In-person learning isn’t just important for children and teens – it’s absolutely vital. Schools aren’t just places where children learn; they are safe spaces that support their mental, social, physical, and emotional health.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, though, things got complicated. Some schools stayed open, while others adopted a hybrid approach to education with a mix of in-person and remote learning.

Experts agree that children should go back to school this year, but parents have some understandable concerns. So, what are schools doing to keep students safe during the COVID-19 pandemic?

The reassuring answer is that schools are following public health guidelines when it comes to safety. Let’s look at all the things schools are doing to keep your child safe.

Testing And Screening

Screening is a way to identify people infected with COVID-19 – whether they have noticeable symptoms or not. By identifying students who might be contagious before they begin to show symptoms, the chances of the virus spreading decline. Teachers and staff members who are not vaccinated should also undergo screening.

Screening is usually offered to students who are not vaccinated. It is an integral part of slowing the spread of COVID-19 when the number of cases within the surrounding community is high. Screening is a valuable tool for schools that cannot facilitate the maximum physical distance between pupils because it offers another layer of protection.

Screening should occur at least once per week to be effective, and the results should be reported within 24 hours.

If a pupil or staff member displays any symptoms of COVID-19 or has been exposed to the virus recently, diagnostic testing of samples collected by saliva dna collection kits should be done immediately.

Physical Distancing

All pupils must follow the physical distancing recommendations – including those who have been vaccinated.

The CDC guidelines recommend that all students maintain a physical distance of at least 3 feet from any other person in the classroom. The general CDC recommendation for people who do not live in the same household is a physical distance of at least 6 feet.

The difference is explained by studies of COVID-19 transmission among students in 2020-2021, which show that the transmission rate among students who stayed less than 6 feet apart was very low– provided that the school practiced other COVID-19 safety measures.

In addition to other safety protocols like masks, schools should utilize outdoor spaces wherever possible – particularly for activities like exercising, singing, and band.

Face Masks

Wearing a face mask is a proven way to decrease the chances of spreading COVID-19 to people who cannot get the vaccine or are immunocompromised.

People who are fully vaccinated can still contract COVID-19 and infect others – this is why every person over the age of two years should wear a face mask that covers their mouth and nose.

The latest variants of the virus, Delta and Delta Plus, are much more contagious than previous variants and lead to more severe complications. Although the COVID-19 vaccines reduce the chances of severe illness and death, wearing a mask is still the best way to avoid spreading it to others.

Masks should be worn consistently, and they should fit correctly. Most children will have no problem wearing a face mask if their parents encourage them, support them, and lead by example. If your child has a developmental impairment that may impede mask use, consult your pediatrician.

COVID-19 Vaccines

As recommended by The American Academy of Pediatrics, all children five years and older should receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and all adults and children should get fully vaccinated as soon as they can.

If your child has already contracted COVID-19 and recovered, they should still receive the vaccine unless they have a condition that makes them ineligible.

Limiting Exposure

Although children are less affected by COVID-19 than adults, schools still need to ensure that measures are in place to prevent spread if there is an exposure.

If a pupil or member of staff has had recent close contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus, they should follow local public health officials’ recommendation to self-quarantine unless they are vaccinated.

People who have been exposed to COVID-19 and are fully vaccinated should get tested 5 to 7 days after they were exposed – whether they display symptoms of infection or not.

Special Considerations

In addition to adhering to the prescribed COVID-19 safety protocols, there are several other factors that schools need to consider.

High-Risk Students

In the case of children who have medical conditions that are chronic or high-risk, other special precautions may need to be taken.

If your child already has a medical condition that puts them at risk if they contract COVID-19, discuss it with their school and healthcare professional. You may need to consider extra accommodations for added safety or a combination of remote and in-person learning.

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities may have difficulty transitioning back to in-person learning at school. This could be due to missed time, restricted access to services at school such as speech-language therapy, mental health support counseling, or occupational therapy.

All schools should adopt an individualized educational program and review each child’s individual needs – these services can also be provided virtually.

Emotional and Behavioral Support

Your child’s school should be equipped and prepared to support every child’s mental health needs throughout the pandemic.

In this time, more than 140,000 children have lost a primary or secondary caregiver – the school should be able to recognize signs of distress, depression, and anxiety and help their students get the support they need and provide appropriate counseling.

