PEPSI Screening 1

PEPSI Screening

Joe A. Sánchez

Department of Education, College of Southern Nevada

EDU 220-1001: Principles of Educational Psychology

Dr. Vincent Richardson

April 2, 2023
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Biography

I recently observed my little sister, Jazmin, in a PEPSI screening. She is 15 years old,

born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of last year, she has started online learning, which has

been a substantial change for her. Before the pandemic, there were not any concerns about going

to school in-person. The shift happened after schools opened back up and students returned to

school. The motivation to go back to school in-person rapidly decreased and she decided to

continue school through online learning. She is currently in the eighth grade, and despite the lack

of motivation for school, she placed into Honors classes after she took her new school's

placement test.

The homes in the area are decent normal-sized houses. I would say the average

socioeconomic status in the neighborhood is lower middle-class to middle-class with Jazmin's

family being lower middle-class. Her household is her mother and two siblings, and she is the

youngest of five children. During the pandemic, her father made the decision to move to Mexico

for himself, so her contact and relationship with her father changed. It is normal for teenagers to

distance themselves from their parents; however, a lot's happened since then that their

relationship is not going to be the same for now. However, Jazmin does have a caring and loving

mother who will do anything to keep her daughter happy and siblings who want the best for her,

which Jazmin is content with.

Physical Development

Jazmin is 15 years old and is growing at an unexceptional rate. As of today, she is 66

inches tall and weighs 102 pounds. According to Disabled World (2022), the average 15-year-

old is 62.9 inches tall and weighs 115.0 pounds. Her height is normal for her age; her weight
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unfortunately is not. Jazmin's biggest issue is her lack of appetite. She does not eat as regularly

as she should be eating, which has been the biggest concern. No matter how many times or how

often she is told to eat, she just will not until she says she is hungry. And when she does eat, she

eats extraordinarily little. Exceedingly small portions. There have been scares where she has

appeared faint, paler than normal, and lightheaded. It is very scary seeing her in such a state. And

despite these scares, she still does not try to eat more. But this could be a result of her depression

because she has been this way for years. According to Medical News Today, weight gain or loss

is a physical symptom of depression (2018), so it would not be farfetched that her depression

plays a role in her weight loss. Plus, people with depression may experience appetite changes,

which can cause unintended weight loss or gain (Medical News Today, 2018). Her weight loss is

not all that affects her physical development.

Jazmin has Asthma. The disease refrains Jazmin from excessive outdoor activities. Once,

on a hike, only a few feet up, she could not catch her breath anymore and fell faint. This is one

example of how asthma negatively affects her physical development and health. She is far from

someone who is active. She is more likely to be indoors on her computer than exercise. This is

worrisome because children her age should do 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous

physical activity daily, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022).

However, Jazmin does not do physical activity at all. Physical activity is proven to have "brain

health benefits for school-aged children, including improved cognition (e.g., academic

performance, memory) and reduced symptoms of depression" (Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 2022). Also, physical activity promotes lifelong health and well-being and prevents

risk factors for many health conditions like heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes (Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). Following the key guidelines for physical activity for
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school-aged children and adolescents can help Jazmin develop healthy habits to continue through

adulthood.

Emotional Development

Jazmin's way of expressing her emotions is complicated. She is very emotional and acts

quickly without thinking beforehand, which more than often raises her emotions. She gets upset

very easily, and it may be at the slightest of things too. And it happens quite often. It is a lot to

withstand sometimes, it is like you cannot tell her anything without her getting mad. It does not

matter who is present or who her anger is directed at, she will say what is on her mind without

hesitation and will not apologize for it. This form of expression can be linked to how her family

express themselves as well. She comes from a family of outspoken people, so she has taken a

page out her family's book. Her family is just as loud, and just as aggressive, so she was bound to

pick it up some day. According to Amy Morin (2019), "Parental conflict has been linked to

increased aggression, delinquency, and conduct problems in children." And since Jazmin's

parents would constantly argue non-stop, there is no way she would not have picked up those

emotions too.

