5 reasons you should celebrate Valentine's Day...or may be Not!

- Reason Number One: Celebrating Valentine's Day can distract you from the issues in your relationship.

- Reason Number Two: Celebrating Valentine's Day could be a sign that your relationship is failing.

- Reason Number Three: Celebrating Valentine’s Day could reveal to you that the two of you need to re-kindle your passion for each other and your relationship. 

- Reason Number Four. Celebrating Valentine’s Day may unleash an unnecessary spirit of competition in to your relationship.

- Reason Number Five: Celebrating Valentine's Day can show you that you can both do more to contribute to the success of your relationship.

TRUANCY & DROPOUT PREVENTION SYSTEM

What Causes Truancy?

Bad Influences

One of the common causes of truancy and disruptive behavior in children is the influence of friends and peers. Many times these peers are seen encouraging truancy as a status-seeking activity or as a way of joining in or blending in. The child's natural instinct to want to be a part of a larger crowd or group dynamic will take over, even if they are taught better habits. Often times this same dynamic is prevalent in the face of any resistance the child may put forth, prompting teasing or goading the child into truanting.

School

What is classed as truancy can depend largely on the school's attitude to the 'truant' or their problems. Relationships with teachers, seen as lacking respect/fairness, play a large factor in truancy rates among children. Often times this inability to get along with teachers and/or students will result in disciplinary problems which may lead to suspension, or expulsion. Of course, being away from the school either voluntarily or at the school's demand can have an adverse affect on the student's academic performance, resulting in not being able to keep up with school work, getting poor grades, or even failing. A school may also be remiss in not notifying parents/guardians of absences.

Bullying

Closely related to the issue of a child's relationship with school is the matter of bullying. Bullying is a prime component in the making of an unsafe school environment; if a child does not feel safe at school, or on the way to/from school, they are much more likely to become truant. Bullying occurs for many reasons and it goes beyond the one isolated instance of harassment either because of teachers’ inability to control, or problems arising from the child’s own personality or learning abilities. A parent might say they're keeping their child off school because they're being bullied. The school might call it truancy.

An argument for eliminating Valentine's Day.

Let me provide some background on how I used to view the holiday as a younger:

- Valentine's Day for Single Women: From what I observed, Valentine's Day was by far the worst day of the year for them. I remember going to work, and all of the girls in relationships would receive flowers, chocolate, gifts, etc., from their boyfriends and husbands. Meanwhile, some (but not all) of the single women would spend the day rotating between being in tears and cyber-stalking their exes Facebook.

- Valentine's Day for Women in Relationships: Valentine's Day was a great day for these ladies... as long as their significant others got the gifts right. If their friends received flowers or jewelry, while they received a Weight Watchers membership, it would quickly escalate into the worst day ever for them. It became a competition for who had the best and most thoughtful man, instead of a day for celebrating love.

- Valentine's Day for Men in Relationships: I'm sure these men exist, but I've never met a dude who says he loves Valentine's Day. He may tolerate it  but the day I come across a guy who says, "OMG! I can't wait for Valentine's Day!! It's the best day EVERRRRRRRR!" will be the day I change my nickname from Daddy Doin' Work to the "Funky Fatherhood Brotha." Most of the guys I came across when I was younger hated Valentine's Day because it meant spending money on a lavish gift while knowing that you'd have to outdo your other male friends in relationships. Again, it became a silly and pointless competition.

- Valentine's Day for Single Men: These guys were the exception to the rule. Back in the day, I remember my single male friends would go to bars and hit on the drunk single ladies in the hope that they'd score some digits. They'd always tell me that, other than Super Bowl Sunday, "Singles Night" on Valentine's Day was their favorite day of the year (for all of the wrong reasons).

Origins of Saint Valentine's Day according to Catholic ideology.

The Origins of St. Valentine’s Day

The roots of St. Valentine's Day lie in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, which was celebrated on Feb. 15. For 800 years the Romans had dedicated this day to the god Lupercus. On Lupercalia, a young man would draw the name of a young woman in a lottery and would then keep the woman as a sexual companion for the year. 

