Balanced Life Skills Martial Arts

The summertime offers more free time and our kids are going to want to do things online more than ever.  So what are some guidelines that we can set and how do we keep them safe.  This article that just came out covers this material very well.  It is at the Common Sense Media website.

As for Balanced Life Skills we will be covering age appropriate reminders for students on internet safety in our Focus on Friendship summer workshops for kids.  In this part of the workshop we will be talking to each group about defining the term cyber-bullying, and helping them to see healthy ways to use the computer and safety rules for them to be aware are necessary.   Each age group will be treated appropriately.

The Fourth of July is rolling around again. This is a great time to celebrate with friends, have a cookout, and be patriotic in general. But before the festivities begin, it is important to know how to make sure they are safe.  This post includes information on fireworks, barbecues, boating, pool parties, and the sun. It’s only fun until someone gets hurt, so lets try to make sure the fun lasts all through the day injury-free.

Fireworks

The first area of safety concern is the obvious: fireworks. Fireworks are beautiful, fun, and patriotic displays, so we should learn how to incorporate them into our celebrations safely. Here are some things you should not do : Read the rest of this entry →

Balanced Life Skills Emergency Response to Drowning Children Can Learn

Each year according to the CDC 750 children will lose their life to drowning. It is important that children and adults be aware of what they should be looking for and know what they can do to assist.

Teaching our children that they can help themselves and others in an emergency situation builds their knowledge and confidence. Stopping a nose bleed or other bleeding is one area of safety that every child should learn about.

Teaching our children that they can be a hero and help themselves and others in an emergency situation builds their knowledge and confidence. Fire Safety is one area of safety that every child should learn about.

This is the second in a series of emergencies every child can learn to handle. Every child can learn to save the life of a person who is choking.

Helping an adult
Helping a child
Helping an infant

This is the first of a series in emergencies every child can learn to handle.

More information on when to call 911 in a medical emergency.

Recently I have heard of situations where children who were very young were able to react to an emergency situation and were instrumental in the saving of a life.  In a report on CNN they listed 5 actions that every child should know how to perform that may very well save a life.  Here is a link to the entire article, and a list of five emergency situations that you can teach your child how to react and possibly save a life:

• Choking
• Bleeding
• Fire
• Drowning
• Person is not breathing

Of course this is all in addition to every child knowing how and when to dial 911.  This is a skill that we can practice with our child and tell them when it is appropriate to do so.  During our summer classes we will be teaching as part of our regular classes the skills for the 5 emergencies and hope that all parents can reinforce the skills by practice at home.

Whenever I have heard of a situation where a child has been sending mean or lewd messages to other students the parents are always the last to know.  The last thing we want to have happen to us as parents is to learn that our child has either been sending or receiving messages with photos of themselves or others that would put them in a compromising position.  So what can we do?

As a parent we must be careful not to react in a manner that would make our child less likely to talk to us about any of these subjects, so how do we make sure that they have the real information on the impact of “sexting” with their friends?

Talking about the subject ahead of time is always the best route.  At least then we have a starting point so that in the future our child knows where we stand on the subject and they have accurate information.  One thing you may consider is when giving your child a phone with texting capabilities that we set some ground rules, not just on the amount of usage (dealing with cost) but also on what is appropriate and why.  Start by showing them this video:

We may ask them some questions as a starting point and then let them understand where we stand on the subject. Read the rest of this entry →