Youth health science popularization activities

For youth health science popularization activities to be truly effective, the core is never to copy authoritative knowledge points and preach, but to first catch the real confusion of teenagers and deliver the content in a way that suits their context. At the same time, the professional bottom line is maintained on red line issues and inclusive of diverse practical solutions on flexible issues.

Last year, I was invited by the street to do adolescent health science popularization in middle schools in my jurisdiction. I prepared a full 30-page PPT in advance for the "Core Information on Adolescent Health" from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, covering everything from myopia prevention and control to skeletal development. Even the data sources were clearly marked. As a result, the first boy who raised his hand at the beginning stood up and asked: "My mother forces me to drink pure milk every day to say I will grow taller, but I get diarrhea when I drink milk, and I am fine when I drink milk tea. Can I take milk tea to supplement my nutrition?" ”This was not included in the standard answers I prepared. I was stuck on the spot for half a minute before I came back to my senses. After the meeting that day, I checked through the anonymous notes I received asking questions. Half of the questions were not included in the PPT I had prepared: “Do staying up late to catch up on homework have the same harm to the body as staying up late to play games? ”“Is it true that wearing OK lenses will wear out the cornea? ”“My mother won't let me get my ears pierced because I might get septicaemia. Is that a big deal? ”

Interestingly, in the circle of health science popularization practitioners, there has been a quarrel for almost two years about how to determine the scale of youth science popularization. One group is the staunch "standards group" who believe that science popularization must be 100% based on authoritative guidelines and cannot compromise at all: if you say you need to sleep for 10 hours a day, you can't mention "it's okay to sleep for 8 hours occasionally". If you say you should drink less sugary drinks, you can't give a compromise plan of "choose 30% sugar". Otherwise, it will distort scientific knowledge and mislead children. The other school is the "practical school", which feels that following the script is equivalent to talking in vain: Nowadays, junior high school students have to arrive at school at 7 o'clock in the morning, and it is common for them to finish their homework at 10 o'clock in the evening. They simply do not get enough sleep for 10 hours. Instead of repeating "10 hours of sleep" over and over again, it is better to teach them that "staying up late and taking a 20-minute nap at noon can reduce fatigue."” ； Children already love to drink milk tea. If you just say "milk tea cannot be drunk" and they turn around and buy it secretly, it is better to teach them how to read the nutritional label and choose the style with fresh milk and less sugar to reduce the harm first.

In fact, both sides have their own reasons. When it comes to specific activities, they should be adjusted according to the theme. I saw an activity organized by the CDC in a certain district last year, which combined the best of both worlds: They didn’t put up display boards or read PPTs, and held a “blind health test challenge”. Coke, freshly squeezed orange juice, sugar-free sparkling water, and commercially available bubble milk tea were put into unlabeled cups, and students were asked to guess the sugar content in each cup. Many students firmly believe that freshly squeezed juice is the healthiest. However, during the unblinding, they found that the sugar content of 500ml of freshly squeezed orange juice is similar to that of cola and higher than three-sugar milk tea. The scene exploded. A girl took out the freshly squeezed juice she drank every day and looked up the nutrition facts. After reading it, she said, "I have been cheated for three years." Later, people from the disease control department said "Don't consume more than 25g of added sugar every day." No one was distracted. They were all looking down and calculating how much more they usually drank.

But that doesn’t mean that all content must be in a “down-to-earth” direction. When it comes to red line issues, there is no room for compromise. For example, content such as tobacco, drugs, drowning prevention, and first aid knowledge must be explained thoroughly in strict accordance with authoritative guidelines. Any vague room for operation must not be allowed. You must be serious when you should be serious. This is the bottom line of science popularization.

In the past, many people like to do standardized quizzes with prizes when doing science popularization. I have done this before. I printed out a bunch of multiple-choice questions, and the answers were all fixed numbers in the guide. The children took a notebook and left, turning around to drink full-sugar milk tea, without remembering anything. Oh, by the way, I accompanied my friend to a high school to do psychology-related science popularization. I originally prepared safety content such as "Test Anxiety Relief Methods" and "Parent-Child Communication Skills." However, the boy who stood up first during the question session blushed and asked, "I have a crush on the Chinese class representative of our class. I think about her every day. Is it mentally unhealthy?" ”, the teachers present at the time were all stiff-faced, but the psychiatrist we hired laughed and said, "When I was in junior high school, I had a crush on the top student in our grade. I raised my math score by 20 points to get into the same high school with her. It's normal to like someone, as long as you don't wait for a relationship. Chatting at two or three o'clock affects the class the next day, it's totally fine." With just such a sentence, the whole audience relaxed instantly. Later, when the performance was over, many children blocked the door and asked questions. Even the most naughty boys came over and asked, "Then if I play games until 11 o'clock at night, does it affect my health? ”

I went to a local cartoon exhibition two weeks ago and saw several young girls doing health science cosplaying as characters in popular games. The signs they held were not advertisements, but "Don't wear headphones for more than an hour continuously." You see, in fact, teenagers have never resisted health science popularization. They just resisted the kind of content that preaches from a high position and has nothing to do with their own lives.