MY SCHOOL, ADDICTION FREE SCHOOL
The Vision
Nurturing… Aware, Responsible and Empowered Adolescents.
A child’s development is shaped by a number of factors, such as genetics, relationships with parents or other caregivers, socioeconomics, and early childhood experiences. By supporting the healthy development of young children policymakers help to provide the foundation needed for children to grow into thriving adults. Children who are healthy and successful socially and emotionally have a greater chance of becoming economically productive and engaged citizens. Establishing healthy behaviors during childhood is easier and more effective than trying to change unhealthy behaviors during adulthood. Schools play a critical role in promoting the health and safety of young people and helping them establish lifelong healthy behavior patterns. Research shows a link between the health outcomes of young people and their academic success.
Schools are in a uniquely powerful position to play a major role in reducing the serious problem of smoking and other tobacco use by kids. Children spend almost a third of their waking time in school and much of the peer pressure kids feel regarding whether or not to use tobacco occurs in school. 90 percent of adult smokers begin smoking at or before age 18. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug; and adolescents, who are still going through critical periods of growth and development, are particularly vulnerable to its effects. Symptoms of serious addiction, which can lead to years of tobacco use and dependence, can appear within weeks or even days after occasional smoking begin. Smoking and other tobacco use causes numerous immediate, sometimes irreversible, health effects and risks that can seriously damage kids’ health well before they leave school or reach adulthood. Because of the addictive power of nicotine, about three out of four teen smokers ends up smoking into adulthood, even if they intend to quit after a few years. Smoking may also be a “gateway” to illegal drug use. Studies show that nicotine addiction often precedes the use of other drugs and is a risk factor for future use of drugs and alcohol.
This is an awareness campaign focusing on smoking in schools and college campuses; the effects of tobacco on the body, tobacco dependence, quitting smoking, smokeless tobacco, and the potential harmful effects of environmental tobacco smoke. We provide all the tools need to create, adopt, implement, communicate and enforce a 100 percent tobacco-free policy in schools. Having a tobacco-free school environment is important in achieving physical, mental, and social health goals for students and staff.
A 100 percent Tobacco-Free school has a policy that prohibits the use of tobacco products by anyone, including students, staff, and visitors, on school grounds or at school events at all times. This tobacco-free zone includes school premises, school vehicles, and school events, both indoors and outdoors, and both on and off school property.
Values and Benefits of Tobacco Free Schools
Enforcing a tobacco-free policy provides the following benefits:
# Provides positive role modeling by adult employees and visitors.
# Reduces children’s observation of tobacco use and takes a firm stand against it.
# Provides a safe environment for students by reducing exposure to secondhand smoke.
# Protects children from a dangerous drug. Tobacco use is not just a “bad habit”; it is a powerful addiction.
# Complies with legislation prohibiting tobacco sale to children.
# Supports law on smoking in public places.
# Prepares students for the reality of smoke-free workplaces and communities.
HEALTH PROMOTING GARDENS
I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in tune once more.
— John Burroughs (1837-1921), American naturalist and writer
Health Promoting Gardens is a novel concept by Medical Wing. Gardens are seen to benefit the community as a whole, by improving relationships among people, increasing community pride and in some cases by serving as an impetus for broader community improvement and mobilization. The gardens not only enhance community connection, but also the physical features of the community to its broader benefit.
The gardens also help to build self-esteem through development of skills by garden-based programming, which occurred in many of the gardens. This individual sense of pride emerging from the garden associated programmes is often extended to the wider community as well, and the gardens are also thought to increase attachment to the community.
The gardens are also seen as a place for positive social interaction. For many, the gardens served as meeting places. In some cases, this could lead to broader discussions about other, non-garden-related issues of importance to the community. Thus gardens can be important places for building broader community involvement.
BKs believe and follow cleanliness inside and outside. They are keenly interested in Environmental Health issues and offers lasting spiritual solutions to world problems. BKs have been entrusted with maintaining a number of gardens across the country.
ANY TIME MEDITATION
The speed at which change is occurring in the economic and social scenario has led to a fair amount of stress for people in every walk of life. When people fail to use their emotions effectively, they will continue to suffer from emotional turmoil and psychosomatic diseases.
The hospital stay is often a time of great stress for patients and their families alike. Upon hospitalisation the patient hopes for restored health when, at the same time, he carries the burden of the symptoms of his illness, because of which he was hospitalised in the first place. Lying in a hospital bed surrounded by tubes and monitors, the patient is in a vulnerable state both mentally and physically. Separated from his or her natural environment, the patient is not only in unfamiliar territory but in the process of coming to grips with the fact that he or she is ill. Such a one-two punch often forces patients into crisis mode, leaving them feeling frightened and confused.
There is much evidence that patients experience stressful episodes during their stay in hospitals. The physical and social configuration of hospitals implies the possibility of introducing adverse psychological effects. There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. underlying sentiment emphasizes the importance of reducing stress in a hospital setting for all those involved.
But this burden must go somewhere. Meditation is said to be future of medication. Medical Wing has come up with a unique methodology, Any Time Meditation (ATM) is being designed to provide an opportunity to unwind individuals and try to alleviate stress during their stay in hospitals, think positively to improve quality of life and to bring back health.
A standardised meditation room is set in hospitals with proper ambience for patients and bystanders to meditate at a convenient place. Medical Wing will provide all the necessary technical support required for setting up the ATM room. The project aims at unwinding and relieving stress, building harmonious relationships and incorporating value based work culture in hospitals.
The healthcare professionals in the hospital will be trained on Raja Yoga, an ancient meditation technique, by qualified and experienced trainers from Brahma Kumaris. The training enables the healthcare professionals to experience the power of deep silence and to awaken the inner powers of the soul which lie dormant in each one of us. Serene and spiritually charged atmosphere of ATM will provide ample opportunities for such an experience.
