The National Resource Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention (NRC) helps capture what is occurring in the field and across the country. Each week, we monitor hundreds of media outlets to share national conversations about early childhood development, mental health, and youth violence prevention. Take a moment to review a sampling of the latest news stories and find out what others are doing to promote the overall well-being of children, youth, and their communities.
Can in-school meditation help curb youth violence?
The Chicago Times ▪ January 2, 2017
“The first time I did it, I felt so relaxed. I felt ready to work more than I ever had. I feel like I can handle any obstacle. I don't have to feel the weight or stressfulness. I can feel OK, and I can approach situations and deal with them. ... It was like a vortex in my brain opened up and allowed positive energy in." – Shameka Jones, biology teacher at Gage Park High School in Chicago, Illinois
In video game about Chicago violence, players win through empathy, not guns
Chicago Tribune ▪ January 2, 2017
“We’re trying to make a game that’s telling an important story, and trying to engage people in a subject they might not have experience with.” – Michael Block, lead programmer of “We Are Chicago”
Newswise ▪ January 3, 2017
“We’re spending and publishing far less than what we ought to be based on the number of people who are dying. Research is the first stop on the road to public health improvement, and we’re not seeing that with gun violence the way we did with automobile deaths.” – David E. Stark, MD, MS, Assistant Professor, Department of Health System Design and Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and lead author of the study
Cybercycling during gym class tied to better school behavior
Reuters ▪ January 9, 2017
“Many studies have shown that aerobic exercise can help improve mood and behavior. When mood and self-regulation, which is the ability to control behavior, is improved, then children can be more successful in the classroom.” – April Bowling, a public health researcher at Harvard University
Report: Pre-K access has improved but access to childcare is limited
VTDigger.org ▪ January 12, 2017
“I think it is important that we work to improve the foundation we lay for our kids at home and at school. We need to make Vermont a place where young families can afford to live, and strengthening early care and learning is key to realizing that vision.” – The Honorable Phil Scott, Governor of Vermont
Home-visiting program makes strides in N.M., report finds
Santa Fe New Mexican ▪ January 20, 2017
“Most home-visiting programs also focus on early literacy, encouraging parents to talk, sing, and read to their babies. Home visitors help steer children to quality child care and pre-kindergarten programs.” – Dudley Chavez, United Way of Santa Fe County
Postpartum depression & anxiety distinct from other mood disorders, brain studies suggest
EurekAlert! ▪ January 24, 2017
“When we talk about the neurobiology of postpartum depression and anxiety, our information from the studies done on humans is only comprised from about 20 papers. If you think that 10%-20% of women during pregnancy and the postpartum period will suffer from depression and/or anxiety, and then you realize there are only 20 publications looking at the neurobiology of these illnesses, it's quite shocking.” – Jodi Pawluski, co-author and behavioral neuroscientist from the University of Rennes 1 in France
