What is “Dads Make a Difference”?

    A service-learning opportunity for teens that deals with fatherhood, parenting, and so on.

    Older teens, grades 10—12, teach younger teens, grades 6—9, about the importance of fathers in children's lives, the legal and financial responsibilities of parenting.

Teen teacher training goals & objectives

    The goal of the teen teacher training is to better understand the complex problems surrounding legal fatherhood in our society. By discussing what makes healthy families, explaining the meaning of paternity（父亲的身份）, and examining the risks people take in their lives, teens will develop the skills needed to make informed decisions in their own relationships and, finally, teach this information to others.

What's in it for me?

An opportunity to:

Learn life skills like communication, decision making, and problem solving.

    Get the chance to use knowledge in meaningful and effective ways.

    Develop leadership, planning, teamwork, time management, and organizational skills to help you in every aspect of your life.

    Forming lasting relationships with adult mentors（导师）.

Comments from teen teachers

    “ 'Dads Make a Difference' made me realize how permanent and expensive parenthood is.”

    “Speaking in form of groups and directing people in activities, I feel, is a valuable skill to have that I will use throughout my life.”

    “I wish I would have gone through this program when I was in Junior High. I know it would have helped me to really think about the future and to make good decisions.”

    “ 'Dads Make a Difference' has helped me to know the effects of my actions before I take them and I know what risks not to take to protect my future.”

    Feifei,an 11-year-old boy from Xuzhou,Jiangsu Province,suffered from a sudden acute eye disease which has almost led to blindness.The disease was caused by excessive（过度的）eye fatigue（疲劳）during the winter vacation, during which he played computer games for continuous 10 days and nights.

    Many youngsters in China nowadays are increasingly addicted to computer games and other electronic products. This is followed by a series of health problems,with the most typical case being myopia,or nearsightedness.

    According to the latest research report released by the World Health Organization (WHO),the myopia rate among Chinese teenagers ranks first in the world—70 percent of high school and college students.The rate is nearly 40 percent in primary school students,while it is only 10 percent for their peers in the United States.

    There are at least 10 million people in China with severe myopia,and they are likely to get pathological（病理性的）myopia in middle age.Pathological myopia can't be treated with glasses or surgery,and it is one of the biggest factors that lead to blindness,Xu Xun,director of the ophthalmology（眼科学）department at Shanghai General Hospital,pointed out.

    Experts explain that two major factors lead to the high rate of myopia among Chinese people.One is high academic pressure,and the other one is excessive use of electronic devices over a long period of time.Genetics,on the other hand,are not the main reason,as only 20 percent of Chinese people had myopia in the 1960s.

    "Teenagers are now faced with severe academic pressure,which means they often study without natural light. This increases their risk of becoming nearsighted,"Xu said.

    Experts suggest that youngsters maintain a proper balance between study and rest so as to protect their eyesight, and parents should play an active role in the process.

    Adding math talk to story time at home is a winning factor for children's math achievement, according to a new research from a university. The study from psychologists Sian Beilock and Susan Levine shows a marked increase in math achievement among children whose families used Bedtime Math, an iPad app that delivers engaging math story problems for parents and children to solve together.

    Even children who used the app with their parents as little as once a week saw gains in math achievement by the end of the school year. The app's effect was especially strong for children whose parents tend to be anxious or uncomfortable with math.

    Previous research from this group has demonstrated the importance of adults' attitudes about math for children's math success. For example, a recent study found that math-anxious parents who help their children with math homework actually weaken their children's math achievement.

    The new findings demonstrate that structured, positive interactions around math at home can cut the link between parents' uneasiness about math and children's low math achievement.

     “Many people experience high levels of anxiety when they have to solve a math problem, with a majority of adults feeling at least some worries about math,” said Beilock, professor in Psychology and author of Choke, a book about stress and performance. “These math-anxious parents are probably less likely to talk about math at home, which affects how competent their children are in math. Bedtime Math encourages a dialogue between parents and kids about math, and offers a way to engage in high-quality math interactions in a low-effort, high-impact way.”

    Study participants included 587 first-grade students and their parents. Families were given an iPad installed with a version of the Bedtime Math app, with which parents and their children read stories and answer questions involving math, including topics like counting, shapes and problem-solving. A control group received a reading app that had similar stories without the math content and questions related to reading comprehension instead. Children's math achievement was assessed at the beginning and end of the school year. Parents completed a questionnaire about their nervousness with math.

