Archive for July, 2004
July 14th, 2004
Dear Straight Talk: I am a high school teacher. I recently graduated from college and just finished my first year of teaching. In addition to being young, I look young for my age and it seems the students consider me one of their own and constantly invite me to parties and get-togethers. I find myself in the uncomfortable situation of knowing where all the keggars are, who is doing drugs, and quite frankly, I don’t know what to do with the information. A lot of these kids are good kids who are experimenting with reality to find out who they are. If I anonymously bust them they could find themselves in trouble with the law, and I don’t know if that’s necessarily the right route for them. What should I do?—Too much information
Dear TMI: You are in a position of authority and that comes with certain responsibilities and liabilities. Consider the possibility that a student at a keggar that you know about is killed in a drunk-driving accident on the way home. How are you going to feel? And what happens if it is revealed that you knew about the party and didn’t notify parents? There is a good chance you would be held liable. Read on for input from one of our teens:
From Ashley, 15: It’s hard to find the line where youthful experimentation turns into a problem. If you hear that “Nick” smoked pot, but seems to be a good kid with decent values, I would let it go. But if you know that “Ann’s” home life is a wreck and she has taken to getting drunk every weekend perhaps you should sit down and talk to her and the school counselor about it. Being open and available to teenagers is a big help and you may be the only person some of these kids will go to. But don’t be afraid to bust us if what we’re doing is dangerous because sometimes we need that wake up call or we’ll have bigger problems down the road.
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July 7th, 2004
Dear Straight Talk: I’m 15 and my grandmother, who is 62, went with my family for a day at the river. She couldn’t stop talking about all the teenagers she saw in there bathing suits. She says that in her day teenagers were skinny as rails and that if people were going to put on weight they did it later in life.
Being obese is a bummer, but it’s almost normal to be a little overweight. Why are we all overweight and what can we do about it?—Sorta fat, like everybody else
Dear Sorta fat: It’s a good question and experts are trying to figure out why. A lot of it is not rocket science. Compared to a generation ago, teens get far less exercise and eat far more. Although youth sports have burgeoned, there is less overall activity, particularly in the most basic of all human activities: walking. With safety an issue for most parents, kids rarely walk or bicycle where they need to go. There is also the endangered species known as home-cooked food. Gone with the home-cooked food is the stay-at-home parent who prepared that meal and enforced healthy eating.
Another culprit that is being scrutinized is corn sweetener. Today, all soft drinks and most frozen and baked sweets (plus “healthy foods” such as yogurt and breakfast cereal) are sweetened with corn syrup. It flooded the American food supply in the early 1980s, about the time the obesity rate started climbing. Americans ate less than two pounds of corn syrup a year in the mid-1970s and now the average person eats 63 pounds a year. Research shows that corn sweetener distorts the body’s metabolic functions in a variety of ways, one being that it inhibits the body’s ability to realize it’s had enough sugar for the day.
Maintaining your ideal weight will always follow the basic premise that calories consumed can’t be higher than calories expended. Cut back or eliminate soft drinks, begin reading ingredient labels and cut out foods with corn syrup and trans fats. Eat regularly, drink lots of water, and balance your meals with protein, complex carbohydrates and fresh fruits/vegetables. For a no-fad guide to healthy eating, I recommend “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon.
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July 7th, 2004
Dear Straight Talk: I just graduated from high school and have never been on a date. How do I go about asking a girl out? I’m so afraid that she will say no. And if she does say yes, what do we talk about?—Terrified in the Foothills
Dear Terrified: Relax. You can do this. For someone like you, I recommend the direct approach that doesn’t require small talk and leaves no room for the mind to conjure up possible futures. Simply phone or approach the candidate and making eye-contact, say, “Hello, my name is so-and-so, would you like to have lunch sometime?” Stop speaking and smile and do not speak again until she responds. Be ready with a plan should she say yes. Once on the date, hold a distinct purpose in mind and this will help you with conversation.
On a first date this purpose is called “Getting to Know Each Other.” If your mind goes blank, go back to this purpose. This will automatically help your brain formulate questions such as “Where did you grow up? How many siblings do you have? What do you do for fun?” To become a better conversationalist in general, I recommend reading the newspaper.
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