Aim High, Fly High with Flyers
Did you know that the common housefly lives for only 25-30 days and breeds at a rate of 150-300 eggs in its lifetime? When they are not buzzing around your living room, flies are eating some pretty gross things like rotten animal or vegetable matter, or poop. They also pose a threat to the global food supply because these pesky pests can contaminate our foods by making them unfit for human consumption. Yuck!
On the other hand, did you know that the average human life-span has increased to more than 70 years? The average human eats over 3,000 pounds of food in a lifetime. Our future is bright. Isn't it great that we don't need to worry about food shortages? Although our lives are different from that of flies, I think both groups have many things in common: we all eat, and we all poop. Let's not poop on ourselves.
About a month ago, I shared with our Young Women some ideas about how to treat others better by using words like Kindness, Respect and Love. Two weeks later at church my Young Women class was taught by Sister Rose Ann Edwards, a Primary teacher. She spoke about how to treat others better by using words like Respect, Kindness and Love. She also mentioned that although word choices are important, actions speak louder than words. It surprised me how similar her lesson was to what I had taught the Young Women two weeks before...
Did you ever notice that when you hear someone talk about respecting others and then watch them scream at a driver when they get cut-off in traffic, it doesn't sound very respectful?
Well I learned from my Primary teacher that paying attention is an action and not only does it help us listen better but it also helps us be more considerate of other people. I found this mnemonic device to help kids remember that Pay Attention is an action: P.A.C., which stands for Put Away Cellphones, Be Nice and Pay Attention.
Just for the fun of it, let's see how we can incorporate these ideas into our everyday lives as we take an imaginary trip to the Park with a group of friends…
I see that my friends are all on their phones. They are walking along a busy street and completely ignoring the people around them, including traffic. At some point, I would tap them on the shoulder and say, "P.A.C.," for the sake of everyone's safety.
When we get to the park I notice that my friends are stepping on the flowers and trash that has been left behind. I would politely tell them to P.A.C., which stands for Put Away Cellphones, Be Nice and Pay Attention to their surroundings. They would probably just smile and keep playing, so I would remind them of how nice it is when people pick up after themselves when we all go home. (Remember, actions speak louder than words.)
Now they are walking through a muddy puddle and it must be getting pretty cold with all of these coats on. I would P.A.C., which stands for Put Away Cellphones, Be Nice and Pay Attention, and ask my friends to see if they can borrow my jacket so they can keep warm during the rest of our trip. They wouldn't thank me, but it wouldn't matter because I would P.A.C., which stands for Put Away Cellphones, Be Nice and Pay Attention to everyone else's safety first and give them my jacket later if they wanted it.
After a while, we get hungry and decide to stop by a local fast food place. My friends are asking me if I want anything, so I P.A.C., which stands for Put Away Cellphones, Be Nice and Pay Attention to them as they choose what is on their burgers and what I will be getting with my cheese fries that have all the condiments.
After we finish eating, we hit the playground so everyone can play on the climbing bars or slides. My friends are running around like crazy, jumping off of things and laughing like maniacs as they play together. I would remind them again that P.A.C. stands for Put Away Cellphones, Be Nice and Pay Attention to everyone else's safety. We would all play together as adults that day, but I would hope they thought of how they were acting while playing.
I see that my friends are now running around in a circle holding hands and joining in the singing at the top of their lungs. This is the kind of singing that can only be done when adults have forgotten about everything and just let it all out. They may not even know that messengers are there to remind them to P.A.C., which stands for Put Away Cellphones, Be Nice and Pay Attention, but it wouldn't matter because we need P.A.C. before we can be like that.
When we get back to the car, my friends are still singing and dancing without a care about the mess left behind in the car. They are just having so much fun that they don't even notice the trash on their seats or the dirty soda cup on their floor. I would remind them again that P.A.C., which stands for Put Away Cellphones, Be Nice and Pay Attention, comes before Messengers and Fun!
I see that my friends are now in school and very quiet as they are writing their short essay about how they chose to treat others better by using words like Respect, Kindness and Love. Did anyone think about what she was writing? I would P.A.C., which stands for Put Away Cellphones, Be Nice and Pay Attention, and remind my friends that you can't write an essay about how to treat others better if you aren't being respectful, kind and loving.
I hope this blog post had as much fun writing it as I did. Like I said before, actions speak louder than words. Let's all try to pay attention to our actions today!
School is almost out for the summer! Which means that our kids will have lots more free time on their hands. (In case you have not heard the term: "summer brain drain" it describes student's loss of grade level in math and reading skills over a 3 month summer break. For example, kids that take one math class over the summer will lose half of their grade level in math skills.) This means they will be spending more time on the computer, playing video games and maybe even watching TV. We also know that when kids spend too much time in front of a screen it will not only negatively affect their eyesight and ability to learn but also makes them bored, which leads them to want to spend even more time sitting in front of computers.
It is a sad fact that because of the highly interactive nature of computers (especially for children) it is difficult for parents to know if their younger children are interacting with the screen properly by themselves.
Conclusion: Parents need to be involved in their children's use of technology in order for all children to reap the many benefits that computers have to offer.
Courtesy of Microsoft.com, here is a list of 20 things parents can do to make sure their child has a safe and fun time playing on the computer!
1. Make Sure Your Child Knows How To Type And Navigate Around The Computer
2. Check The Screen Before Giving Him Or Her Full Access
3. Make Sure Your Child Is Not Using The Computer As A Substitute For Real Friends – This means setting a time limit on computer use, just as you would with TV and video games or any other screen time activities.