    The more times parents and children in the math group used the app, the higher children's achievement on a math assessment at the end of the school year. Indeed, children who frequently used the math app with their parents outperformed similar students in the reading group in math achievement at year's end.

    I have learned something about myself since I moved from Long Island to Florida three years ago. Even though I own a home in Port St. Lucie just minutes from the ocean, an uncontrollable urge wells up to return to Long Island even as others make their way south. I guess I am a snowbird stuck in reverse. Instead of enjoying Florida's mild winters, I willingly endure the severe weather on Long Island, the place I called home for 65 years.

    I'm like a migratory bird that has lost its sense of timing and direction, my wings flapping against season.

    So what makes me fly against the tide of snowbirds? The answer has a lot to do with my reluctance to give up the things that define who I am. Once I hear that the temperature on Long Island has dipped into the range of 40 to 50 degrees, I begin to long for the sight and crackling sound of a wood fire. I also long for the bright display o£ colors — first in the fall trees, and then in the limits around homes and at Rockefeller Center. Floridians decorate too, but can't create the special feel of a New England winter.

    I suppose the biggest reason why I return is to celebrate the holidays with people I haven't seen in months. What could be better than sitting with family and friends for a Thanksgiving turkey dinner, or watching neighbors' children excitedly open gifts on Christmas? Even the first snowfall seems special. I especially enjoy seeing a bright red bird settling on a snow-covered branch (My wife and I spend winters at a retirement community in Ridge, and I'm grateful that I don't have to shovel.）

    While these simple pleasures are not unique to Long Island, they are some of the reasons why I come back. Who says you can't go home?

    If a person who lived 200 years ago was treated for a seizure(癫痫)today, they would be surprised by the treatment's freshness. That's because doctors in the 1800s were influenced more by original medical beliefs than science.

    Rather than thinking the brain caused seizures, people in the 1800s still thought they were the result of strange forces. They associated seizures with the work of evil spirits. Others felt that the seizures had a cosmic or lunar cause. They believed that the cycles of the moon and stars could make someone have a seizure.

    During a process to treat a patient who has seizures, doctors would force the patient to pray for the grace of the God. They thought if the patient did this, then the patient would rid themselves of the evil spirits causing the seizures.

    The arrival of modern psychiatry(精神病学) occurred during the 1800s. At that time people who suffered from seizures were placed in psychiatric hospitals. They were treated like they were mad. However, none of the out-of-date treatments worked.

    It wasn't until the late 1850s that the causes of seizures were understood. We know today that these causes are related to the brain. Misfired signals from the brain cause a jerking reflex(反射) in the body. These usually occur when someone is very tired.

    Once the causes of seizures were known, definitive treatments were developed. Today, treatments range from taking pills to having surgery. Treatment is personalized according to the type of seizure the patient has.

    Even today, some people are unsure about seizures. Their most common mistake is thinking that a person having a seizure will swallow their tongue. They often push some implement roughly in the person's mouth. However, this doesn't help. The implement often blocks the airway and prevents the person from breathing. Yet most of the public no longer fear people who have seizures. Instead, they can now help and comfort a person if they have a seizure.

    Simpson is 53, "not sporty" and has suffered from asthma all her life. Two years ago her son Jay, now 10, took up BMX (自行车越野赛). "I enjoyed watching him and thought I'd like to try it," Simpson recalls. "But I didn't want to embarrass myself. I hadn't ridden for over 40 years."

    Then she noticed a session for women and girls at Burgess Park BMX Track in Peckham, south-east London, where Jay trained. This season Simpson raced at the London BMX series and finished third in her category.

    "It was the most worrying experience of my life. But it was also exhilarating," she says cheerfully. "My son is proud of me. We now share a real love for the sport. It has brought us closer together."

    Since becoming part of the Olympic Games in 2008, the popularity of BMX has risen. A program introduced in London in 2011 by the sports development charity Access Sport has seen tracks built in several London regions, backed up with investment in coaching, and the program is being rolled out to Bristol.

    Wright's children Skye, 11 and Xander, 10 are sponsored riders who have represented Great Britain in every world championship since 2014. Wright says she was motivated to start BMX herself out of an interest aroused by watching so much of it. "It's an eye-opener to share your children's interests," she explains. "You comprehend what they go through in a much more direct way. It adds another dimension to your relationship."

    It is also a high-impact sport and the risks are fairly obvious. "I totally get the fear," says Emma, 51, a BMX exercise coach and cycling instructor. "It's the fear of doing something new, of getting hurt. But I say 'Come and give it a try.' The chance of having an accident is slim, and you can spend time on the flat to improve your confidence."