Organized Activities

Extracurricular activities like sporting events, practice, and others may be limited. If a school does offer physical and extracurricular activities, it should follow additional safety protocols.

Nutrition

Until June 2022, all schools can provide free meals to all students, no matter their household income. Many schools offer nutritious lunches via school lunch programs – you can approach your school district for more information.

These meal programs should still be applicable if a student is absent due to illness or if schools are closed.

Final Words

If schools, families, and the members of the community work together to keep each other safe, students can return to in-person learning.

To ensure that children get the social and mental stimulation they need at school, everyone who is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine should receive it. Staying safe also means that everyone should wear a face mask, stay at home when they are sick, and do whatever it takes to protect the people around them.

This article was originally published by artofhealthyliving.com. Read the original article here.

This article was originally published by mindbodygreen.com. Read the original article here.

Many people spend the majority of their day looking at a screen, either on a computer or phone. And while this is good for keeping in touch with friends and family, it can be bad for your eyesight. Here are some simple tips to protect your eyes from the harmful blue light coming from these screens.

Blue Light Blocking Glasses

Blue light-blocking glasses are the best way to help protect your eyes from screen strain. These glasses block the harmful blue light coming from screens, so if you are wearing blue light blockers all day, not only will you sleep better but you’ll also avoid any eye strain in the morning. You can buy these glasses from any optometrist.

They have the added bonus of protecting your eyes from other harmful rays. Blue light blocking glasses are built with three different quality lenses to protect your eyes from all angles, so you can feel safe while using technology all day long.

And if you were wondering how blue light-blocking glasses help you sleep – blue light is actually a factor that makes it harder for your brain to produce melatonin at night. You know, the hormone you need in order to fall asleep? Basically glasses with these lenses block out the blue light so your brain can produce this hormone and feel tired sooner at night.

Screen Covers For Your Phone

If you don’t want to wear glasses, another option is a screen protector. Screen protectors will only reduce the amount of blue light coming from screens close up and won’t help as much with eye strain when looking at screens across the room. They also tend to be more expensive than glasses.

Blue Light Filter Apps For Your Phone

If you don’t want to use an actual filter, you can download a blue light filter app. These apps will actually change the color of your screen to ease eye strain. They’ll also protect your eyes when you’re using your phone at night by changing the color of the phone’s screen.

It is best if you remember to use the apps and turn them on and off each time. If you forget in the morning, then your eyes will be unprotected all day long without screens!

Take Regular Breaks From Screens

Taking a break from looking at screens will also help with eye strain. If you have a phone, try putting it on “do not disturb” so you won’t feel tempted to look at your screen every five seconds, and if you have a computer or tablet, consider getting an app that takes breaks every 30 minutes for you.

Being mindful and taking breaks while using screens will really help your eyes and ultimately make it easier for you to use technology without getting too much eye strain. After all, we spend so much of our time looking at screens, why not take the proper precautions to protect our eyes!

How To Protect Your Eyes From Computer Strain

When looking at screens, you usually want to sit about twenty inches away. You should also look slightly down at your screen and make sure it’s level with your eyes. If it is not, you can get an attachment to put it in the right position.

Also, if you wear glasses or contacts, make sure they aren’t affecting your screen viewing. You can get no-line computer bifocals to correct vision for your eyes and also protect them from strain. Playing with blue light filters can also do wonders.

It’s also important to adjust your lighting after dark. If you look at a screen in the dark, it will not only strain your eyes but also keep you up later. Make sure the lighting in the room is bright enough that you can still see what’s on the screen.

Today, most of us spend our whole day in front of a screen. Whether this is at work or on the weekends, it’s safe to say that we’re never too far from technology! And while there are many benefits to using screens all day long, they can also be bad for our eyes. Luckily there are ways you can protect your eyes when looking at screens before bed and during the rest of the day. From protective glasses to apps that change color according to how much blue light you need protection from – these tools will help make sure your vision stays healthy as well as protect against other harmful rays coming off screens like glare.

This article was originally published by artofhealthyliving.com. Read the original article here.

This article was originally published by mindbodygreen.com. Read the original article here.