Pope Gelasius I was, understandably, less than thrilled with this custom. So he changed the lottery to have both young men and women draw the names of saints whom they would then emulate for the year (a change that no doubt disappointed a few young men). Instead of Lupercus, the patron of the feast became Valentine. For Roman men, the day continued to be an occasion to seek the affections of women, and it became a tradition to give out handwritten messages of admiration that included Valentine's name. 

There was also a conventional belief in Europe during the Middle Ages that birds chose their partners in the middle of February. Thus the day was dedicated to love, and people observed it by writing love letters and sending small gifts to their beloved. Legend has it that Charles, duke of Orleans, sent the first real Valentine card to his wife in 1415, when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. (He, however, was not beheaded, and died a half-century later of old age).

Extracted from http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/ValentinesDay/origins.asp

Love Yourself First

The art of loving yourself is not only important in the healing process from love lost, but also in finding love. I believe that we cannot truly allow others to love us, until we first love ourselves.

Another way of looking at this is to imagine each person in a relationship as a wooden stick. If one person is independent and the other is dependent, it’s like one stick is standing perfectly vertical and the second stick is leaning against the vertical stick. If the vertical stick moves horizontally, the leaning stick will fall. When two people are both independent and joined together through love, it’s like two sticks standing vertically. When they join together, they become a larger and stronger stick and they become interdependent and stronger. If one stick moves horizontally, the other stick will move with it.

Practice loving yourself: take yourself on a date, do things that please and relax you, spend quality time with yourself, write love letters to yourself, practice saying and feeling “I love you” in the mirror.

Truancy Statistics

Truancy and ungovernability case rates peaked at age 15 and runaway case rates peaked at age 16. In contrast, status liquor law violation case rates increased continuously with age: from 1.8 at age 15 to 6.3 at age 17.

While there is not an abundance of national truancy data, some metropolitan areas report thousands of unexcused absences each day.

(source: DeKalb, Jay, “Student Truancy,” ERIC Digest 125, April 1999.)

Data from Wisconsin show that during the 1998-99 school year, 15,600 students or 1.6% of enrolled students were truant per day. Truancy accounted for about 1/3 of total

absences that year. Truancy rates in the 10 largest urban school districts were twice as high as the state average.

Legislative Audit Committee of the State of Wisconsin, “A Best Practices Review: Truancy Reduction Efforts,” August 2000.

Students with behavioral problems are often assigned to a counselor, but school counselors have large caseloads. Public high schools employed one counselor for every 284 students in 2002. Large schools (1,200+ students) employed one counselor for every 335 students. Counselors in schools with over 50% minority enrollment were responsible for 22% more students than their colleagues in low minority enrollment schools – 313 compared to 256 students.

National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System, “Table 12: Number of guidance staff and counselors, and the number of students per guidance staff and per counselor assigned to public high school students, by selected school,”

http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/2003015/images/tab12.gif, October 1, 2004.

Who Is Your Ideal Mate?

We all have a rough idea of what our perfect partner is like: beautiful, or smart, or rich, or educated, or tall, or petite, or pale, or dark, or handsome, or fit, with this car, or with that house or whatever else that strikes our fancy.

The problem comes when we find ourselves in a relationship and we are constantly comparing our partners with this conjured-up ‘perfect’ person. When that happens, we stop appreciating our partner for all the beautiful qualities they do possess. The truth is this perfect person does not exist. More importantly, we may not actually need all of these qualities in a partner to be extraordinarily happy.

What we need is to identify the most important qualities that we must have in order to feel satisfied and fulfilled. By not having identified the must-have qualities in our chosen life partner, we end up settling, and since the person cannot give us the things we truly need, we start to resent them. This will snowball into larger issues.

For example, if height is something that is really important to you, and your partner does not meet that height requirement, regardless of how much they try, they will never grow taller or shrink shorter, and this will bug you and affect your union.

In life, we will get random results if we have not specified what we want. Identifying and understanding what it is that we need in a relationship, allows us to set clear intentions, and in doing so, moves us closer to realizing our intended desires.

Definition of Perfect Couple.

