Health Grade 9 – Quarter 4

Curriculum Guide

Injury Prevention, Safety and First Aid

• Concept of intentional injuries
• Types of intentional injuries
  • Bullying (cyber bullying), Stalking, Extortion, Gang and youth violence, Illegal fraternity-related violence, Kidnapping and abduction, Acts of terror Domestic violence, Suicide, Sexual victimization and other forms of sexual abuse and harassment.
• Prevention and management of intentional injuries
  • Self-protection, Preventing self-harm, Promoting a culture of non-violence through healthful behaviors, Reporting cases of violence to proper authorities.

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Lesson 1: Beware. Be Aware

Objectives:

• Differentiate intentional injuries from unintentional injuries.
• Describe the types of intentional injuries.

Intentional injuries are injuries resulting from violence. It can be divided into two: self-inflicted, when a person harms himself/herself on purpose and assault, when person/persons harm another on purpose.

Suicide and parasuicide are intentional injuries that are self-inflicted, while assault has four classifications: (1) those that were committed within the family; (2) those that were committed by peers; (3) those that were committed by other groups; and (4) those that were committed by the family, peers or other groups.

Suicide and Parasuicide

Suicide is the intentional taking of one’s own life. Many of those who attempt suicide do not receive mental and emotional counselling because their families try to hide the problem because they are ashamed of it. Because of this, the problem is not solved and the attempt to commit suicide happens again.

On the other hand, a suicide attempt in which a person does not intend to die is called parasuicide. It is often a cry for help meaning, the person wants others to know what s/he is feeling. Despite this, parasuicide should be taken seriously because it may also lead to death.

How will you recognize a person who has suicidal tendencies? Oftentimes, the person gives clues through his/her behavior and speech. Some of these clues may be:

• Talking about suicide or death
• Writing farewell letters or giving away valuable things to their friends and siblings
• Showing changes in behavior, moods and feelings

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is an act that includes physical assault (hitting, pushing, shoving, etc.), sexual abuse (unwanted or forced sexual activity), and verbal abuse. These are behaviors that are used by one person in a relationship who tries to control the other.

Domestic violence includes abuse and actions such as:

• Name-calling or put downs
• Keeping a partner from contacting his/her family or friends
• Withholding money/allowance or denying financial support
• Stopping a partner from getting or keeping a job
• Actual or threatened physical harm
• Sexual assault
• Stalking
• Intimidation

Bullying

Bullying is an unwanted, aggressive behavior. The behavior is repeated, or can be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.

In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:

 

• An imbalance of power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others.
• Repetition: Bullying behavior happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.

There are different classifications of bullying. These are:

• Verbal bullying – saying or writing mean and nasty things. It includes:
  • Teasing
  • Name-calling
  • Making inappropriate sexual comments
  • Taunting
  • Threatening to cause harm
  • Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying

• Hurting someone’s reputation or relationships. It includes:
  • Telling other children not to be friends with someone
  • Spreading rumors about someone
  • Embarrassing someone in public

• Physical bullying – hurting a person’s body or destroying his/her possessions. It includes:
  • Hitting/kicking/pinching
  • Spitting
  • Tripping/pushing
  • Taking or breaking someone’s things
  • Making mean or rude hand gestures

• Cyberbullying – verbal and social bullying done through use of technology and electronic means. It includes:
  • Using social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
  • Using mobile devices (i.e. cellphone)
  • Using electronic mails (i.e. e-mails)

Stalking

Stalking is a pattern of behavior that makes you feel afraid, nervous, harassed, or in danger. It is when someone repeatedly contacts you, follows you, sends you things, and talks to you, even when you don’t want them to. It is very threatening to the person being stalked, because the behaviors and actions of the stalker often invade his/her privacy.

Stalking behaviors involve actions such as:

• Knowing your schedule
• Showing up at places you go to
• Sending mail, e-mail, and pictures
• Calling or texting repeatedly
• Contacting you or posting about you on social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc)
• Writing letters
• Damaging your property
• Creating a Web site about you
• Sending gifts
• Stealing things that belong to you
• Any other actions to contact, harass, track, or frighten you

Extortion

Extortion is the act of using force or threats to force people to hand over their money or properties, on favors. Extortion can happen outside or near schools wherein children are victimized to give up their allowances, in exchange for the promise that they will not be beaten up.

