Every parent has the age-old question: "Should you bribe your child to do homework?" "Should you pay your child for good grades?" And the answer is yes—and no.
Everyone responds to some form of bribery in life. Bribery is the promise of something in return for doing something. But bribery has a negative implication, whereas reward is a positive influence. Rewards may be personal (feeling good about ourselves), social (being thanked or praised by others), or material (receiving a concrete reward).
Most children are not mature enough to accept personal rewards, so they may need material rewards. Material rewards can be effective to motivate a child to improve a behavior, grade card, or practice, but should not be used as the only means for improvement. The material rewards need to be phased out when no longer needed and replaced with personal or social rewards. Rewards for children need to be frequent, consistent and appropriate.
As well, consequences should be spelled out ahead of time. Parents who set consequences with children also need to be sure they can live with the consequences. By developing consequences, parents are actually giving children a choice. If the child chooses the consequence for not following through on the expectation, a suitable consequence should be given.
Appropriate consequences do not include buying expensive toys for completing homework or receiving acceptable grades; on the other hand, grounding your child for a month for failing to live up to an expectation is not appropriate either.
Goals need to be short term and rewards small for young children. As children mature, the goals can be more long-term and the rewards or consequences should be equivalent to their maturity.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
CPR and New Updates for 2011
ILCOR http://www.ilcor.org/en/home/ meets evry five years with other health professionals to review science advances since last meeting. With these sessions all the major organizations invlolved in Cardiovascular health and safety convene. This year there were several changes in all curriculum affecting emergency response to cardiac events. These updates can be found on the American Heart Associtation website http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/ . Also there is now science proving chest comporessions alone can help keep a person alive until advanced rescuers arrive. This is good because of possibility of communicable diseases if you perform mouth to mouth without a barrier. Watch this entertaining video for more information.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Broken Collar Bone
Broken Collarbone
The collarbone is considered part of the shoulder. It helps connect the arm to the body. The collarbone lies above several important nerves and blood vessels. These vital structures are rarely injured when the collarbone breaks. The collarbone is a long bone, and most breaks occur in the middle section.
One of many types of distal clavicle fractures.
(Reproduced with permission from Nuber GW, Bowen MK: Acromioclavicular joint injuries and distal clavicle fractures. J Am Acad Orthop Surg 1997;5:11-18.)
Because the collarbone doesn't completely harden until a person is about 20 years old, a child's collarbone can easily break from a direct blow or fall.
In athletes, the force of a fall can be transmitted from the elbow and shoulder to the collarbone, causing it to break.
- Sagging shoulder (down and forward)
- Inability to lift the arm because of pain
- A grinding sensation if an attempt is made to raise the arm
- A deformity or "bump" over the fracture site
There is usually an obvious deformity, or "bump," at the fracture site. Gentle pressure over the fracture site will bring about pain. Sometimes, a grinding feeling can be felt when the patient tries to raise the arm. Although a fragment of bone rarely breaks through the skin, it may push the skin into a "tent" formation.
The doctor will carefully examine the shoulder to make sure that no nerves or blood vessels were damaged. An X-ray is often done to pinpoint the location and severity of the break.
Most broken collarbones heal well without surgery.
A simple arm sling can usually be used to immobilize the arm. A child may have to wear the sling for 3 to 4 weeks; an adult may have to wear it for 6 to 8 weeks. Depending on the location of the break, your physician may apply a figure-of-eight strap to help maintain shoulder position.
Analgesics such as acetaminophen or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, such as aspirin or ibuprofen, will help reduce pain.
A large bump will develop as part of the healing process. This usually disappears over time, but a small bump may remain.
After the bone has healed normally, shoulder function generally returns with time. The result is little, if any limitation, unless the fracture was widely displaced (the parts of the broken bones are separated a lot.
Range of motion and strengthening exercises can begin as soon as the pain subsides. Sports activities should not be started until full shoulder strength returns.
Last reviewed and updated: August 2007
AAOS does not review or endorse accuracy or effectiveness of materials, treatments or physicians.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Broken Collar Bone
Broken Collarbone
The collarbone is considered part of the shoulder. It helps connect the arm to the body. The collarbone lies above several important nerves and blood vessels. These vital structures are rarely injured when the collarbone breaks. The collarbone is a long bone, and most breaks occur in the middle section.
One of many types of distal clavicle fractures.
