Counsellor's Corner

June 5, 2024

June 5, 2024

Screen Time Guidelines.

It is no surprise that technology has become a large part of our daily lives. While there are many great things that come with technology, the use of technology by our children needs to be monitored on a regular basis to ensure proper usage and balance with other activities such as playing outside or socializing with friends.

As kids get older, too much screen time can interfere with activities like being physically active, doing homework, playing with friends, and spending time with family. Too much screen time can also contribute to obesity, attention problems, sleep disorders, and problems at school. Some studies have shown that teens spend almost 9 hours a day online, whether that being on the phone, watching TV, or playing video games.

So how much is too much? That is up to you as the parent. Not all screen time is created equal. It’s up to parents to decide how (and how often) their teens use screens and whether screen time is positive or negative. For instance, time spent on homework or other educational activities might not need to be as restricted as time spent playing video games etc.

Here are some screen Time Tips:

· Research video and computer games before letting your teen/child get them

· Preview games and even play them with your child/teen to see what they’re like

· Make sure they have a variety of free-time activities including spending time with friends and playing sports and getting outside

· Turn off all screens during family meals and at bedtime. Do not let your child/teen have their phones or tablets in their rooms overnight and don’t let them have a TV in their room

· Treat screen time as a privilege that they need to earn, not a right that they’re entitled to. Screen time should be allowed after homework and chores are done

· Spend screen time together; you can use this time to connect and communicate

· Use screening tools to block your child’s access to inappropriate material

· Teach your teen about internet safety and social media smarts

May 24, 2024

Relaxation and Your Child’s Mental Health.

Relaxation is extremely important and can help your child/teen’s mood. It distracts the mind from negative thoughts, and helps to decreases muscle and mental tension. Additionally, it helps lessen feelings of depression and anxiety and can help your child develop the skills and emotional strength to bounce back from stress and worries.

Relaxation can help your child/teen to:

· Feel better and more self-confident

· Concentrate better and improve mental focus

· Improve sleep

· Have a positive outlook on life

· Improve sense of hope

· Feel a sense of control

· Feel more connected

· Increase body awareness

· Decrease feelings of worry

· Have more energy

· Find more balance in major life areas like school, family, and relationships.

Relaxation techniques are learned skills and can take time to develop. Provide opportunities for your child to build in relaxation into everyday life. Some examples are: deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, meditation, and yoga.

Look for a variety of ways to include relaxation into your family’s daily life. For example:

· Do activities together: walking, running, biking, hiking

· Try community involvement: volunteer, help a neighbor

· Allow for social activity: time with friends

· Encourage organized sports

· Encourage creativity: drawing, journaling, dancing, acting, crafts

· Get outdoors: spending time in parks, walking the dog

Counsellor Information:

Healthy Eating and Your Childs Mental Health.

The effect that food choices have on mental health is sometimes called the ‘Food-Mood Connection.’ There is not very much research in this area; we don’t know all the answers, but we do know a few things.

We know that:

-A healthy diet may help your child feel better emotionally and physically

-Brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine affect the way we think, feel, and act.

-Food choices can influence our sleep schedules

-Food and brain chemicals work together to give us energy throughout the day

-Eating a variety of healthy foods is important for mental health

As a parent, you can help your child/teen to:

-Eat breakfast every day and avoid skipping meals. If mornings are too busy, maybe try preparing the breakfast for the week ahead of time.

-Limit highly processed foods, fast food, high sugar drinks, and high fat, sugar, and salt snack foods

-Drink water! Dehydration affects your energy level and mood

-Limit caffeine from coffee, tea, soft drinks, and energy drinks. These drinks can make you feel anxious, nervous, or depressed. Limiting them may also help promote better sleep

-Be involved and take part in family meals. This helps create family connections. For example- everyone eating dinner together at the table

-Learn what to eat, how much to eat and how to prepare healthy foods

-Model healthy eating habits, a healthy weight and a positive self-image

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Counsellor Information:

Do and say things the same way you want your child to.

Your emotions affect what you say and what you do in the moment, they also affect your child. For example, anger is a very common human emotion. At times you may feel angry but what you do and say when you’re angry is important to your relationship with your child and it’s also how your child learns to express different emotions eg anger. Things that may make parents feel angry include: whining, not doing what’s been asked, not getting ready for school or bedtime, fighting with siblings, not doing well in school, and talking rudely.

Here are some tips:

· Try taking deep breaths for a minute to calm yourself. Have a ‘quiet’ area where family members can go when they’re upset. Tell your child that you need a break, stop talking, and go sit in your quiet area until you feel more calm and ready to talk.

· Calm yourself first, then problem solve with your child.

o Define the problem without blaming or shaming.

o Listen to your child’s point of view and then explain yours.

o Ask your child what they think they could do to solve the problem. Ask if they would like some suggestions if they are stuck.

o Write them down as a visual reminded to both the child and yourself.

o Together, choose one or two ideas that you think might work.

o Help your child plan for success for example- Setting up a homework area, decide upon a bedtime together). Compromising and ensuring your child feels heard.

o Try it out for a week or two, then check back to see if it’s working. If not, try another solution.

· Think about how you speak to your child. When you’re angry, calling your child names can lead to low self-esteem, low self-confidence, cause problems at home or at school, increase illness, and cause trouble getting along with friends. It also hurts the relationship between you and your child.

o So instead of saying: “you are so rude”, try saying: “you need to speak politely to me”.

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Weekly Counsellor Information:

Ask and Really Listen to Your Child

Asking your child how they feel and really listening to their feelings are an important way to build trust and encourage communication. Here are some tips and tricks to support with this:

· Pause and stop what you are doing, even for just a minute, and look at your child when you are talking to them. Make eye contact and often times getting to their level (get to their eye level) is helpful.

· Check your body language: be present (uncross arms and legs), focus only on your child, and stay still, no moving fidgeting etc.

· To show that you are listening, re-state what your child says in your own words and try to find the emotions behind them. Once you have identified the emotion, label it. To do this: Does your child look sad, mad, happy, frustrated or excited when they are speaking? Connect those emotions with what they're saying. Try to guess what they might be feeling and name the emotion. If you’re wrong, they will correct you. If you’re right, they will feel understood. Either way, you will be strengthening your relationship and will continue to build those trustworthy relationships and encourage communication. An example of what this would sound like is: “you’ve said a few times that you are no longer enjoying being on the soccer team, you look pretty unhappy when you have to go”.

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Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Counsellors Corner! I’m Maddy Darel and I am the Family School Liaison Counsellor (FSLC) here at Turner Valley School! I am very excited to be apart of the Tiger community this year and help support students and families.

My role as an FSLC is to provide mental health supports to students. This can be done through different forms of collaboration, such as small group activities, emotional support in classrooms and individual meetings with students.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or require further information.

Maddy Darel

Family School Liaison Counsellor

darelm@fsd38.ab.ca

(403) 938-7359 ext. 24128