The dangers of an unhealthy lifestyle and stress are widely known – but we often do not think about the impact on our brains. Conduit has teamed up with Brain Health Scotland to discuss how their mission can be explored in the classroom for the benefit of everyone.
How Can Educators Help Teenagers Consider their Brain Health?
Brain Health Scotland wishes to protect young learners’ brain health and reduce the risk of diseases that lead to Dementia. With this in mind (no pun intended) they have developed a new Schools Programme called ‘My Amazing Brain’.
It is never too early to be thinking about making good choices to help our brains stay in top shape. By providing free resources for educators, Brain Health Scotland hopes to help young people explore how to keep their brains healthy and introduce the acronym STARS to summarise the optimisation of brain health.
There are as many connections in the brain as there are stars in the Galaxy, so looking to the STARS can help us all keep healthy in the years to come.
S: spend time with friends and hobbies
As teachers, we understand the importance of conversation, and whether you consider yourself an extrovert with many friends or an introvert with a chosen few, spending time with friends improves communication skills and promotes good mental health.
School is a perfect place to encourage brain health as learning new skills grows new connections between brain cells. Activities such as learning to play an instrument and introducing a new craft or game will help keep brains healthy - and enhanced if it can be with friends.
Image provided by Brain Health Scotland
Using a variety of lesson activities such as whole class and group discussion, card sorts and games not only promote skills in speaking and listening but improve our brain health too.
T: tuck in to healthy food
Our brain uses up to a fifth of the energy from the food we eat and work best after eating regular, healthy meals. Fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, lentils and oily fish are fantastic brain food and through Health and Wellbeing we can make explicit links to how this good food improves our brain health too.
For both learners and tired teachers, learning to cook a few simple, healthy meals will set us up well for the future and can be a relaxing and fun hobby.
A: active and healthy
When our bodies are active, our hearts beat faster and pump more blood and oxygen to the brain. Acknowledging this in physical education and breaking lessons up to encourage some movement will all help to boost our brains and circulation.
Smoking, vaping and alcohol are known to harm the brain. Smoking causes damage to blood vessels, interrupting the delivery of vital oxygen and nutrients. Alcohol can damage the brain and increase the risk of brain disease. By discussing the impact of addictive habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol to young learners, we can encourage keeping the brain safe by discouraging these harmful activities altogether.
Image provided by Brain Health Scotland
R: rest and relax
We all know how important it is that we all get enough sleep and should aim for around 8-10 hours of rest if we can. After a sleepless night, who hasn’t suffered low energy, poor concentration levels and a low(er) mood? It can even affect our hunger levels. Like a car running low on fuel, if we don’t get enough sleep, it’s hard to keep going.
For younger learners, it is harder to remember things learned at school and teachers can discuss slower reaction times when playing sports or online games when the learning permits. We could also inform our learners that limiting screen time at least an hour before bed and reading a book, listening to music or having a bath instead can all improve sleep patterns.
Everyone is likely to experience stress and anxiety at some point. Feeling stressed all the time can be bad for brains and cause us to find tasks more overwhelming. Breaking down tasks, being prepared for more stressful periods of work, spending time in nature and increasing physical activity can all work to reduce the feeling that things are unmanageable.
Reducing any stress and sense of anxiety will result in aiding a good night’s sleep.
S: safety, keeping our heads safe
Finally, Brain Health Scotland adds that injuries can have a long-term impact. Learners should be told that when they are playing football, they should try to head the ball as little as possible and protect their head from impact in all contact sports and teachers should also follow this advice to protect themselves from harm.
If you or a learner has suffered a brain injury or concussion, make sure to take time to recover and avoid contact sport and activities for at least a few weeks.
To learn more about Brain Health and for more Brain Health Tips go to
www.brainhealth.scot and follow us on social media @brainhealthscot
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