Teaching Health Today: Ditching Diet Culture
Teaching Health Today: Ditching Diet Culture
An exciting new book about size-inclusivity. PLUS: New research on girls and social media, and how teaching gratitude can help reduce cyberbullying.
Curriculum and Resources
New Book Alert
Have you heard about FAT TALK, the new book by
? Virginia interviewed me for Chapter 10, which focuses on diet culture in schools. I’m thrilled to be quoted alongside Cait O’Connor, the brilliant teacher behind the #DitchingDietCultureAtSchool digital resource library.You can check out Chapter 1, “The Myth of the Childhood Obesity Epidemic,” read a Q&A with
, or listen to an interview with the author on NPR’s Fresh Air.Want more on this topic? Read “It’s time to cancel diet culture — if not for ourselves, for our kids” in the Washington Post, or Paige Tutt’s excellent Edutopia story, “Weight Bias Hurts Kids, and We're Not Talking About It.”
Want to wear your support? Pick up one of these awesome “All Bodies are Beach Bodies” shirts from The Representation Project.
Wellness
Teaching Gratitude Can Help Reduce Cyberbullying
Some encouraging news about cyberbullying: a new study suggests that nurturing gratitude in students could reduce this online abuse.
“Our 6-Year-Old Wanted To Use 'They/Them' Pronouns. We Had No Idea What We Were In For.”
In this Huffington Post essay, Kate Smith reflects on how much she’s learning about gender and society while raising her kids.
The Teen Whisperer
How do we equip teens emotionally with the tools they need to navigate our complex and ever-changing world? Lisa Damour, PhD, the author of The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, shares ideas on this episode of the Rich Roll podcast.
How Girls REALLY Feel About Social Media
Common Sense Media just published a new research report, "Teens and Mental Health: How Girls Really Feel About Social Media." It includes platform-specific fact sheets, like “How Do Teen Girls Really Feel About TikTok?” And “How Do Teen Girls Really Feel About Instagram?”
Weekend Update: Molly Kearney on Anti-LGBTQ Bills in the United States
Saturday Night Live's first non-binary cast member, Molly Kearney, stops by Weekend Update to discuss the harmful effects of anti-LGBTQ bills.
Keep On Learning
Racial Justice in Sex Education
Advocates for Youth and SisterReach have created five free, engaging and dynamic e-learning modules, each 30-45 minutes in length, on topics like “Racism and Youth Sexual Health Outcomes” and Reproductive Justice in Sex Ed.”
National Fentanyl Awareness Day
On May 9th, a series of speakers will be presenting free online presentations as part of Fentanyl Awareness Day. Sign-up today, and check out additional resources from Song For Charlie and its “Real Talk About Fake Pills” campaign.
News
TikTok’s Algorithm Keeps Pushing Suicide to Vulnerable Kids (Bloomberg)
More than a year after Chase Nasca killed himself at age 16, his TikTok account remains active. Scroll through his For You feed, and you see an endless stream of clips about unrequited love, hopelessness, pain and what many posts glorify as the ultimate escape: suicide. READ MORE
3 theories to explain why syphilis rates are exploding among women (Vox)
Between 2017 and 2021, infection rates in women rose more than threefold, from two per 100,000 people to seven per 100,000 — a much larger increase than the rise among men, and larger still than the uptick in other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), like chlamydia and gonorrhea. READ MORE