The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services just launched a new website geared towards learning all about bullying and what you can do to stop it.

Their motto is: “Lend a Hand. Stop Bullying Now!”

Here’s a sample video from the website.  For all the rest, visit the website at: STOP THE BULLYING NOW!

The website is broken up into two sections:  A Section for ADULTS and one for KIDS.  & features:

• “webisodes”
• games
• “Ask the Experts”
• Character pages to bring life to the topic.

Cyber-Bullying

With what seems like a sharp curve upwards in the amount of bullying in the news headlines, and the increased commentary on more subtle forms of bullying through social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter….  …, this topic is sure to be a hot-button conversation through your child’s pre-teen and teen years.

Stop the Bullying Now takes a good at cyberbullying in their Webisode 5.   There are many ways that young people bully each other, even if they don’t realize it at the time.

Other Articles

• Schoolyard bullies get nastier online
• Social media brings bullying to light)
• VIDEO Social media create new bullying issues for schools; Collier forum set for Monday
• How Social Media Changes Things – Online Bullying, Mean Girls, and Cowards!

Extra Comments:

• Illustrations are great!
• The site has a “Youth Expert Panel” complete with bios.  I’m assuming these kids are real and not fictional.
• Want to see if you are a bully? check out http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids/signs-that-you-bully.aspx
• Baseball-Hat-Tip to The Online Mom for spotting this site first.

What\’s in My Mouth?

Here at Great Green Gobs, we have two types of definitions for “Boogers”

1.  The Dictionary Definitions.

2.  The Sibling Definition.

OUR Definition of “Booger”:

The Sibling definition of What is a Booger?

A “Booger” is a sister/brother:

• Who pulls my hair.
• Gets the last slice of pizza
• Won’t let me play with _____________________ (fill in the blank)
• Thinks he/she is just soooo coooll….

Now … a few boring Dictionary Definitions of Booger:

boog·er — (bŏŏg’ər)

2.  Slang Dried nasal mucus.

Dictionary.com, “booger,” in The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Source location: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.

Slang Dictionary

booger definition

n.  a blob of nasal mucus, moist or dry. (Usually objectionable.) : Keep your boogers to yourself!

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.

There is also this Definition by: KidsHealth.org

Mucus has a pretty important job – it protects the lungs. When you breathe in air through your nose, it contains lots of tiny things, like dust, dirt, germs, and pollen. If these made it all the way to the lungs, the lungs could get irritated or infected, making it be tough to breathe. Luckily, snot helps trap this stuff, keeping it in the nose and out of the lungs.

After this stuff gets stuck inside the nose, the mucus surrounds it and some of the tiny hairs inside the nose called cilia (say: sih-lee-uh). These hairs help move the mucus and the trapped stuff toward the front of the nose or the back of the throat. When the mucus, dirt and other debris dry and clump together, you’re left with a booger. Boogers can be squishy and slimy or tough and crumbly. Everybody gets them, so they’re not a big deal. In fact, boogers are a sign that your nose is working the way it should!

If you have to get rid of boogers, your best bet is to blow ‘em out of your nose and into a tissue. Picking your nose isn’t a great idea because boogers contain lots of germs and because poking around in your nose can make it bleed.

Source(s):  http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/yucky/booger.html

How to Pick Your Nose

A recent poll alleges that a majority of Americans admit to picking their noses in public. Although not socially accepted, nose picking can , at times, be necessary. When something in your nose needs help finding its way out, you can be ready to respond by following one of these basic stealth techniques for public nasal manicuring.

The Thumb-Finger Method

• Position the index finger of the opposite-side hand alongside the exterior of the obstructed channel.
• Nonchalantly slip the thumb as deep as necessary into the nostril.
• Using the thumbnail, delicately clamp onto the dried mucous mass.
• Slowly withdraw the thumb and it’s payload from the nostril. At this step in the process be particularly vigilant for any trailing mucous which might be attached to the payload. These un-noticed “stringers” can jeopardize the entire operation.
• Return the hand to a more natural position and discreetly execute a flicking motion with the thumb. This should launch the material sufficiently far away from you that it becomes someone else’s problem.
• Remember…never wipe it on your shirt or trousers – its always a dead giveaway.
• Always beware of flicking too hard. If the offending article sticks to the ceiling, it’ll be there forever.

