required to meet these same nutrition standards.”  Nancy added, the kids “sure do like their cookies and sweets.”

So what can we do as teenagers to maintain a healthy diet?  Strobel would advise “moderation and consistency.  Rather than making drastic changes in one’s diet.”  “Set a goal such as drink water instead of pop, or eat breakfast every day and work on incorporating that into your daily life.  Once your first goal becomes a habit, you can then focus on another area that you would like to improve. 

Physical activity is also important, and is another new innovation incorporated into the parameters of the new food pyramid.  The FDA recommends finding “ your balance between food and physical activity.”  Strobel agrees stating that lack of activity is another cause of obesity.  “We now feel we need to go to the gym to “work out” where a generation ago, people simply got their work out in the course of their typical day.” 

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle should be most important to teenagers because their habits will likely be maintained for the rest of their life.  Strobel affirms that you should “try to make lifestyle changes that you can maintain long term.” 

The benefits will be worth the struggles.  Strobel maintains that not only will you look better you will feel better when eating healthy.  A healthy diet helps you with “maintenance of a desirable body weight, disease prevention” for the future, “better appearance (skin tone, hair quality), and better ability to concentrate in school/work.” 

On the other hand there can be serious consequences for poor nutrition. “Obesity, disease (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and more), poor skin tone and hair, vitamin deficiency, and not enough energy to enjoy life” are all penalties that Strobel outlines. 

A healthy diet should be most important to teenagers not only because our actions now become future habits, but because we are at the age where enjoying life and freedom is critical.  Maintaining a healthy diet is crucial to living life to the fullest.  So eat to live don’t live to eat. 

Sleeping through life

Do teenagers really get enough sleep?

By: Marcy Kramer

Americansociety attributes many ofits problems to various causes, but could one of them actually be sleep, or lack there of. Recent studies from Stanford University, Brown University, and the University of Minnesota have shown that some academic, behavioral, and driving problems in adolescents can be linked to lack of sleep.

So how much sleep does the average teenager really need? Studies at Stanford University estimate that adolescents need approximately 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep each night.

There are many causes of lack of sleep explains Kim Slegers, the health teacher at Northfield High School. These causes include biorhythms, a teenagers "natural time to feel awake and alert and their natural nature time to feel tired," habit "your body wants to go to bed and get up at the same time," caffeine after six p.m., and partaking in adrenaline activities after eight p.m. like watching a scary movie, an exciting event, or an athletic game.

Another factor in lack of sleep is the fact that you can never actually "catch up" on sleep. It is actually better to go to bed and get up at the same time said Slegers, it results in a "better quality of sleep." The researchers at Stanford University found this to be true and recommend that a teenager only sleep in on the weekend two or three hours later than they normally wake up.

The shocking thing is that teenagers could really use the extra sleep. Stanford University conducted a survey and discovered that the average American teenager only gets six and a half hours a sleep a night or less.

So what are the effects of sleep deprivation? According to Slegers, your memory will not work as well, "you're not as alert and not able to comprehend information as quickly," it also makes you crabby and thus effects your social life, and it affects mood "making someone feel down or isolated."

Experts at Stanford University agree, sleep deprivation can "inhibit creativity making it difficult for sleep deprived students to learn," it also effects how teenagers deal with stress and emotion, and causes a "lack of self-confidence and mood swings" even depression.

There is a more life-threatening consequence of sleep deprivation for teenagers and adults alike, car accidents. According to the National High Traffic Safety Administration, sleep deprivation and fatigue cause more than 100,000 car accidents per year and half of those involve adolescent drivers between 16 and 25.

The problem of sleep deprivation is of great consequence to our school district at this time as we just moved the start time at the High School from 8:08 to 7:51. In a study at Brown University Medical School in 1998 of 3,000 high school students found that students who were earning C's, D's and F's were getting 25 minutes less sleep a night than those earning A's and B's.

This study is collaborated by one conducted in 1997 at the University of Minnesota where they surveyed 7,000 high school students who had recently switched their start time from 7:15 to 8:40. The students reported getting more sleep on school nights, being more awake in class, experiencing fewer depressed feelings, and even slightly higher grades.

With all this recent research this may be something the Northfield School District needs to think about in the future to not only improve grades and test scores but also to improve the learning environment at Northfield High School. Also the students would definitely not be opposed to it.

Cruisin' through High School

Are vacations really worth the make-up homework?

By Marcy Kramer

Most high school students would tell you that after missing even a day of school it can be hard to catch up. Having six or seven classes all with different teachers and schedules and most with notes in class and homework makes being absent a daunting endeavor. Now, imagine being gone for seven school days. This was the foreboding task I was faced with this winter.

I was recently absent for seven days when my family went on a cruise to Hawaii to celebrate my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. I know this sounds like a great vacation and such a treat, and it was, but I was also faced with loads of make-up homework.

