This narrative explores outdoor learning for post-secondary students, the myriad health benefits of nature experience, and the importance of engaging with the more-than-human world. Some comparisons are drawn between indoor- and outdoor-based learning, and the affordances the latter offers for place-based wonder, emergent learning, and the…

Digital health, safety, and citizenship skills reflect the full set of knowledge and habits students can adopt to protect themselves and others in online spaces. For schools and districts, protecting student health and safety while those skills develop means taking an approach that can include policies governing the use of school-provided…

Students enter schools with greater personal challenges today than in the past. Although mental health promotion is not new to the educational system, the approach to it needs to change. Despite the adversities that students experience, many enter the system with the capacity to manage and overcome these challenges in their lives. Often, this…

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that registered, professional school nurses serve a vital role in promoting positive behavioral health outcomes in students through evidence-based programs and curricula in schools and communities. Behavioral health, which encompasses mental health, is as critical to academic…

Physical activity has many health, social, and academic benefits for youth (United States Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2008). It can help children and adolescents improve cardiorespiratory fitness, build strong bones and muscles, maintain a healthy weight, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and reduce the risk of…

Recognizing the effects of trauma besetting many of their students, many states, districts, and schools are revamping approaches to making schools physically and psychologically safer. Many of the steps to establish safer, more supportive schools are aligned with those needed to create trauma-responsive schools. State boards of education are…

Recent estimates suggest that youth spend approximately 80-93% of their working hours in a sedentary state, such as sitting or resting longer than usual (Institute of Medicine, 2013). Schools are conducive of this sedentary behavior and because of that, they have been identified as viable locations for children to be physically active. In order…

The restroom, and what goes on in there, are subjects that cause many people discomfort or embarrassment. However, washrooms do not always receive the attention they require. Their design may be an afterthought. Cleaning and maintenance schedules may not be sufficient to get rid of grime and unpleasant odors. In schools, where hundreds of students…

Healthy students perform better. Poor nutrition and inadequate physical activity can affect not only academic achievement, but also other factors such as absenteeism, classroom behavior, ability to concentrate, self-esteem, cognitive performance, and test scores. This toolkit provides information to help make schools the model for healthier…

Children and adolescents are establishing patterns of behavior that affect both their current and future health. Young people are at risk for engaging in tobacco, alcohol, or other drug use, participating in violence or gang activities, and initiating sex at an early age. However, a growing body of research demonstrates that enhancing protective…

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that age-appropriate health education about human sexuality should be included as part of a comprehensive school health education program and be accessible to all students in schools. NASN recognizes the role of parents and families as the primary source of education about…

A spirited campaign to promote "hand hygiene" is under way at the University of Central Florida Orlando campus, and the urinal toter, known as UCF 5th Guy, is its front line. Like their counterparts at many other institutions, health officials at Central Florida want students to think about the germs that lurk on their hands. And then…

Teachers' instructional decisions, such as lesson goals, how students are grouped, or how students are recognized and evaluated, can affect their students' level of motivation related to physical activity. A physical educator's primary responsibility is to create a classroom environment that enhances motivation and fosters positive attitudes and…

A 1999 Core Alcohol and Drug Survey on a Midwest campus of a four-year institution found that 25 percent of students met the criteria for alcohol dependence at some point in their lives. These data were based on a 1998 report by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, which estimated that 24.5 percent of young people who begin…

Describes the development and implementation of Georgetown University's comprehensive and successful approach to student alcohol abuse, which involves five interrelated aims (e.g., defining the national problem in terms of the local community, finding an inclusive structure with purposeful operations to address the community problems, and…