Why Simple Things Really Do Make A Difference

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the Annual Conference of the Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School. What’s the latest?  We are all stressed, the world is spinning faster and we feel a loss of control, which is creating more anxiety. We live in a VUCA world…VUCA is an acronym for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. 

Some simple things to know are: 

1. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. EVERYONE IS EXPERIENCING this rapid rate of change and uncertainty.

2. Don’t try to keep up or get ahead of the curve. Learn how to live effectively. 

3. Put down and turn off the screens. We are driving OURSELVES CRAZY. Who said you had to respond to every email, tweet, and message?

4. Do Mindful meditation for yourself and with your family…there are proven health results.

We are a society addicted to experts, silver bullets and having the right answer, but the new research is showing that the expert is YOU.  Being in Community with others is critical for health and wellness – and the first community we have is our family. We have an immunity to change; we tell ourselves something, but do something else. Yet, by spending time with ourselves and our families, we start to find meaningful answers.

Congratulations to the Person Family of Miami-Dade County, the Navarrete Family of Collier County and the Clisby Family of Volusia County on being randomly selected to win a $100 Publix gift card in the 2017 Family Day Photo Contest. Thank you for sharing your family dinner photo on social media with #flfamilyday to help spread the message about the importance of family dinners to help kids grow up safe, healthy and drug free.

Stay tuned for our announcement of the school with the most family entries in Florida. The winning school will receive $250 from Informed Families.

Check out some of our favorite family dinner photos from across Florida...

Angela Nealy’s kind and nurturing personality is just what’s needed in her role as Gotha Middle School’s SAFE Coordinator and in her role as an Informed Families Ambassador. SAFE, which stands for Student Assistance and Family Empowerment, is a program to assist in making school campuses safe and drug free so all students have the opportunity to be successful in school. This is done through preventive, supportive and responsive action. And her zebra print sofa helps offer a sense of comfort to all (students and adults) that enter the SAFE Zone. Nealy, who has worked as a school administrator for 19 years, works with the students, staff and parents in these efforts.

“I am most concerned with getting factual information into the hands of our students,” said Nealy. “Middle school is such an impressionable time. I don’t want our students obtaining incorrect information from their friends and sometimes their siblings and then being tempted to try something dangerous as a result.”  

Tracy Bowen, an Informed Families Ambassador who serves as the coordinator for K-12 Health, P.E. and Drivers Education for all Collier County Public Schools, is a true prevention champion and this month’s star ambassador for her dedication to the children of Collier County.

"I love being an Informed Families Ambassador because I want to be the best role model and advocate for a drug free lifestyle and family-centered life for all of the students, parents and educators in our district," said Bowen.

Bowen was first introduced to Informed Families four years ago through Informed Families Board Member Pat Barton and our partners at Drug Free Collier, Ana DiMercurio and Melanie Black. Drug Free Collier is a drug free coalition with a mission of “uniting the community to protect the children of Collier County from substance abuse.” Bowen works closely with the coalition to implement prevention programming in her school district.

Bowen, whose goal is to have an Ambassador in all Collier County Schools, orders materials for elementary, middle and high schools in Collier County, depending on the campaign, in an effort to educate students and parents – and to engage her school communities in prevention.

Do You Eat Dinner With Your Children?

Eating dinner together sounds so simple and yet, it is not today’s norm. Why? The answer has something to do with hectic schedules, after school activities and other outside influences that interfere with dinnertime. This reality is most unfortunate because research has shown that the more children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs.

So welcome to Informed Families’ first drug prevention tool of the school year: Family Day.  Family Day is a national effort, developed by the Center for Addiction & Substance Abuse at Columbia University, to encourage family dinners as an effective way to reduce youth substance abuse and other risky behaviors.  Join us on Family Day, September 26^th and learn how to have fun through simple exercises.

Family Day is a national effort aimed at promoting family dinners and building healthy kids. Set for Sept. 26 this year, Family Day emphasizes the value of sitting down and enjoying a meal with your children. The benefits go beyond basic sustenance, reaching into something much deeper: Teens who regularly eat dinner with their families are less likely to engage in risky behaviors. Here’s a deeper look at the value of Family Day and how this simple effort can lead to healthy kids:

Family Dinners, Healthier Kids

The prospect that family dinner ultimately results in healthier kids might seem odd, but research backs up this concept. One study conducted by Columbia University discovered that teens who had frequent dinners (more than five times a week) with their parents were more likely to have excellent relationships with them than those families whose dinners were infrequent (fewer than twice a week). Subsequently, the better the relationship kids have with their parents, the less likely they were to use drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.

A recent New York Times blog post, entitled “How Asking 5 Questions Allowed Me to Eat Dinner With My Kids” by Charles Duhigg, offers a surprisingly simple solution to many of the problems families face in the fast paced world we are living in. Specifically, Duhigg was struggling with the issue of wanting to eat dinner together with his family and finding it very difficult due to his family’s busy schedule.  In the blog, Duhigg offered a solution that helped him resolve this problem, called the “five whys.”

Duhigg, a journalist and author of two books on habits and productivity, suggests that parents examine why they can’t eat dinner with their children by asking “why” five times.

Informed Families Offers Answers During Family Day 2016 

Informed Families, a Florida nonprofit devoted to helping kids grow up safe, healthy and drug-free, is sponsoring the Florida celebration of Family Day, an event that promotes the importance of family dinners and parental engagement by challenging families to enjoy a meal together on Sept. 26 and regularly thereafter. More details about Family Day 2016 can be found at 

Florida's families deal with hectic schedules, afterschool activities and other outside influences that interfere with dinnertime. This reality is unfortunate because research has shown that the more children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs. Family Day is a national effort, developed by the Center for Addiction & Substance Abuse at Columbia University, to promote family dinners as an effective way to reduce youth substance abuse and other risky behaviors.http://www.flfamilyday.com.

It's back to school…are you ready?  Informed Families’ summers are busy, as we prepare campaign toolkits and drug prevention resources for our statewide programs for the new school year.

As the school year begins, we look forward to hearing from our esteemed supporters, Ambassadors and dedicated parents. Our very first message was from a wonderful Ambassador, Anne Lewis of Baker County, who really re-energized all of us with her note. Here's what she wrote:

Christine,

I am so excited for the new school year and it is because of Informed Families!  I completed my order for materials today and then went to the website to check out everything there.  I LOVE the Family Dinner info and activities there. I have downloaded all of it and began planning and organizing that very minute. This has always been one of my favorite events and I plan to make it huge in my schools and community this year.