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Texting and IM-ing Does Not Affect Spelling

A recent study from the University of Alberta shows that the abbreviated and unpunctuated language used in texting and IM-ing does not affect the spelling abilities of school-aged children. The study's lead psychologist and author, Connie Varnhagen explains that the language used in texting and IM-ing should be viewed as a new language or dialect, complete with its own set of rules for spelling and writing. She further states that young people are capable of code switching, or using one language with their peers, and another language in the classroom. Students know to use academic language to speak and write in the classroom.

The study surveyed roughly 40 students, ages 12 to 17. The participants were asked to save their instant messages for one week. At the end of the week, all students were given a spelling test. A notable finding of the study is that students developed their own "correct" methods of spelling in texting and IM-ing. For example, the word "want to" almost always became "wanna" and not "wana" or "wanta". Moreover, students who were good academic spellers were also good at spelling abbreviated chat language.

Counseling Helps Teens Quit Smoking

An innovative new study suggests that telephone counseling can help teens build the motivation and cognitive behavioral skills they need to quit smoking. The study, published in the October 12, 2009 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, recruited 2,000 juniors who were smokers from 50 Washington state high schools. Researchers provided phone counseling to students at half of those high schools. A year later, 22 percent of student smokers who received phone counseling said they had stopped smoking for six months or longer, as compared to the 18 percent of student smokers who did not receive phone counseling.

The study is the first to report a significant difference in the quit rates of smokers. According to the authors of the study, the results demonstrate that proactively identifying high school smokers can lead to a high rate of intervention. The study also reveals that a proactive and personalized phone counseling intervention can help to decrease the number of teen smokers.

Junk Food is Becoming Less Available in Schools

According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more U.S. secondary schools are limiting the availability of candy bars, soda, and junk food for sale on campus. The CDC report entitled Availability of Less Nutritious Snack Foods and Beverages in Secondary Schools, found that 63 percent of schools avoid selling soda or fruit drinks that are not 100 percent juice. The percentage of schools not selling soda has increased by 38 percent since 2008. The percentage of secondary schools not selling candy or salty or fatty snacks is currently at 64 percent, an increase of 46 percent since 2008.

The study highlights the growing need to fight the childhood obesity epidemic. By ensuring that only healthy food choices are available, schools can model health eating habits, improve student diets, and help to decrease childhood obesity. The CDC found the greatest improvements in states that have adopted strong nutrition standards and guidelines for foods sold in vending machines, the cafeteria, or student stores. Mississippi and Tennessee were two of the states who made the greatest improvements.

Schools Should Consider An Investment in Nutrition

A new report by the Institute of Medicine states that school lunch standards need to be dramatically overhauled. The report includes the following suggestions:

Increase the amount of vegetables to 3/4 cup a day at lunch for kindergarten through eighth grade and one cup a day for grades 9 through 12.
Increase to at least 1/2 cup of these every week: green leafy vegetables, orange vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes, summer squash) and beans.
Decrease the amount of starchy vegetables, such as potatoes.
Offer more fruit at breakfast.
Serve children 1 cup of 1% or skim milk at lunch and breakfast every day. Make sure at least half or more of grains and breads are whole-grain.
Reduce sodium in meals over the next 10 years to about 740 milligrams.

Although such changes will increase the cost of food served at schools by up to 18 percent, the increased cost would be beneficial in improving student's eating habits and health. Virginia Stallings, a professor of pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania, states that the guidelines will go to Congress as a guide for creating child nutrition programs.