Gang and Youth Violence

A gang is defined as a relatively tough, mostly street-based group of young people who regard themselves and may be seen by others as a group that engages in a range of criminal activity and violence.

Young people join gangs and groups for lots of reasons. One of these is their need to belong, be included or be part of a group they can identify themselves with. This is oftentimes true for those who do not feel a sense of belonging or care at home. Another reason is their desire for adventure, as they believe that joining gangs will give them the excitement and thrill of their lives. Lastly, they feel protected and looked out for if they are members of a gang.

Illegal Fraternity-Related Violence

A fraternity is a group of people with similar backgrounds, occupations, interests, or tastes. In campuses and universities, fraternities are represented Greek letters. The youth may think of several benefits in joining a fraternity. They may see it as a gain in power and protection, as fraternities have a reputation for being a powerful group. Others would regard fraternity members, especially the seniors, as those who will provide the neophytes and lowerclassmen guidance and assistance. And since most fraternities are based in colleges and universities, some would join fraternities for academic support. Most youths would also join fraternities because of the sense of belongingness that these fraternities would provide.

Kidnapping and Abduction

Kidnapping is taking away or forcefully moving a person against his/her will and holding him/her in unjust captivity. The act is usually done for a motive like getting a monetary reward/ransom or getting some sort of benefit from the person or their family.

On the other hand, abduction is the use of deceit or force in order to take a person or a child away from their home or relatives. In abduction, the victim usually knows or has some sort of relation with the abductor. Most of the time, the abductor is not holding the victim for profit or any monetary gain.

Acts of Terror

Acts of terror, or terrorism, is the use of violence for political goals and putting the public or a great number of people in fear. The purpose of these terrorist groups is to produce terror in their victims through the use of violence, fear and pressure.

Acts of terror may be categorized into six. These are the following:

 

• State terrorism – States or governments can use force or the threat of force, without declaring war, to terrorize their citizens and achieve a political goal. Bioterrorism – refers to the intentional release of toxic biological agents to harm and terrorize civilians, in the name of a political or other cause. It includes viruses, bacteria and toxins that could be used in an attack, such as Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis), Botulism (Clostridium botulinum toxin), The Plague (Yersinia pestis), Smallpox (Variola major), Tularemia (Francisella tularensis), and Hemorrhagic fever, due to Ebola Virus or Marburg Virus.
• Cyberterrorism – is the use of information technology to attack civilians and draw attention to the terrorists’ cause. This may mean that they use computer systems or telecommunications as a tool to carry out a traditional attack.
• Ecoterrorism – the use of violence in the interests of environmentalism. In general, environmental extremist destroy property to inflict economic damage on industries or actors they see as harming animals or the natural environment.
• Nuclear terrorism – refers to a number of different ways nuclear materials might be used as a terrorist tactic. These include attacking nuclear facilities, purchasing nuclear weapons, or building nuclear weapons or otherwise finding ways to diffuse radioactive materials.
• Narcoterrorism – the use of violence by drug traffickers to influence governments or prevent government’s efforts in stopping the drug trade. This may involve the assassination of influential persons who are against drug trafficking, or killing a government official who leads an anti-drug trafficking agency.

Verbal Abuse

Verbal abuse is a form of cruelty that involves the use of words. These words are used to attack, control, and cause harm on another person.

To better understand verbal abuse, it is better to look at its characteristics:

• Verbal abuse is hurtful and usually attacks the nature and abilities of the person.
• Verbal abuse may be obvious (through angry outbursts and name-calling) or hidden (involving very subtle comments).
• Verbal abuse is controlling. Even judgmental comments may be voiced in a very sincere and concerned way.
• Verbal abuse is dangerous. It causes a gradual fading of the self-confidence of persons without them realizing it. They may try to change their behavior so as not to upset the abuser.
• Verbal abuse is fickle. A person is stunned, shocked, and thrown off balance by the abuser’s mockery, angry punch, critical remark, or hurtful comment.
• Verbal abuse usually worsens, increase of strength, regularity, and assortment. The verbal abuse may begin with put-downs disguised as jokes. Later, other forms might surface.