The differential effectiveness of a school-based alcohol use and misuse (AUM) prevention program on elementary school students' susceptibility to peer pressure (SPP) was studied. Findings showed that experimental group students with prior unsupervised AUM had significantly greater reduction than control students in rates of increase in SPP and…

Children who are exposed to violence may develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To effectively work with children's responses to trauma, school personnel must be familiar with symptoms of PTSD and prepare possible coping strategies. The paper presents examples of affective, cognitive, and behavioral coping strategies that are effective for…

Knowledge of and preparation for life-threatening food allergies will enable school personnel to better respond to students who have severe allergic reactions. Given the high incidence of food-related anaphylaxis in public places, teachers and school personnel should be aware of and prepared to handle severe food allergy reactions. (SM)

Assessed readiness to be or stay physically active among 5th and 6th graders using the Stage of Change paradigm. Student surveys indicated that 40% were in the precontemplation stage and 60% were in post-action stages. Significantly more boys than girls were in maintenance, and more girls than boys were in contemplation. Attitudes toward physical…

School-based asthma interventions delivered by nonschool staff have been successful but are limited in their reach because of the cost and effort of bringing in outside educators and their inability to establish improved communication about asthma between schools, families, and primary care providers (PCPs). To address these problems, Columbia…

The hyperkinetic label can impair self-image and create negative expectation. It should be used only with confidence in its accuracy and when its use confers help not otherwise available. Guidelines for appropriate diagnosis include prevalence considerations, teacher reports, extent of home difficulties, psychological testing and clinical…

Presents findings from nationwide surveys of early elementary educators (N=505) that examined training status on tobacco prevention, level of teaching about tobacco prevention, and perceived self-efficacy for teaching tobacco prevention. Most respondents had no formal tobacco prevention training but had high efficacy and outcome expectation…

This paper examines nine school-based peer mediation and conflict resolution projects supported by four state health departments, describing differences in targeted students, project consultants, teacher and student training, teaching methods, curriculum content, mediation format, complementary strategies, project cost, and project evaluation. (SM)

Reports an Australian study that investigated the proportion of elementary students previously taught about stranger abduction who detected they were being followed. Observations of 15 children who were followed once a week for four weeks indicated the children only detected they were being followed 3% of the time. (SM)

Recognizing a fundamental relationship between health and education, the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services issued a joint statement on school health in 1994 that underscored the cooperation between departments in efforts to improve child health. After describing the partnership, the article prints the one-page joint statement.…

Assessed the impact of school organizational characteristics on outcomes of a teacher health behavior change program. Organizational, dietary, and psychologic data from intervention and control schools indicated that teachers at intervention schools with high organizational climate, organizational health, and job satisfaction reported better…

Discusses how to determine Internet information validity and cultivate students' Internet consumer skills, highlighting Internet access to information about locally available hallucinogenic plants. Textbook information on common psychotropic plants is contrasted with pro-drug Internet information. Guidelines for evaluating Internet information and…

The School Health Intensity Rating Scale assesses student health in school and classifies information according to intensity of need. The paper discusses the background of the need for such a scale, describes development and testing of the scale, and examines the school nurse's role. (SM)

This study followed children retrospectively from kindergarten through 12th grade to examine incidence of abnormal school vision screening tests and rates of follow-up by specialists. School vision screening provided first indication of abnormal visual acuity in 76% of the children. Results support the notion that school vision screening is…

This study examined 1993-94 Maine Educational Assessment data to determine factors related to fourth-grade students' health knowledge scores. Results indicated that students' overall ability, community factors, and teachers' perceptions about program quality related strongly to health achievement. Any (versus no) health education affected health…