Thats a very great question. It's really hard to answer thought because we all have a different perception of what "perfect" is. It's the same as if you ask what's a perfect phone. Everyone has an opinion, right. So for me a relationship will be perfect, for you it won't. There are, of course, basics that everyone agrees on, such as the two people getting along, supporting eachother, respecting eachother, etc. , but even then those basics may be situational. And yes, like most people have already said, no one is perfect. Two unperfect humans can't have a perfect relationship. It's always going to be ups and down, but we judge a good and bad relationshps by the ratio of downs to ups. 

Activity # 4

1.- Watch The First World Problems rap available on << www.youtube.com>>

• What is the rap about? What is the subject matter?

                 The rap is about first world problems.

• What is the mood like?

                 Funny, amusing

• What does the title mean?

            Different and irrelevant issues that could happen everyday to people who live in industrialized countries.

Retrieved from http://therealfirstworldproblems.tumblr.com/page/2

Activity # 3

Helping Kit

First aid kit (FWP)

• A bridge
• A sherbet
• A full cup with a cover

Retrieved from http://firstworldproblemswithpictures.tumblr.com/

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

Definition of “First World Problem”

• Social issues that affect powerful people who live in industrialized countries (First world countries). For example “I’m an internationally famous, multi-millionaire, Hollywood-princess, actress but the Cannes film festival makes me wear high heels on the red carpet”

                >>(Retrieved from  http://first-world-problems.com/ )<<.

Retrieved from http://therealfirstworldproblems.tumblr.com/

How to Help the Homeless

1 Donate money. The easiest way to help the homeless is to donate your money. This makes sure that professionals who understand where the most help is needed will have the resources necessary to help people.

• When you donate money, focus on local organizations. Large, national organizations (like the Salvation Army) spend a lot of their money on advocacy (which is good) but relatively little on actually helping people, especially in your area.
• You can also donate to local churches, temples, mosques, and other religious organizations, even if you aren't religious. These organizations have other sources of income to deal with the operating costs, so your money should go directly to helping people.
• If you want to check on a local organization and make sure that it is legit and uses its funds responsibly, then go to the GuideStar website. This is a sort of BBB of non-profit organizations.

2

Donate items. Donating your used or new items is another easy way to help. Donate these items to local organizations which help the homeless or give them to homeless people you see frequently. The best items to donate include things like:

• Winter and weather gear (such as hats, mittens, coats, and boots)
• New underwear and socks
• Small hygiene items (like the type of items you get at hotels, small containers of toothpaste, etc.)
• Professional clothing (a hurdle to overcoming homelessness is looking presentable at job interviews)
• First aid items (such as Neosporin, Band-Aids, antibacterial and hand sanitizers)
• Secondary medical items (such as sunscreen, heavy duty lotions like Bag Balm, allergy medication and tissues)

3

Provide food. Everyone needs to eat and they need to eat every single day. If you're hungry, your ability to make good decisions for yourself isn't very good, right? There are lots of ways that you can help homeless people get food.

• You can donate canned items and fresh fruits and vegetables to local soup kitchens.
• You can also drop off bananas, apples, or sandwiches, all of which you can get for cheap and in mass quantities from stores like Costco, with people you see on the street. Try to favor softer foods, such as bananas, because many individuals have dental problems that make eating apples or carrots difficult.

4 Create jobs. If you're in a position where you can give someone a job, do that. Whether it's offering to hire and train someone in a position like a secretary or file clerk, or just letting them do odd jobs like mowing your lawn, this can really make a huge difference for someone.

5 Contact local help. If you see people on the streets, one of the best things you can do for them is to call the local homeless services. Some people may not know how to locate help and so they never get it. Call for them and get them on the path to recovery.

6 Call emergency services. If someone is clearly having a serious problem, call emergency services. If you see someone who is clearly having a psychotic episode, call the Emergency Services. If you see someone who may be a danger to themselves or others, call for help also. If someone is in danger because of weather conditions or seems likely to commit suicide, call Emergency Services also.

Emergency housing advice

Find out what to do if you are worried about becoming homeless.

Contact your council

You can apply to the council for help as a homeless person if you don't have anywhere to live. The council has to provide accommodation immediately while it makes enquiries into your situation. 

