You can receive Featurettes by e-mail daily, weekly or monthly by request. We can e-mail by your choice of topic or all stories as you may prefer. To make it even more convenient for editors to use our stories, NAPS has added an RSS syndication feed to our Web site. Simply hit the RSS button on our site for automated updates on available content. Please contact us to arrange to receive Featurettes in the format that works best for you at (800) 222-5551 or e-mail your request to us at printmedia@napsnet.com. We can provide Featurettes on CD-ROM or you can download it online at www.napsnet.com. Gary Lipton Media Relations Manager Phone: 1-(800)-222-5551 Fax: 1-(800)-990-4329 Web site: www. napsnet .com e-mail: printmedia@napsnet.com #2592 North American Precis Syndicate, Inc., 350 Fifth Avenue, 65th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10118-0110 Helping Kids Respond To Mobile Harassment (NAPSA)—To protect their children from mobile harassment, parents may want to learn exactly what’s involved. Recent research suggests that 32 percent of teens know someone who has been harassed or bullied via text. Mobile harassment and bullying, which take place on a mobile phone through text messages, instant messages, e-mails and social networking sites, can have short- and long-term consequences, including psychological harm, depression, anger, violence, low self-esteem and even suicide. While most kids view such behavior as a normal part of teen life, the damage caused can spread with viral speed and may permanently damage someone’s reputation. Most every teen has at some point seen, forwarded, talked about or otherwise enabled the viral spreading of harassmenttype messages. According to the recent “LG Text Ed Survey,” conducted by TRU Research, 43 percent of all teens surveyed have sent, received or forwarded a text calling someone names or putting someone down. Additionally, 41 percent of teens surveyed have sent, received or forwarded a text that contained rumors about someone that were untrue. “In most cases, senders do not think about the harm or consequences of their actions when they send or forward these messages or photos,” said Dr. Joel Haber, psychologist, bully expert and LG Text Ed Advisory Council member. “The adolescent brain may not be registering the potential damaging impact it may have on its target.” Fortunately, there are a few ways parents can help teens avoid this type of situation. • When your children get a mobile phone, tell them about appropriate behavior and let them know when behavior crosses the line and becomes hurtful or mean to others. Student STEM Competition Sparks Creativity Teens and tweens may not realize that their actions in spreading messages may be causing harm. • Teach teens to stop and think about what they are doing before they take action on a text message. • Stress the significance of speaking out against children who hurt others through their mobile phone or online activity or, if this is not safe, providing help to the targeted child in a confidential way that makes him or her feel safe. • Make sure your teens have someone to go to to report any direct threats—you, their school, a hotline number or the police. • Make sure your teens know that it is never OK to threaten anyone through their phone, online or offline, make fun of others, post embarrassing photos, impersonate others or forward salacious messages about others. For More Information To learn more about this issue and how to talk to kids about mobile harassment, you can visit an easy-to-use, interactive resource, the LG Text Ed website at www.lgtexted.com. The LG Text Ed Survey is a national snapshot of texting behaviors among 13- to 17-yearolds and the parents of 13- to 17year-olds. The study was conducted online within the United States among 1,017 teens and 1,049 parents of teens. (NAPSA)—Educating students to think innovatively about science and technology may be a step toward finding solutions to critical world problems and may perhaps even help avoid future catastrophes like the Gulf oil spill. The Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision program—the world’s largest student science competition—has been promoting science, technology, engineering and math (or STEM) education among K–12th graders for the past 18 years. Catching the Science Bug: Research shows that students motivated in science are likely to carry that interest into adulthood. Hoping to create a new generation of engineers and scientists, the contest has attracted over 270,000 students since 1992. Not surprisingly, many recent entrants have come up with ways to potentially help the environment. Students who participate can also win money for college tuition—members of the four firstplace teams each receive a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond while second-place winners each win a $5,000 bond. For more information, visit www.exploravision.org or e-mail exploravision@nsta.org. Follow ExploraVision on Twitter.com/ exploravision or Facebook.com/ ToshibaNSTAExploraVision. The deadline is February 2, 2011. Take Action— Get Your Child A Hib Booster Vaccination Now Talk To Your Health-Care Professional To Reduce Your Child’s Risk (NAPSA)—No parent wants their child to play catch-up, and making sure that your child is upto-date on their Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b) vaccination is no exception. Since June 2009 when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reinstated the Hib booster dose they have been encouraging parents and health-care providers to “catch up” those children who missed the immunization. Children born between June 2006 and March 2008 may not have received the Hib booster immunization because in December 2007, the CDC—prompted by limited supply of the vaccine—recommended that health-care professionals temporarily defer the booster dose of the Hib vaccine (which is usually given between the ages of 12 and 15 months). Children who didn’t receive the Hib booster dose then, now have an opportunity to receive this vaccination to help protect against Hib disease. Some parents may be unaware that without proper vaccinations, bacterial infections such as Hib can pose health threats to young children. Hib is a serious disease caused by the Haemophilus influenzae type b bacterium and usually strikes children less than five years old. Hib is a bacterial disease and if it spreads can cause serious problems including: meningitis (infection around the brain), pneumonia, severe swelling in the throat (making it hard to breathe), and infections of the blood, joints, or bones. Prior to the availability of the Hib vaccine, Hib disease was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis among children in the United States. Meningitis is an infection of the brain and spinal cord coverings, which can lead to lasting brain damage and deafness, and is just one of the invasive diseases that can be caused by Hib. Before the vaccine was available, approximately 20,000 children suffered from Hib disease each year and nearly 1,000 of those children under five years old died. “Parents need to be sure that their child is protected by the Hib vaccine, including the final booster dose, against the serious diseases caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b,” stated Dr. Jerome Klein of Boston University School of Medicine. Ask your health-care professional to check your child’s immunization record and ensure that your child is up-to-date on all his or her immunizations and find out specifically if a final (or booster) dose in the Hib vaccination series is needed. If your child has missed the booster dose, health-care experts agree, it’s time to get them immunized as soon as possible. For more information, talk with your healthcare professional and visit www.cdc.gov/Features/HibDisease/. Editor’s Note: Dr. Klein is a paid consultant of Sanofi Pasteur.
