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How to save 145,243 lives with high school diplomas
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Your high school or college diploma might be doing more than helping you get a job and taking up space in your attic. It could be saving your life. - photo by Shelby Slade
Your high school or college diploma might be doing more than helping you get a job and taking up space in your attic. It could be saving your life.

A new study has put a number on how many premature deaths could be avoided when people earn a high school diploma: 145,243.

To find this number, researchers at the University of Colorado, New York University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill compared the relative risks of death for people with varying levels of education to the educational attainments all Americans have received, Alia Wong reported for The Atlantic.

The researchers found that if the section of the population that does not have a diploma were to receive an advanced degree, more than 110,000 premature deaths would be prevented.

According to U.S. Census data from 2014, 12 percent of Americans over 18 years of age do not have a high school diploma or GED. Beyond that, 20 percent do not pursue an advanced diploma, like an associates or bachelors degree.

The health benefits of getting a higher education have been well documented. In all age groups, higher education levels correspond to lower rates of obesity, according to the College Board.

Some illnesses, like cardiovascular disease, are also significantly less common among people with greater educational attainments, Anya Kamenetz reported for NPR.

The federal government recognizes this correlation and has made increasing high school graduation rates one of the points of its Healthy People 2020 agenda, Wong wrote.

But the benefits don't stop there. People with college degrees and high school diplomas also have higher cognitive skills, Kamenetz reported. This means they are able to get information more effectively and have better peer connections.

However, when thinking about health, Americans tend to focus on the direct cause of the problem, rather than the larger issues, like education, that lead to the health issue in the first place, Wong wrote.

Receiving an advanced degree oftentimes allows Americans to obtain a better paying job that provides them with more resources.

"In the simplest version, people with more education have higher income and more money," explained Virginia Chang, who worked on the study, in the NPR article. "They can afford to eat better, a gym membership or a personal trainer, support to quit smoking."

Chang believes it's important to take a more holistic view of an individual and look at the original factors that could contribute to a premature death.

If someone is dying of lung cancer, we focus on the smoking because that was one of the more proximal events, Chang said to Wong. We dont go more upstream and think about social conditions as fundamental causes of mortality.
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How to avoid 'sharenting' and other paparazzi parenting habits
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A recent study revealed parents often spend up to two hours staging a single photo of his or her child to post online. - photo by Amy Iverson
Before having kids, some people just dont appreciate their friends baby posts. But after having a child of their own, three fourths of new parents jump right on the parental social media bandwagon. If you have become a member of this group, there are some rules to follow for posting responsibly.

Much of a parents worry is how to teach their children to use social media responsibly. We talk with our kids about privacy, oversharing, and setting restrictions on their devices to keep them safe. But parents themselves need to look in the digital mirror once in a while. Before having children, it doesnt take as much effort to think about what to post online. Its up to us to decide what we share about our own lives. But once you become a parent, there are many questions to think about regarding what is appropriate to post about your kids on social media.

In a recent survey, kids clothing subscription company Mac and Mia surveyed 2000 new parents to find out how they are documenting their kids lives on social media, and what concerns they may have.

First of all, people without children seem to feel a bit differently about the onslaught of baby pictures online than those who are parents. 18 percent of people say before they had kids, they were annoyed by their friends baby posts. But after having children of their own, 73 percent admit they post progress pictures of their little ones every single month.

Not only are new parents letting the world know each time their baby is a month older, but they are posting about their kids every few days or so. Men and women report they post 6-7 times per month about their baby.

And while 70 percent of new parents say the benefit of using social media is how easy it is to help family and friends feel involved, there are some downsides. Here are a few tips to avoid the pitfall of becoming paparazzi parents.

Dont miss the moment

In the Mac and Mia survey, some parents admitted to spending up to two hours to get the perfect shot of their baby. That seems a little extreme. New and old parents alike should be careful about spending so much time taking pictures and videos that they dont enjoy the moment. Years ago, I decided to never live an experience through my phone. A study by Linda Henkel, a psychology professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut, found that when people took pictures of objects in an art museum, they didnt remember the objects as well as if they simply observed them.

This photo-taking impairment effect can happen to parents as well. If we are so consumed by getting the perfect photo, we can miss out on the moment all together, and our memory of it will suffer.

Dont forget about privacy

60 percent of couples say they have discussed rules and boundaries for posting their babys photos, according to the Mac and Mia survey. Even so, men are 34 percent more likely to publish baby posts on public accounts. If parents are concerned about their childrens privacy, keeping photos off of public accounts is a given.

In the Washington Post, Stacey Steinberg, a legal skills professor at the University of Florida, and Bahareh Keith, a Portland pediatrician, wrote that sharing too much information about kids online puts them at risk. They write that all that sharenting can make it easier for data thieves to target out kids for identity theft. Check that your privacy settings are where they should be and never share identifying information like full names and birth dates.

Dont be paparazzi parents

36 percent of parents say they take issue when their childs photo is posted online by someone else. Responsible social media users will always ask permission before posting a photo of another child. But parents should also think about whether their own children will take issue with their own posted photos a few years down the road.

When parents are constantly snapping pictures and throwing them on social media, it can be easy to forget to pause and make sure the post is appropriate. I always use the billboard example with my kids. I ask them to picture whatever they are posting going up on a billboard in our neighborhood. If they are okay with that, then their post is probably fine. Parents should ask themselves this same question when posting about their children. But they should also ask themselves if their child would be OK with this post on a billboard in 15 years. If it would cause embarrassment or humiliation, it might be best to keep it private.

Once children reach an appropriate age, parents should include them in the process of deciding what pictures are OK to post. Researchers at the University of Michigan surveyed 10- to 17-year-olds and found children believe their parents should ask permission more than parents think they should. The kids in the survey said sharing happy family moments, or accomplishments in sports, school and hobbies is fine. But when the post is negative (like when a child is disciplined) or embarrassing (think naked baby pictures or messy hair), kids say to keep it off social media.
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