Resource Guide for Northwest Arkansas Families

Parents, this is a wonderful resource guide compiled by a group of parents in the Bentonville School District. 

https://www.bentonvillek12.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=34226&dataid=30260&FileName=resourceguide.pdf

"Fed Up" notes fedupmovie.com

I just watched the new documentary by Laurie David called "fed up".  Here are some notes I made.  It's a great documentary with commentary from some of my favorite food experts like Gary Taubes and Michael Pollan.

Sugar is poison. Sugar is poison.  Sugar is poison.  Sugar drives the pancreas to secrete insulin.  Insulin drives the fat cells to grow.  80% of the food items in a grocery store have added sugar.  Low fat equals high sugar.  All grains and potatoes are digested into sugar in an instant in the digestive tract.  Fruit juice is just as bad as soda.  Americans eat twice the amount of sugar the did 40 years ago. Sugar is 8 times more addictive than cocaine.  The American food industry preys on children from the youngest age causing them to be addicted to sugar laden processedy food.  Simple carbohydrates are the cause of metabolic syndrome.  Junk food is still junk even if it's labelled as less junky.  It is not possible to exercise enough to correct obesity when sugar is too abundant.  The government subsidizes precisely the food that makes us sick.  More than half of all high schools serve branded fast food.  French fries and pizza are counted as vegetables under the school lunch program.  Only eat products that are as close to nature as possible.  Avoid processed foods. Added sugar is in tons of hiding places.  Avoid fast food and kids menus. Replace juice, milk, and soft drinks with water.

Fall is a great time to get the kids outside enjoying the wonders of Arkansas.  Living in NWA we are just a stone's throw from tons of cool outdoor places.  Of course, kids are content to watch their shows, play on their iPads, play more Minecraft, watch more youtube videos (about Minecraft), or kill some more zombies, but that is not what mother nature intended. Our bodies and minds are made to be outside.  We need to walk, to climb, to search, hike, paddle, and gallop.  A night or two of camping can bring family bonds back together like no other activity. There's inevitably something we forgot to bring, a run in with an insect or two, and strange sounds at night. Improvisation and spontaneous reaction to unexpected events is bound to occur.  Getting kids out of their routine is great practice for real life.  It triggers creativity that makes us more well-rounded in our abilities and skills.  Outdoor activities build confidence that kids can tackle unexpected problems.  The unknowable becomes not so scary.  Take a family bike ride, rent kayaks at a local state park, get a couple of fishing poles, pack a hammock, do a trail ride, zipline, read a guidebook with the kids and see what they'd like to do.  These links are some of my recent favorites and places I've been:

arkansasstateparks.com
Buffaloriver.com
www.ziplineeurekasprings.com
http://bearmountainstables.com
http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/North_America/United_States/Arkansas/
http://www.getoutozarks.com/news/2012/apr/11/get-way-back-kayak/
http://www.recreation.gov/camping/lake-wedington/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=75480
http://www.razorbackgreenway.com
http://www.timernst.com/guidebooks.html

High Price by Carl Hart PhD

I just finished the new book, High Price by Carl Hart PhD.  Dr. Hart had made the rounds on several talk shows and he sparked my interest talking about his research in drug use behavior and decision making.  I thought the book would be an explanation of his research and how it applies to current drug counselling and treatment.  What I found was an autobiography that was quite compelling.  Dr. Hart views himself as profoundly lucky to end up where he did, and he compares himself to many of his childhood peers who ended up in a life of drugs, poverty and crime in Miami.  Dr. Hart grew up in a rather abusive broken home, raised by extended family.  His own family and friends struggled with addiction, violence, and poverty. Somehow, he avoided the path of many of his cohort.  Hart demystifies the addicts behavior and explains it more in terms of a response to poverty and hopelessness.  He stands opposed to the common view of drug addiction as an unstoppable brain illness.  He removes the typical heirarchy of addictive substances and views all intoxicants on a fairly level playing field. His research shows that given sufficient positive rewards even hard core drug addicts are capable of rational decisions.  He criticizes the efforts of the government to respond to drug use behavior with law-enforcement answers and he illustrates how incarceration of addicts results in continuation of the poverty that was the original problem.  

I took away some great advice for teens struggling with substance abuse. Much like a parent might insist on use of birth control and condoms for a teen they know is sexually active, Hart gives similar advice for teens that you know are using drugs:
1.  Combining multiple drug types is the most common reason for an overdose especially alcohol with another CNS depressant.
2.  Do not model your drug behavior off that of more experienced users because they have much higher tolerance.
3.  Drugs off the street are not always pure and can be adulterated with all kinds of poisons that are more dangerous than the drug itself.
4.  Drugs are highly illegal and you are allowing your future to be controlled by lots of other people other than your parents if you are charged with a drug crime.
5.  Adequate sleep is the foundation of mental health.  Any behavior that results in sleep loss will undoubtedly result in emotional and physical deterioration.