Local councils have to give advice to people who are homeless or will be homeless soon. All councils should operate a 24-hour service for people in emergency situations and should publish an out-of-hours emergency number. 

Use the local council finder to find your local council's website, or use our directory to find details of your local council's housing department.

How to survive living on the streets

Sleeping on the streets can be cold and dangerous. It's important to keep safe, warm and well while you find a place to stay.

1 Keep warm

Try to stay as warm and dry as you can if you are on the streets. Day centres are a warm place you can go if you are homeless. They are usually open during the day.

Day centres may be able to help you with free items such as shoes, a change of clothes and sleeping bags. Most day centres provide washing and laundry facilities as well as showers. 

Find a local day centre on Homeless.

2 Eat well

It's possible to get free or cheap food if you are living on the streets. Day centres offer cheap meals for homeless people, usually breakfast and lunch.

'Soup runs' are food projects often provided by charities and faith groups in larger towns and cities. They provide free hot or cold food and drinks for homeless people. Use Shelter's directory to find a day centre or an advice agency to tell you about food projects in your area.

A homelessness outreach worker, day centre or advice centre may be able to help you with a referral to a food bank.

Find your nearest food bank on the Trussell Trust website.

3 Find a safe place to sleep

It's important to find a safe place to sleep at night. You may be able to find a hostel, night shelter or cold weather shelter in your area on Homeless. 

If you have to sleep rough, make sure you sleep where other people are sleeping. Keep to brighter-lit, sheltered areas, and use cardboard or matting to keep off the ground. Try to keep yourself safe and warm.

4 Sort out your money

You can still claim benefits even without a permanent address as long as you meet the normal entitlement rules. Use Shelter's directory to find local welfare advice services to make sure you can claim or to help with any problems.

Many benefits are claimed through Jobcentre Plus. Their advisers can also help you to find work and with money for travel expenses for interviews.  Find your nearest Jobcentre Plus on Gov.uk.

Day centre and hostel staff may be able to help you find paid work. If you are a homeless person, you may be able to get work selling the Big Issue magazine.

5 Look after your health

You can register with a doctor even if you don't have a permanent address.  If you can't get an appointment with a doctor, NHS walk-in centres can provide emergency treatment for minor injuries and illnesses.  Use NHS Choices to find your nearest walk-in centre or details of local NHS health care services.

There are also health care services just for homeless people. Check what is available in your area on Homeless.

Some day centres have nurses, visiting GPs, opticians, chiropodists, alcohol and drug advisers. 

If you inject drugs, don't share needles and try to always use clean needles.  Search for needle exchanges on Homeless.   

6 Keep in touch

You could use a phone in a day centre to stay in contact with friends and family.

Could you keep in touch by email? Some libraries, day centres and hostels provide free access to computers. Use Gov.uk to find your local library or to book free computer access in a library. 

If you don't want to make direct contact, you could still leave a message for friends or family using the Missing People helpline on Freephone 116 000. 

Some homelessness projects can help sign you up to VoiceMail4All (run by St Mungo's Broadway). This free voicemail service is designed for people without a landline. It could be useful if you lose your mobile phone.

7 Find a place to keep your belongings

Day centres and hostels may have some storage facilities to store your belongings for a limited period of time.

The codes on the streets.

Simply living in such an environment places young people at special risk of falling victim to aggressive behavior. Although there are often forces in the community which can counteract the negative influences, by far the most powerful being a strong, loving, "decent" family committed to middle-class values, the despair is pervasive enough to have spawned an oppositional culture, that of "the streets" whose norms are often consciously opposed to those of mainstream society. These two orientations (decent and street) socially organize the community, and their coexistence has important consequences for residents, particularly children growing up in the inner city. Above all, this environment means that even youngsters whose home lives reflect mainstream values (and the majority of homes in the community do) must be able to handle themselves in a street-oriented environment.