Don't get me wrong I had an amazing vacation. I took surfing lessons, biked through Volcano National Park, went horseback riding through the mountains, saw a traditional Hawaiian luau, went on a zipline adventure, and shopped until I dropped. I had so much fun until I got home and realized I had so much make-up homework left.

I attempted to do most of my make-up homework before I left. I actually thought I was completely caught up except for my French class at St. Olaf, but when I returned home I found it was another story. I had a TON of French homework, a chemistry project, a history essay, and calculus quiz all waiting for me and they all needed to be done as soon as possible.

Don't misunderstand, the teachers completely understood and I had Thanksgiving break to help me catch up but I still was completely crabby and overwhelmed for a week or more. I didn't really even get to enjoy Thanksgiving.

Like most seniors I also had more college application stuff to finish as well on top of my homework. This is what put me over the edge. I was going crazy trying to get everything done plus work, family obligations, and tutoring which I do in addition to school. Needless to say Thanksgiving break was a crazy time for me.

If any other senior is contemplating missing more than a week of school I would strongly advise against it. It was so much fun to go to Hawaii but I simply wasn't worth the homework hassle when I returned. I think I could have handled it if I didn't have all the college application stuff compounded with the homework. I think I would recommend it if you are a freshman, sophomore or junior, but to all the seniors I would avoid it.

As much fun as Hawaii was I was worrying about homework almost the whole time and even was forced to do homework while I was there. It was such a weight on my mind I don't think I was fully able to appreciate and enjoy the vacations.

In my opinion, vacations are meant for the summer and the winter should be devoted to school so you don't have to go crazy trying to make up work for all your classes. ALOHA!

In Northfield, the self-proclaimed home of cows, colleges, and contentment, sometimes we like to believe that we are immune from problems. However in our midst, many high school students are suffering from a " hidden disease " as Northfield High School counselor David Lynch puts it, but " depression is an illness much like the flu. "

It may be more common in Northfield than we would like to believe. High School nurse Katie Ades says she treats " depression-related symptoms " several times a week and counselor Mr. Lynch says he sees a student suffering from depression " at least once a week. " Considering the national statistic that one in eight adolescents have suffered from depression this seems reasonable ( http://www.aspeneducation.com/factsheetdepression.html ).

Depression is not just feeling down, it is " across all settings, a constant fog " that can last for weeks or even months, says Mr. Lynch. Lynch says that hardest thing is to determine " how much is depression and how much is just a mopey teenager, " because teenagers can be " laughing and crying in the same breath. "

Northfield High School health teacher Kim Slegers says the most common symptoms are a drastic " change in behavior " and/or " withdrawal. " Lynch agrees saying the students are usually " physically down, " eating and sleeping too much or not enough, and they lose interest in things the loved. They must now " force themselves to like activities " they previously enjoyed.

If you notice these symptoms in a friend " talk to your friend, " and make certain they have a " good emotional support system " including a " supportive reliable adult " advises Slegers. Lynch adds, " just be present " because sometimes they feel if they share their concerns they may only scare their friends away.

Parents need to do the same if they suspect their child is suffering from depression. " Just be available " and present numerous " opportunities for conversation " counsels Lynch. In addition, he imparts, " go at it form different angles " confrontation is usually not the best option.

Depression is a disease that needs a trigger. Lynch states that usually it ’ s a case where " expectations don ’ t meet reality. " But is has also been proven that depression is genetic. If a student lives in a household wherein a parent or guardian is depressed they " see it everyday " and are more likely to develop disease themselves, says Lynch. Although he adds, it is " nature and nurture " which ultimately lead to the development of this disease.

But there are ways to help avoid depression. Lynch says just " know yourself, and anticipate your triggers. " " Keeping yourself in check " and physically healthy playa major role he states. Recognize " ahead of time that this may be an issue for me " and talk to someone about it Lynch advises.

There are many resources at Northfield High School (NHS) to help student coping with this disease. " We have a student support team " for " students who are struggling " says Nurse Ades. This includes staff training in what to look for, counselors, a social worker, school psychologist, and a county mental health worker who visits once a week. The Guidance office also provides online resources for parents, go to the NHS website, the guidance office site, and then click on the personal and family health link to be connected with various mental health websites. In addition, there is a parent meeting on November 21st at Longfellow School from 7-9 pm to discuss mental health issues in our schools.

The good news is Mr. Lynch believes most teenagers can overcome depression with help and treatment. But he also warns " depression and other mental illnesses are more common than you think. "

This year is the first year the Periscope has had a Student Health page. I hope this page will make a contribution to our paper and be extremely helpful to you. Throughout the year I will cover various health issues that students are facing at Northfield High School. I hope to keep the stories prominent to our school and its students. My stories will include physical, mental, and emotional health issues. I welcome your suggestions for stories you are interested in and would like me to cover. If you have any ideas you can e-mail me. I hope to help keep you well informed this year about student health issues.

Marcy Kramer

Editor and Writer for the Periscope

mk@nfld.k12.mn.us