(Reproduced with permission from Nuber GW, Bowen MK: Acromioclavicular joint injuries and distal clavicle fractures. J Am Acad Orthop Surg 1997;5:11-18.)
Because the collarbone doesn't completely harden until a person is about 20 years old, a child's collarbone can easily break from a direct blow or fall.
In athletes, the force of a fall can be transmitted from the elbow and shoulder to the collarbone, causing it to break.
- Sagging shoulder (down and forward)
- Inability to lift the arm because of pain
- A grinding sensation if an attempt is made to raise the arm
- A deformity or "bump" over the fracture site
There is usually an obvious deformity, or "bump," at the fracture site. Gentle pressure over the fracture site will bring about pain. Sometimes, a grinding feeling can be felt when the patient tries to raise the arm. Although a fragment of bone rarely breaks through the skin, it may push the skin into a "tent" formation.
The doctor will carefully examine the shoulder to make sure that no nerves or blood vessels were damaged. An X-ray is often done to pinpoint the location and severity of the break.
Most broken collarbones heal well without surgery.
A simple arm sling can usually be used to immobilize the arm. A child may have to wear the sling for 3 to 4 weeks; an adult may have to wear it for 6 to 8 weeks. Depending on the location of the break, your physician may apply a figure-of-eight strap to help maintain shoulder position.
Analgesics such as acetaminophen or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, such as aspirin or ibuprofen, will help reduce pain.
A large bump will develop as part of the healing process. This usually disappears over time, but a small bump may remain.
After the bone has healed normally, shoulder function generally returns with time. The result is little, if any limitation, unless the fracture was widely displaced (the parts of the broken bones are separated a lot.
Range of motion and strengthening exercises can begin as soon as the pain subsides. Sports activities should not be started until full shoulder strength returns.
Last reviewed and updated: August 2007
AAOS does not review or endorse accuracy or effectiveness of materials, treatments or physicians.
Can You Get Strep Throat Without Tonsils?
This is a review of a previous article I wrote and in response to a conversation I had with a misinformed mother last night.
It is easy to confuse the terms strep throat and tonsillitis. They are both capable of making a person rather ill and the main symptom is throat pain but the similarities end there. A common misconception is that once the tonsils are removed via tonsillectomy then a person is no longer susceptible to strep throat. Unfortunately that is not true.
Streptococcus BacteriaThe culprit behind strep throat is the streptococcus bacteria. This bacteria causes the strep infection which can infect people with or without tonsils. Strep infections can strike people at any age but is most commonly found to occur in young children and teenagers. Because strep infections are caused by a bacteria they are often treated with prescription antibiotics. Step infections often will subside without medical intervention within three to seven days but often are treated with prescriptions to not only lessen a patient's discomfort but to also reduce the time that a patient is contagious.
Testing, testingGetting tested for strep throat can be fairly unpleasant but doctors often want to confirm their diagnosis before commencing treatment. To test for the streptococcus bacteria a culture of the secretions from the back of the throat must be collected. This is done with a swab that looks and feels like a giant Q-tip. Patients often experience the gag reflex when the back of their throat is rubbed with the swab. The secretions collected are then tested using a rapid test kit in the doctors office. Results are usually available within 15 minutes. If the test comes back with negative results but the doctor believes that the symptoms are that of strep throat he may treat for strep throat and send the sample to the lab for further testing which can take up to 48 hours.
Symptoms
- pain when swallowing
- sudden onset of a very sore throat
- fever of 101 degrees (or higher)
- swollen lymph nodes
- red throat
- white or yellow spots on the back of throat
NOTE: If symptoms are accompanied by typical cold symptoms such as stuffed up ears, cough and runny nose then it is less likely to be strep throat
Soothing a sore throatStrep throat is painful and unpleasant. Here are some ways to find relief:
- ibuprofen or acetaminophen (take as directed)
- frozen treats such as ice pops or frozen juice (avoid dairy)
- humidifier
- throat sprays or lozenges
- drink plenty of clear liquids such as ginger ale, broth and water
- warm salt water gargling (1-2 tsp salt per 8oz.glass)
According to the Centers for Disease Control up to 11,000 people each year are diagnosed with strep throat so if you too have been diagnosed with this infection you have lots of company.
Some resources are:
WEBMD http://bit.ly/9kT16f
KIDS HEALTH http://bit.ly/dze5Kt
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