Send kids back to school with a healthy lifestyle

Send kids back to school with a healthy lifestyle
EDITOR:
As our children finish their summer vacations and head back to school this fall, it's a good time to remember the importance of teaching kids how to lead a healthy lifestyle. One in four American children today is at risk of failure in school because of social, emotional or health problems. These problems often result from poor nutrition, lack of exercise, smoking, drug use, violence, depression or stress.
Furthermore, decades of research have shown a connection between lifestyle choices and the risk of getting cancer and other diseases as adults.
Unfortunately, we are failing our children. The facts are:
UMore than three-fourths of adult smokers started smoking in high school.
UOne-half of high school juniors and seniors eat fast food three or more times each week.
ULess than one-fourth of high school students report getting at least 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity per day.
UOne-fourth of children aged six to 18 are overweight, and one child in eight is obese.
Let's teach our children healthy habits early in life. Studies suggest that youths who get enough exercise, eat a balanced diet, maintain a healthy weight and don't smoke or use drugs perform better in school. And these healthy behaviors learned early are more likely to be carried over into adulthood, decreasing our children's risk of developing many chronic conditions later in life.
More information about helping your child lead a healthy lifestyle, contact the Mahoning Valley American Cancer Society at 330-533-0546, toll free at 1-888-ACS-OHIO or visit the Society's Web site, www.cancer.org.
LINDA FREASE, RN
Boardman
X The writer is a school nurse at Boardman High School.
Customer service workers must behave courteously
EDITOR:
I read with interest the comments concerning Gail White's column on customer service. I believe the writer did not understand what the column was actually saying. White was commenting on the fact that the elderly lady deserved good friendly customer service from the employee of the store. Whether or not the clerk received minimum wages or more is not relevant to the way a person should do their job. If you've taken a position that requires you to deal with the public, then you should do the job you were hired to do.
Yes, we as customers have the right to complain to the store if there are not enough employees. That does not mean the clerk has the right to be rude because they are tired, not happy or feel they aren't being paid enough. If that is your attitude, possibly working with the public is not the job for you.
When a company hires an employee, no matter what the wages, they expect that employee to do the job. So even when you don't feel like it, you are polite to the customers and do your best to help.
I understand there are some rude people who believe a clerk is someone to abuse, but that does not mean the person working in a customer service job should retaliate. In fact, sometimes if you actually are nice to a person without sarcasm, you can still have a good day and possibly change the person's attitude. It doesn't cost anything to treat everyone the way you would like to be treated.
Working in customer service for a national company, I had a job that required me to deal with all customer complaints for eight hours each day. I always gave my best even when handling rude customers. I have found if you deal with them efficiently and politely most have a change of attitude. The ones who are still rude are the ones who lose because they are making themselves miserable with their attitude.
DARLENE TORDAY
Berlin Center