+ What to Do for Children of All Ages

• Spend time with your child interacting through play, reading, or singing. These activities promote early brain development and build healthy connections with your child. Read to your children and have them read to you. For more information, visit www.bbbgeorgia.org
• Take care of yourself and reach out for help if you need it. Knowing where to go for concrete supports in stressful situations is important. For more information, visit https://abuse.publichealth.gsu.edu/strengthening-families-georgia/
• Get involved with your child’s school. Meet the teachers and staff and get to understand their learning goals and how you and the school can work together to help your child do well. Source: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Be a good role model. Young children learn a lot about how to act by watching their parents. The younger they are, the more cues they take from you. Model the traits you wish to see in your children.
• Eat meals with your child whenever possible. Let your child see you enjoying fruits, vegetables, and whole grains at meals and snacks. Your child should eat and drink only a limited amount of food and beverages that contain added sugars, solid fats, or salt. Source: CDC
• Let your children help you with tasks.
• Praise your child daily.

+ Vaccinate to Protect Your Family’s Health

Vaccination is a highly effective, easy way to keep your family healthy.

On-time vaccination throughout childhood is essential because it helps provide immunity before children are exposed to potentially life-threatening diseases.

Preteens and teens need vaccines, too! As kids get older, they are still at risk for certain diseases.

Vaccines are recommended for adults based on age, health conditions, job, and other factors.

Vaccines are tested to ensure that they are safe and effective for children to receive at the recommended ages.

For more information on immunizations in Georgia, visit https://dph.georgia.gov/immunization-section.

+ Boost Your Child's Self-Esteem

Kids start developing their sense of self as babies when they see themselves through their parents' eyes. Your tone of voice, your body language, and your every expression are absorbed by your kids. Your words and actions as a parent affect their developing self-esteem more than anything else.

Praising accomplishments, however small, will make them feel proud; letting kids do things independently will make them feel capable and strong.

By contrast, belittling comments or comparing a child unfavorably with another will make kids feel worthless. Source: Kids Health

• Do not try to fix everything. Give young kids a chance to find their own solutions. When you lovingly acknowledge a child's minor frustrations without immediately rushing in to save her, you teach her self-reliance and resilience. Source: Parents.com
• Ask your children three "you" questions every day. The art of conversation is an important social skill, but parents often neglect to teach it. Get a kid going with questions like, "Did you have fun at school?"; "What did you do at the party you went to?"; or "Where do you want to go tomorrow afternoon?” Source: Parents.com
• Avoid negative emotional reactions, such as anger, sarcasm, and ridicule. If your child has problems with control, negativity will only make him or her feel worse. Use short and mild suggestions to remind your child to focus, like “P.A.” for “pay attention.” Source: Psychology Today

+ Start Literacy Early

Early Literacy is what children know about reading and writing before they actually read or write. Research shows attachment and connections to parents and caregivers are enhanced through early literacy skills that are best developed through talking, singing, reading, and playing.

Beginning at birth, what you do every day helps your child feel secure and cared for and also prepares your child to become a successful reader and learner. Children who have difficulty communicating will often exhibit behavior challenges in order to be heard. As retired Douglas County Juvenile Court Judge Peggy Walker often says, “when a child doesn’t have language, their behavior becomes their language.”

Spending time with your young child interacting through play, reading, or singing are great ways to promote early brain development and build healthy connections with your child.

Visit www.bbbgeorgia.org to learn more.

"Reach Out and Read Georgia" provide books to children through many pediatricians’ offices throughout the state. Ask your pediatrician for more information.

+ Be Safe When You SPLASH

Be safe in the water. Teach your child to swim but watch her at all times when she is in or around any body of water (this includes kiddie pools). Source: CDC

Follow these tips when enjoying beaches, pools, lakes, rivers and other bodies of water:

• Supervision – Designate an adult to watch children at all times. Do not assume someone else is watching.
• Prevention – Wear personal flotation devices (PFD or life jacket), install fencing around pools, and use drain covers in hot tubs and pools.
• Life jackets save lives – Wear them and be sure your children do.
• Arm’s Length – Adults should be arm’s length to children in water, and safety tools such as hooks should be nearby at all times.
• Swim Lessons – Knowing how to swim greatly reduces the chance of drowning. Classes are often available through the Red Cross or YMCA.
• Have a Water Safety Plan – Know what to do during a water emergency.

Learn more at www.facebook.com/SPLASHga.

+ Encourage Youth Mental Health

Helping adolescents and young adults feel connected is key to their well-being and development.

Feeling isolated is scary and can lead to harmful and risky behaviors, including self-harm. Promoting community connections for our youth can provide protective factors that have been proven to decrease the likelihood of harmful or risky behaviors.

Caring adults can help to create safety zones: supportive spaces where youth feel comfortable sharing their concerns. At home, young people need to feel that they’re not judged for what they’re going through. They also need to know that professional help is available when they need it.

Each of us can contribute to that mental health safety zone in our own community. We can learn the warning signs through Youth Mental Health First Aid training and our schools or youth groups participating in Sources of Strength.

We can all make ourselves more aware of what to watch for and how to respond in a supportive way when young people reach out for help. By doing so, we can not only eliminate the taboos around talking about suicide, we can help reduce the prevalence of youth suicide in our communities.

Check out Free Your Feels for more ideas! Free Your Feels is a mental health awareness campaign with resources encouraging Georgia's young people to explore their real feelings and share them fearlessly. Learn more at www.freeyourfeels.org.

Also, the 998 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides free and confidential support for people in distress, as well as prevention and crisis resources. Call any time of day or night, 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or chat online at https://988lifeline.org/chat/.

For more information and support regarding mental health, visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness at www.nami.org.

+ Build Healthy Teen Relationships

Early connections and appropriate relationships can teach children lessons for their future. Your teen’s first relationships with their parents, caregivers, extended family, friends and teachers are opportunities to help them understand what it means to be in healthy relationships. They set the stage for healthy, happy relationships throughout their life.

• Be your teen’s go-to for relationship advice. Don’t wait until they’re in a dating relationship to talk about consent and what’s healthy and what’s not. It’s never too early to get your messages about healthy relationships out there.
• When they’re in a dating relationship, stay involved. Ask questions and be a caring listener. Get to know the person they’re in a relationship with — and get to know their parents or caretakers. Making those healthy connections decreases the likelihood that your teen will engage in risky behaviors.

You can play a big role in helping your teen understand what a healthy relationship looks like. You can help them expect good communication, respect, trust, fairness, honesty, and equality.

For more information about Georgia’s Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention programs, visit https://dfcs.georgia.gov/prevention-and-community-support-section.