This is because the street culture has evolved what may be called a code of the streets, which amounts to a set of informal rules governing interpersonal public behavior, including violence. The rules prescribe both a proper comportment and a proper way to respond if challenged. They regulate the use of violence and so allow those who are inclined to aggression to precipitate violent encounters in an approved way. The rules have been established and are enforced mainly by the street-oriented, but on the streets the distinction between street and decent is often irrelevant; everybody knows that if the rules are violated, there are penalties. 

Sources of information about homelessness.

1. Bolster, M. (2013). Myths about the homeless. Preble Street - Bangor Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.preblestreet.org/news/Myths-about-the-homeless/232/

2. ©National Health Care fir the Homeless Council, Inc (2015). What is the official definition of homelessness?. Retrieved from https://www.nhchc.org/faq/official-definition-homelessness/

3. ©Oxford University Press (2015). Definition of houseless in English. Oxford dictionaries - Language matters. Retrieved from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/homeless

4. Rethink homelessness (2014). Cardboard Stories | Homeless in Orlando [Youtube]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THxtcWNw3QA

5. Rethink homelessness (2015). Human | Rethink Homeless Orlando [Youtube]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLbP-SpXAps

6. ©ThinkExist (2015). Houseless Meaning and Definition. Retrieved from http://thinkexist.com/dictionary/meaning/houseless/

Cardboard stories from homeless people.

Homeless people are HUMANS!

Myths about homeless people.

Myth 1: Homeless people are taking advantage of the system.

Myth 2: Building housing or increasing services brings homeless people to the city.

Myth 3: Homeless people are different that I am. I could never become homeless.

Myth 4: Nothing can be done.

Myth 5: People choose or want to be homeless.

Myth 6: Homeless people are criminals.

Myth 7: Helping the homeless infantalizes them or is a form of inappropriate "rescuing".

Myth 8: It's cheaper to let people remain homeless rather than spend money on housing.

Myth 9: Homeless people are lazy.

Myth 10: We take care of our veterans; very few of the homeless population are veterans.

Differences between homelessness and houselessness.

Homelessness

An individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family), including an individual whose primary residense during the night is a supervised public or private facility (e.g. shelters) that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is resident in transitional housing.

Houselessness

A person without a home, and therefore typically living on the streets. Destitute of the shelter of a house; shelterless; homeless; as, a houseless wanderer.

Sources of information about runaways and thrownaways.

1. Arbenche, T. (2014). Family. Dreamatico. Image retrieved from http://dreamatico.com/family.html

2. Baldwin, M. (2009). Adult book store – leaving home. Image retrieved from https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?catref=mban2813&ANDkeyword=leaving%20home&NOTkeyword=&TITLEkeyword=&categories=All%20Categories&artists=All%20Artists&mainArchive=mainArchive&newsCartoon=newsCartoon&vintage=vintage&colorOption1=colour&colorOption2=blackWhite&orientationOption1=portrait&orientationOption2=landscape&search_cp=&search_limit=

3. Kavanagh, M. (2011). Tweet-sized advice for teenagers leaving home. ParentDish. Retrieved from http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2011/07/12/tweet-sized-advice-for-teenagers-leaving-home/

4. Putt, G. (2014). Runaway/Throwaway Children: Predictors and Preventions. Decoded Science.  Retrieved from http://www.decodedscience.com/runaway-children-predictors-preventions/44560

5. Reynolds, D. (2011). I miss home. Image retrieved from https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?catref=dren273&ANDkeyword=leaving+home&NOTkeyword=&TITLEkeyword=&categories=All+Categories&artists=All+Artists&mainArchive=mainArchive&newsCartoon=newsCartoon&vintage=vintage&colorOption1=colour&colorOption2=blackWhite&orientationOption1=portrait&orientationOption2=landscape&cp=0&limit=12

6. Scruff, Mark and Williams. (2010). Animals and families. Image retrieved from https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?catref=mwln36&ANDkeyword=leaving%20home&NOTkeyword=&TITLEkeyword=&categories=All%20Categories&artists=All%20Artists&mainArchive=mainArchive&newsCartoon=newsCartoon&vintage=vintage&colorOption1=colour&colorOption2=blackWhite&orientationOption1=portrait&orientationOption2=landscape&search_cp=&search_limit=