Once you traverse out onto the road or the great highway, you can put yourself at risk for any of the inherent dangers that come alongside driving. Even the most cautious of drivers can still run the risk of meeting an accident, as not all drivers may be on the same page as you. Despite the presence of laws seeking to protect drivers on the road, there are still many who are negligent, willfully or not, as they’d rather not listen to what the law says.

So, it’s not for you to rely on other drivers for your safety while on the road. Rather, it’s for you to aim to keep yourself well-protected enough from any danger. Defensive driving is all about the preventive driving techniques you can do so you can get yourself from point A to B, and home, safely.

With that said, here are five ways you can protect yourself on the road:

1. Always Wear Your Seatbelt

One of the very first things you may have been taught by Florida PIP Statutes or any of your local laws where you’re from is to wear your seatbelt whenever you’re inside a car. This applies both as a driver and passenger. Kids aren’t exempt from this either, as even those sitting on car seats have to be restrained by the protection coming from the seatbelt.

If a crash does occur, your seatbelt can often be your first line of defense or protection, especially in high-impact accidents. You can prevent your body from flying or getting moved around so suddenly when you’re restrained by the protection coming from your seatbelt.

2. Stay Alert

When you’re sleepy, feeling sick, if you’ve had a rough night, or whatever it is you’re going through that’s affecting your ability to focus, you may want to avoid driving temporarily. Losing your focus while driving isn’t the best thing that can happen to you.

Remember there are so many things that come into play when you’re driving. Your mind has to train your eyes to focus, stay on the road, and be alert. Then, your mind is also controlling your hands to maneuver the steering wheel and gear controls, if any, even including the brakes and acceleration pads.

So, you have to calm yourself, focus, and stay alert.  Keep an eye on the side and back mirror regularly. If you know you can’t focus when driving for the day, then might as well just opt to leave your vehicle, and go on public transportation instead.

3. Keep Your Vehicle In Good Condition

As a car owner, you have the responsibility to stay on top of your car maintenance. So, it’s therefore very important to keep your vehicle in good condition. Even if you think you don’t need to send your car to maintenance any time soon, it’s still best if you do so.

Some road accidents happen not just because of human error, but also because of a defective car. For instance, the brake pads may not be working well, or the steering wheel is problematic. You’ll want to avoid those situations at all costs.

4. Keep Your Phone Down 

This fourth tip can’t be emphasized enough. While there are rules against using the phone when driving, unfortunately, there are still so many who do so, simply because they think they aren’t going to get caught. You may have heard of those horror stories of fatal accidents with drivers missing a dangerous curve all because they spent two seconds looking at a text message on their phone.

If it isn’t important, those messages can always wait until later. You won’t have to read them right now. If you have an important call, then pull aside, park your car and take your call.

5. Keep Distance

Keeping a safe distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you is very important. This is all the more necessary if you’re following a vehicle, much bigger than yours, like if you’re driving a sedan and there’s a big truck in front of you. You can’t see the traffic right ahead of you, and you never know when that vehicle is going to make a sudden stop.

If the stop was sudden and you were too close, then obviously, a crash happens. In cases when you have a truck in front of you, unfortunately, you may get caught under the truck, and these accidents are very dangerous and often fatal.

More so when you’re driving at night or in poor visibility conditions, be very particular about the distance you’re keeping.

Conclusion

Safe driving should be your topmost priority, once you set yourself out on the road. Whether you’re the driver or a passenger in the vehicle, there are many things you can do to ensure safety on the road. Whatever you do, never disregard the law, even if you don’t think you’ll be caught. Remember that laws are there for a reason, and it’s up to you to ensure top compliance with those laws. Most importantly, staying safe on the road isn’t just for you, but also for the other pedestrians, and your family who are waiting for you to come home safe.

*collaborative post

This article was originally published by artofhealthyliving.com. Read the original article here.

This article was originally published by mindbodygreen.com. Read the original article here.

This article was originally published by mindbodygreen.com. Read the original article here.

The COVID-19 pandemic probably taught the world more about pathogens than all the basic health classes people ever attended. Many may have learned from childhood that frequent handwashing, covering one’s mouth and nose while sneezing or coughing, keeping one’s distance from someone who’s ill, and practicing other similar health habits prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria that cause diseases. Unfortunately, it took a global health crisis for people to fully understand their significance and learn how to do them correctly.

