Summer Daze: Helping the Student Stay Alert

At Granada Hills High School, a 10th-grader told school psychologist Joe Morris he would drop out of school before summer. A Los Angeles elementary student, who had been a model pupil all year, suddenly began misbehaving so badly he was banned from the class pizza party. And in Palmdale, two elementary school students brashly told their teacher, “We quit studying at the end of May.”

School psychologists offer a quick diagnosis: end-of-school-itis, a Jekyll-and-Hyde affliction most likely to strike September-to-June students who are now counting the days until summer freedom.

“A child who’s compliant all year may suddenly get sarcastic,” explains Michael Geisser, supervising psychologist at the Palmdale School District. Other typical patterns include restlessness, shorter attention spans, and reduced ability to stay “on” task.

For older students, the restlessness reflects academic pressure piling up at the end of the year. “Stress builds up before exam time, causing some kids to just want to escape,” says school psychologist Morris.

But for younger students, it can be fear of freedom. “For them, the end of the year generates a lot of insecurities related to leaving school and its (safe) structure,” says Terri Veasman, a psychologist with the Los Angeles school district. “They may anticipate summer freedom with both pleasure and anxiety, perceiving the lack of structure as both unsettling and a bit frightening.”

Short of gritting their teeth, how can parents cope and help their kids survive to the final bell? Experts advise:

--Be empathetic. Geisser suggests parents remember how they felt when they were chained to their desks on a sunny day.

--Provide more opportunities for breaks during the end-of-the-year study sessions.

--Concentrate on one day at a time. Instead of saying, “Only seven more days of school,” try, “Let’s get through today.”

--Plan summer activities, even if they’re just twice-weekly trips to the library. Talking about summer events may quell restlessness, says Shirley Labinowicz, an L.A. school district psychologist, and reduce anxieties about the lack of structure.

Quick Physicals

No time to see your personal trainer this week for an evaluation? Consider popping in to your health club for “a five minute physical” to see just how in shape you really are.

Here’s how the new, super computer-charged Fit Test works: Exercisers pedal for five minutes on the latest Lifecycle produced by Life Fitness of Irvine, and press the Fit Test key. Next they punch in their body weight, heart rate, sex and age and wait for the machine to display their VO2 max, the standard measure of aerobic fitness based on the heart’s ability to supply oxygenated blood to tissues.

Exercisers look up that measurement in an accompanying booklet to find out their fitness level from “very poor” to “elite.”

At Racquetball World in Santa Ana, members line up four deep to test themselves. “People like to see the kind of shape they’re in,” says Racquetball World instructor Tony Ramynke. But it also helps give beginners a starting point for an exercise program, says his colleague Jodi Klein. There is a downside: first-timers need help performing the test.

Although the new bikes are only in a handful of Los Angeles-area health clubs, some 25 clubs have them on order.

Seafood Safety

New banners are flying across seafood sections of many Southland supermarkets, proclaiming their fish “federally inspected” or “U.S. Department of Commerce” inspected. The increased emphasis on seafood safety comes as consumer groups are lobbying to create a mandatory seafood inspection program similar to those already in place for meat and poultry.

Here’s the lowdown on what the signs really mean: The government inspection program, paid for by the supermarkets, is a “quality and condition” check, says Spencer Garrett, director of the National Seafood Inspection Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Inspectors make certain the fish is wholesome, has no visible parasites and is not crushed, but they do not check for toxins. Seafood sections are also examined for cleanliness.

Participation is voluntary. Although the program has been available here since 1985, the number of participating markets has doubled in the last year. Says a spokeswoman for the Von Companies, which have been displaying the signs for a few months: “We can tell customers we’ve inspected our seafood. But it provides added reassurance when the federal government agrees.”

Lactation Drugs

Women who decide to stop breast-feeding are sometimes prescribed bromocriptine, a drug commonly called Parlodel, or hormones such as chlorotrianisene to suppress lactation.

An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration recently told the agency that such drugs should not be prescribed because of possible frightening side effects such as nausea, seizures and strokes. Parlodel is also prescribed for Parkinsonism and other disorders. The FDA is considering the recommendation.

The safest route to milk suppression, suggests a spokeswoman for the National Women’s Health Network, is the old-fashioned approach. She recommends binding the breasts with a tight bra or a strip of material and taking an over-the-counter pain medication if breasts become painfully engorged.