How Schools Shape Health

School is a place where kids learn about health — everything from nutrition to avoiding STDs. But increasingly, schools across the country are taking a stronger role in health issues affecting students. They’re providing basic medical care and counseling, and even tackling major public health problems like traumatic stress. In this episode — exploring the role that schools can and should play in caring for kids’ health.

Also heard on this week’s episode:

• Why teachers at Centennial High School in Champaign, Illinois want to learn more about helping students who’ve experienced violence and trauma.
• Public health consultant Odilon Couzin talks about the extreme academic pressure kids face in Hong Kong schools.
• WABE’s Martha Dalton explains why some schools in Atlanta are opening up health clinics right inside their buildings.
• KQED’s Sandhya Dirks tells us about the fallout from a new California law that requires sex ed to be LGBTQ inclusive.
• The origins of a dreaded long-time tradition for American students: the Presidential Fitness Challenge.