Jazmin's depression is a major factor too. It has affected her school life and the way she

learns now, which is through online learning. There was never an issue concerning in-person

school from Jazmin. This held true until after the pandemic. During the pandemic, Jazmin lost all

motivation and sunk into a hole, and many children did too. According to Lianna McLernon

(2021), depression rates were associated with girls, and higher depression was also associated

with older children in the pandemic. Then, when schools opened again in 2021, Jazmin no longer

wanted to go back to school. She opened up about her difficulty making friends at school and the

bullying she had gone through. Bullying can affect one's self-esteem and wellbeing (Family
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Lives, 2022), which, Jazmin's self-esteem and wellbeing, you can sense had taken a major hit

after hearing her vulnerability. Despite doing online learning now, she still struggles with these

issues today.

However, Jazmin is usually in bright spirits. She is a very playful girl that just needs to be

embraced more. You will find her smiling and laughing more than yelling. She is at her happiest

when she is playing with friends or doing things she enjoys. She just has a tough time managing

her negative emotions.

Philosophical Development

Jazmin is currently in the middle school to high school transitional stage. She, like

children her age, is in a stage of reflection and questioning. She has a way of acting at home and

leaves the act at home. She is much more cautious about her behavior when in public. She knows

right from wrong and knows a scene in public she would have in private is not okay in public.

And according to Carey Gelernter (1994), Jazmin is at an age where she can understand the

consequences of her behavior and actions. She is also not afraid to point out hypocrisy, which

Dr. William Womack (1994) states children her age recognize. She does not have a filter, but she

is when it is time to behave. She would not want people to look at her negatively, and young

people want to be accepted (Slavin, 2015, p. 59).

Social Development

Jazmin's friends are online and friends she met in elementary school. The transition from

elementary school to middle school altered her friend group. Each friend left for a different

middle school, so Jazmin had no choice but to start all over again. Jazmin is shy and quiet in

public, so it is not easy for her to make friends, at least in person it is not. She unfortunately

could not stick to a friend group, which played a part in her sudden interest in online learning
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amongst other things. With the friends she does have, Jazmin is never not socializing with them,

you cannot take them apart. Which, with her age is common because time spent with friends

increases dramatically, even to which more time is spent than with family members, according to

Slavin (2015, p. 61). Jazmin, however, spends time with her family too, more now with online

learning; however, her closest friends come first. According to Standford Medicine Children's

Health (2023), friends are the go-to for adolescents because friends make them feel more

understood and accepted.

Intellectual Development

Despite Jazmin's reputation of being unmotivated, when she wants to be, she will be in

her A-game. To enroll into her now online learning school, Jazmin had to take a placement test

to place her into the proper class levels. She later revealed to us that she had been put into honors

classes, despite not being in honors classes in her earlier school. She is a very bright child. Once

she picks something up, she does it well. She just must apply the effort, but there are times when

she just will not. As Slavin (2015) explained, it is to do with her social environment. Her new

ability is a result of her change of environment. She is no longer in in-person school deteriorating

and in a bad state of mind. She is in the comfort of her own home, which, for right now, has been

a game changer for her education.

Now, what is not good for her is her sleep schedule. She has trouble sleeping and sleeps

way too late. She will not get off her computer until past midnight, which is far from the

recommended bedtime for 15-year-olds, 9:30 p.m. with the lights out by 10:00 (Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, 2020, and Morin, 2021). Children her age are recommended to

sleep 8-10 hours per 24 hours (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). A good
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night's sleep is important because sleep is instrumental in cognitive function, mental acuity, and

the ability to concentrate and learn new things (Marie-Pierre St-Onge, 2020).

Graph
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Recommendations

To improve Jazmin's physical development, more sleep is necessary. Adequate amounts

of sleep have improved behavior, and overall mental and physical health, which can help Jazmin

tons. I also recommend that Jazmin eat more than she already does. She should be consuming

three meals per day and drinking water. (John Hopkins Medicine). It is especially important that

she makes healthy decisions now as she is going into young adulthood. Eating healthy foods and

supplying healthy serving sizes. Also, encouraging her by making times for her when to eat.

For Jazmin's emotional development, I recommend that Jazmin's successes should be

recognized. Whenever she achieves well on something, she usually makes it less than, and

family and friends should make her see it as something that should be looked greatly as. Also,

because she is sensitive, carefulness of what is said to her should be prioritized. She does think

majorly about other people's comments, so those should be carefully thought of before said.

