M3 Discussion – School Health Programs and Violence Prevention

School Violence is an issue that is prevalent in many communities today. We all recall the shootings at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut and the more recent school shootings in Colorado and Texas. But, violence in community schools is not limited to these more high-profile incidents. There are many other examples of how violence in schools is evidenced, including but not limited to physical fighting, verbal abuse, bullying, cyber-bullying, sexual violence, threatening comments or actions.

This discussion focuses on your examination of school health programming as it relates to the issue of violence prevention. For this discussion, you may chose to take a look at your own school’s strategies to address this issue or you may consider efforts by your state to prevent and respond to violence in school settings. After conducting some research on either the community or state level, or both, and reviewing the National Health Education Standards outlined in Box 6.3 of page 151 of the McKenzie text, consider the following questions about the steps taken to reduce the risk of violent acts occurring in schools:

1.- Do you think that your school’s health education program or your state’s program addresses this problem effectively? Why or why not? Consider data associated with the incidence of violence on either level.
2.- How does your school or state incorporate the CDC recommendations related to establishing policies about bullying, electronic aggression, teacher/staff training, discussions with students, creating a positive school atmosphere?
3.- What is the plan if an incident does happen? Do you think that it is effective? How could it be improved?
4.- How do strategies incorporate family engagement and community involvement?
Then respond to at least 2 other students by posting well developed and substantiated comments.

MODULE LEVEL OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this module you will be able to:

1.- Demonstrate an understanding of the significance of individual health behaviors and evidenced-based practice on community decision making about health.
2.- Define community organizing and explore strategies by which it is achieved as well as its importance in the development of community capacity to address identified health needs.
3.- Discuss the framework for community health response and examine the roles of health education, promotion and program planning in it.
4.- Identify and explore the steps in developing an effective health promotion program and analyze an existing program to assess its use of this developmental model.
5.- Examine the impact of school health programming on a community with particular attention to its integration of health with learning through the use of the WSCC model.

DISCUSSION PARTICIPATION TIPS
Discussion Participation Tips
Your initial post should be a logical and thoughtful response to questions posted and typically should be at least 250 words. After posting, you should return to this discussion area and post at least two (2) responses to posts made by your classmates during the remaining week(s) of the module.Your follow up posts should be reflective in nature and may require research and analysis to draw others into an in-depth conversation. Be sure to cite sources when putting forth the ideas, opinions, and facts of others using APA style.

READING ASSIGNMENTS:
McKenzie, Pinger and Seabert text – Chapters 5 and 6
Content Guide
MAPP Tool- Mobilizing For Action Through Planning and Partnerships
Video 1- Empowering People for Community Health in Manistique, Michigan (Video, 4 minutes in length, captioned, 2013)

PLEASE SEE ATTACHED CONTENT GUIDE – CHAPTER, 5 AND 6 READING

THANK YOU