Since you are probably already familiar with the right ways to keep yourself safe from COVID-19 and other illnesses, you should also know what sort of practices to avoid when going out in public. Keep in mind that infectious diseases spread through direct or indirect contact between people. To help you out, here is a list of some of the top things you should stop doing to protect your health while in public spaces.

Touching Communal Objects And Surfaces

Bus and subway poles, doorknobs, shopping carts, automated teller machines (ATM), elevator buttons, and similar objects and surfaces come into contact with the hands of all types of people every day. Unfortunately, some of those people are likely to be sick, and it is possible that they sneezed or coughed in their hands and touched these things without first disinfecting properly. As such, there is a good chance that communal objects and surfaces are contaminated with a variety of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that can make you ill when you hold them with bare hands and touch your mouth, eyes, or nose afterward.

Protect yourself by wearing fabric antimicrobial gloves that can act as a barrier that will help you avoid getting pathogens on your hands. By wearing such a “hand protector,” you can confidently touch poles, handles, railings, keypads, or push buttons without worry. If you don’t have one, a good old piece of tissue paper should do the trick as well. Of course, you can also use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer or wash your hands with soap and water to keep them germ-free, although these methods could be a bit inconvenient, especially if you are always on the go.

Staying In Poorly Ventilated Indoor Spaces

As you may know by now, viruses spread between people more easily indoors because the concentration of virus droplets in the air tends to be much higher than in the outdoors. This is why when you eat in a crowded restaurant or do business in an office with poor ventilation, the probability that viral particles in the air will get into contact with your eyes, nose, and mouth will be much higher, especially if you end up staying inside for a long time.

So, the next time that you want to eat in a restaurant, opt for al fresco dining or a place with open windows and fully functioning exhaust fans to better protect your health. Better yet, consider taking out your food, calling for delivery, or cooking at home. For your banking needs, how about transacting online so that you do not have to go to the bank? You can also share a ride with a family member instead of riding a bus or train. Ultimately, you should find other means to avoid staying in indoor spaces that do not offer fresh air.

Touching Your Face

You are probably unaware that you touch your face many times a day. You scratch your nose, rub your eyes, lean on your chin, and touch your lips with your fingers. One study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene found that people who do office work touch these areas of their face 16 times in an hour on average.

Think about what would happen if you held a contaminated door handle in your office and you rubbed your tired eyes afterward? You are essentially allowing pathogens to enter your body. Do not give bacteria and viruses a free pass by following a simple rule—just stop touching your face! If you cannot resist the urge, make sure to wash or sanitize your hands often, in order to protect your health.

Crowding With Other People

Being in a crowded setting, such as bars, fitness centers, sports arenas, or movie theaters can put you at a greater risk of contracting different respiratory illnesses, from a mild sore throat, common cold, and flu to sinus infections, bronchitis, and COVID-19. When a sick person near you coughs or sneezes, they release respiratory droplets that could land on your face. You can also breathe in viral and bacterial practices suspended in the air or touch surfaces contaminated by microbes.

Prevent getting infected by avoiding crowded areas or keeping a safe distance of at least six feet between yourself and other people outside your household. Also try limiting face-to-face contact with others when grocery shopping or running errands. Consider only going to stores and other establishments during off-peak hours or opting for contactless transactions whenever possible.

Letting Your Guard Down

You cannot let your guard down whenever you go outside since there is always a risk of you getting infected by different types of pathogens when mingling with strangers, especially inside enclosed spaces. Even if you cannot see these microbes, always assume that they are present wherever you are.

Remain cautious and always prepare before going to public places. Bring a face mask as protection when social distancing is not possible, and use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer to disinfect your hands every time you touch something. Moreover, avoid loitering in public spaces. Go home as soon as you are through with your business.

The COVID-19 pandemic reinforces the truth that health is indeed wealth. Only when you are healthy can you pursue your dreams, enjoy the company of loved ones, and live a happy life. That said, protecting your health should be one of your top priorities. Continue practicing healthy habits and avoiding the “don’ts” discussed above to lower your risk of getting sick. As the famous adage goes, “prevention is always better than cure.”

*collaborative post

This article was originally published by artofhealthyliving.com. Read the original article here.