Jazmin also needs more strict consequences for behavior. She gets off the hook for some

of her actions, which only makes the actions more frequent than they should be. Praise should be

given to put good behavior in notice, but there should be consequences to unruly behavior, and

there are not any consequences. The focus should be placed on setting family rules and behavior

and communication. Consequences for things like rudeness should be talked about, set, and then

put in action if rudeness continues to escalate. Also being a role model for Jazmin in sharing

feelings with her to promote for her to share her feelings, and listening to her is important too. It

allows Jazmin to voice herself, let everything out, and show how she feels, things that she tends

to hide from others.

Encouraging Jazmin to take part in school-based activities may help her social

development. It will allow her to interact more directly with adolescents her age. She does not
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get as much experience as she used to because she is now an online learner. She could improve

her social and communication skills as well. Being that she is online learning, it would be

recommended that someone study with her. Go over material that she is learning after she is

learnt it to better understand the material and be able to explain it in her own words. Also,

providing more extra material for her to practice when it comes to concepts in learning that she

may have issues with picking up. Spend as much uninterrupted one-on-one time with your child

as you can. Avoid prolonged viewing of television, video, and computer games. Set up a

homework space and routine in your home. Also, encouraging Jazmin to consider many points of

view, comparing, or debating ideas or opinions.

Getting more sleep is a wonderful way to improve Jazmin's intelligence development.

Fixing her sleeping habits will go a long way. It is also critical that people get enough sleep-in

order to start the day strong.

Works Cited

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022). Physical Activity Guidelines for School-

Aged Children and Adolescents. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved

April 2, 2023, from

www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/guidelines.htm#:~:text=Children%20and%
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20adolescents%20ages%206%20through%2017%20years%20should%20do,to%2Dvigor

ous%20physical%20activity%20daily.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022). Sleep in Middle and High School Students.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from

www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/features/students-

sleep.htm#:~:text=Importance%20of%20Sleep&text=The%20American%20Academy%2

0of%20Sleep,10%20hours%20per%2024%20hours.

Disabled World. (2022). Average Height to Weight Chart: Babies to Teenagers. Retrieved April

2, 2023, from www.disabled-world.com/calculators-charts/height-weight-

teens.php#fteen.

Family Lives (2022). How bullying affects children. Family Lives. Retrieved April 11, 2023,

from www.familylives.org.uk/advice/bullying/advice-for-parents/how-does-bullying-

affect-your-child.

Gelernter, C. Q. (1994). Right From Wrong -- At What Age Do Children Develop a Moral

Sense, And Understand What It Means to Commit a Crime? The Seattle Times.

archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19941025&slug=1937798.

Lumen Learning. Moral Reasoning in Adolescence. Lumen Learning. Retrieved April 2, 2023,

from courses.lumenlearning.com/adolescent/chapter/moral-reasoning-in-adolescence/.

McLernon, L. M. (2021). Depression and anxiety doubled in children, pandemic study says.

University of Minnesota. Retrieved April 11, 2023, from

www.cidrap.umn.edu/depression-and-anxiety-doubled-children-pandemic-study-says.
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Morin, A. (2019). How Parents Fighting Could Affect a Child's Mental Health. Verywell Health.

Retrieved April 11, 2023, from www.verywellfamily.com/how-parents-fighting-affects-

children-s-mental-health-

4158375#:~:text=Behavior%20Problems,difficulty%20in%20adjusting%20to%20school.

Morin, A. (2021). Should Your Teen Have a Set Bedtime? Verywell Health. Retrieved April 2,

2023, from www.verywellhealth.com/what-time-should-your-teen-go-to-bed-

4021455#:~:text=Make%20sure%20your%20teen%20knows%20that%20you%20expect

%20them%20to,the%20right%20amount%20of%20sleep.

St-Onge, M. P. (2022). Sleep Your Way to a Smarter Brain. American Heart Association.

Retrieved April 11, 2023, from www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-

lifestyle/sleep/sleep-your-way-to-a-smarter-brain.

Standford Medicine Children's Health. Teens: Relationship Development. Retrieved April 2,

2023, from www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=relationship-development-90-

P01642.

Slavin, R. E., Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice. (13th Ed.). Upper Saddle River,

Pearson, 2015.