The Advanced Hand-Guard Method

• Slightly cup the left hand and position it so that your forefinger is below your right eye and your thumb is below your left eye. The palm will be hiding the nostrils from onlookers who will be convinced that you are rubbing your cheeks as one does when trying to ease the symptoms of a headache, or of weariness, (simultaneously closing one’s eyes makes the tactic even more effective).
• In a natural, confident motion bring the right hand up and under the left hand. Use the right index finger to probe, acquire and extract the residual material. After returning the right hand to a secure location execute a flicking maneuver to eject the material.

The Athletic Nose-blow

• If you find your mineshaft quite often gets cave-ins you may find this a useful technique to clear blocked passages. This does require a bit of exercise, so if you have a condition which makes exerting yourself dangerous then you might want to steer clear of this method.
• First, work yourself up to a nice sweat. This will get the blood circulating in all parts of the body including your head. Once this has been accomplished while your running, or performing whatever exercise, have a quick glance around to make sure no one is looking, casually turn you’re head out of line-of-sight, take a deep breath, close your mouth and push all the air from your lungs as well as the offending road-block in one explosive breath. You may be saying to yourself, “How is this inconspicuous”. This can be done both effectively and inconspicuously even if people are around under the guise of a feigned sneeze. Voila! Enjoy a nice deep breath through your newly cleared olfactory mines.

The Fake Cough

• Fake a cough slightly while bringing your hand up to your mouth (as if to cover the cough).
• Raise your index finger up to the nostril that’s bothering you.

The Turnaround

• Slowly excuse yourself and slowly turn around. Extract material from nose quickly and keep your hand down on your lap. Then, when you are talking to somebody and they have their full attention to your face, flick material into the world.

The Hair Wipe

• After a nosepick has been executed and there is a sign that it has occurred (mucus) casualy rub nose with palm and follow through, act like you are combing hair out of your eyes with your fingers then return hand to side. After this, to remove nasal waste from hand, wipe on the back knee of pants or the cuff of your pants.

Tips

• As of today, at nearly all social levels, overt nosepicking is forbidden.
• Make sure you do this at a time when people are not looking directly at you. If they are, try to create some sort of diversion, like pointing out something on the other side of the room/street. If you are the center of attention, such as when speaking on live television, occupying a podium or pulpit, or doing a magic trick for a group of children, you may be out of luck.
• If you think your activity has been detected, immediately suspend mining operations and begin to scratch your nose. This will usually convince even the nosiest (no pun intended) observer that you were merely dealing with an itch, which is not forbidden.
• If the flicking maneuver cannot be performed, stay calm and don’t panic. Simply roll the extracted material between your forefinger and thumb (the famous WRB “pick n’ roll”). This will cause the substance to take on a spherical shape. When you relax your finger pressure the force of gravity will irresistibly pull the mass directly to the floor where it will join all the others of its kind along with the dead skin, dust and cat hairballs. The mucous cycle is now complete.
• If you are driving a car at night, you may dispense with any pretenses. Other drivers will not be able to see you due to their focus on the road and the glare of headlights. Beware of well lit intersections and changing traffic signals – always be prepared to revert into a faux itch management posture!
• Make sure you have a booger and not a long strand of snot. It could get messy.
• Carry a hankie or tissue around – you can cover the finger, which may be more sanitary.
• Always carry a small item in your pocket that you can drop at just the necessary picking moment.

Warnings

• Never perform a visual examination of whatever it is you have extracted from your nose! This is most amateurish and is one of the most common ways of getting caught.
• Computer programmers are more likely to perform a visual inspection of the results. This is due to their training: Always check your output! If you are a computer programmer, be aware of this tendency.
• Post-operative protocol requires immediate and thorough hand-washing.

Related wikiHows

• How to Pick Your Nose in a Public Place
• How to Unblock Your Nose
• How to Stop a Nose Bleed

NOTE: to prevent offending substances from building up in the nose cavity, blow of pick nose in the shower, all blockage will be washed away and the nose will be efficiently cleaned!

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Pick Your Nose Inconspicuously. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

The Boogers are a award-winning punk rock band just for kids. Here’s a live version of Itsy Bitsy Spider performed on WGN!
More info at meet-the-boogers.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao_XMJKr2_I

Pretty cool tune.  Neat to hear positive stuff like perseverence in the lyrics, etc.

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