7. St. James, F. (2015). MY feisty five-year-old, Saige, is mad and she's moving on! [YouTube]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iarIJlP9Xdc

8. Thomas Bros. (2006). Man to children. Cartoonstock. Image retrieved from https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?catref=tbrn72&ANDkeyword=leaving%20home&NOTkeyword=&TITLEkeyword=&categories=All%20Categories&artists=All%20Artists&mainArchive=mainArchive&newsCartoon=newsCartoon&vintage=vintage&colorOption1=colour&colorOption2=blackWhite&orientationOption1=portrait&orientationOption2=landscape&search_cp=&search_limit=

9. Williams, T. (2012). I’m leaving home. Image retrieved from https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?catref=twln754&ANDkeyword=leaving%20home&NOTkeyword=&TITLEkeyword=&categories=All%20Categories&artists=All%20Artists&mainArchive=mainArchive&newsCartoon=newsCartoon&vintage=vintage&colorOption1=colour&colorOption2=blackWhite&orientationOption1=portrait&orientationOption2=landscape&search_cp=&search_limit=

General conclusion

Concluding this virtual work, we can say that they are very different from any aspect, but share the same inevitable end.

This is a problem that happens every day around the world affecting most households, having as main subject the teen part of this.

There are several organizations that try to help this class of young, but unfortunately can not help each of them in all countries. This means that, according to studies, most of them falling in a bad way as drugs, prostitution, or steal to survive in the world another day.

By Dream Team.

What makes a young person run away from home?

Victimization and Neglect

“The most common endangerment component was physical or sexual abuse at home or fear of abuse upon return.”

Girls who run away are often fleeing sexual abuse at home. Girls who were sexually abused at home were likely to prostitute themselves and meet with violence on the street.

Drugs and Alcohol

A 2006 Australian study from The University of Sydney found “once homeless, for the majority of youth there is an increase in the number of psychological diagnoses including drug and alcohol diagnoses.”

Girls who run away are more likely to use marijuana and alcohol, particularly if they were away from home for an extended period of time.

Crime and Homelessness

Runaway youth may engage in criminal activity, but the Australian researcher found “crime did not precede homelessness for all but one youth” (of the 35 studied).  In other words, once children are homeless, they may turn to crime.

Prevention and Intervention

Various types of treatment for substance-abusing runaway adolescents has been found effective, including community reinforcement approach, motivational interviewing, and ecologically-based family therapy, according to an article in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Sadly, some youth are more accurately called “throwaways” than “runaways.”  Some parents sexually abuse their children or allow others to do so. Parents who are consumed by their substance abuse problems may lack the emotional or physical resources to care for their children. 

Contacting a child abuse hotline when abuse is suspected may allow social workers to intervene before a child becomes a runaway.

Keeping Kids Safe

Providing substance abuse treatment and parenting classes may keep a child safe. 

At-risk youth require intervention to keep them from the downward spiral of homelessness, substance abuse, criminal behavior and mental health problems.

Society should focus on preventing problems, rather than waiting to fix them.

Advices for teenagers when they're leaving home.

1. Washing-up is like saying sorry. It gets harder to do the longer you leave it.

2. Be nice to everyone on the way up. You may need them on the way down.

3. Don't post anything on Facebook or Twitter that you wouldn't be happy to have read out at your first job interview.

4. Never, ever abandon a friend who's had too much to drink.

5. Just because you've got money in your bank account doesn't mean you have to spend it.

6. Most people you meet for the first time are probably more nervous than you are.

7. Work first, play later.

8. If you have to sniff your duvet cover to see if it needs washing, it probably does.

9. Eat green vegetables. Raw, if necessary. Chips don't contain all the nutrients necessary to maintain good health.

10. Inform your parents about what you're up to on a need-to-know basis. They need to know you're alive.

11. Don't tell lies. They have a habit of stabbing you in the back when you least expect it.

12. Look after your teeth. Everything needs love and attention. Even gums.

13. Don't waste time trying to be cool. Really cool people don't care what people think of them.

14. Expect people to behave badly. If they do, you're prepared. If they don't, celebrate your good fortune.

15. Enjoy the moment. Because, as John Lennon once said, "life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".