By Mary O’KEEFE

Attitude can affect health. Just ask teens before finals or parents before their teens take their driver’s test. The pressures and stresses that families face today may be similar to what grandparents faced in their day, but there are added components today that increase the negatives surrounding some kids. Cyberbullying is one. Bullying used to be limited to a small group of kids on a campus; now cyberspace provides the chance for hundreds of people to participate in bullying. The world is larger for teens than it has ever been and, with increased competition for college, less free time and more social media contact at a younger age, kids are working harder to keep their heads above the waters of negativity.

Dr. Sebastian Puccio has seen these concerns firsthand and has seen what negative comments and images can do to a teenager. He has been a teacher for 11 years and, until recently, was the assistant principal at Rosemont Middle School. He has moved to another district and is now an assistant principal at a high school. He received his doctorate in education with a concentration in educational psychology. During his career, he has listened to many students talk about everything from home issues to friends. He has also seen the power of positive encouragement and has begun a newsletter/blog titled The Doctor Puccio to highlight the philosophy of light instead of darkness.

“The idea has been in my mind for a while, but I wasn’t sure how to really create it,” Puccio said. “Then I was in a yoga class and the instructor was talking about building beauty and sharing beauty out of love.”

It was in mid pose when the idea of the blog came to him. He sat straight up.

“The instructor asked, ‘Something came to you?’” he recalled. “I started typing on my phone on my way out of class.”

His idea was to share anecdotes of positive stories and peaceful images with kids on social media.

“Our kids communicate through social media. At Rosemont we kept kids from using their phones during the day, but in high school that’s not the case,” he said.

Kids use their phones at high school during snack and lunch times. Puccio said he has seen kids on their phones reacting with each other standing only a few feet away from each other.

“So I thought why not reach them in a way they know how to communicate,” he said.

Puccio put his newsletter/blog on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and began to gather content.

“And I wanted to reach parents, too,” he added.

He said he has been a bit surprised by how many adults have signed up for the newsletter and have commented on how much enjoy the stories and links shared.

“I found there were anecdotes I really wanted to share,” he said.

A traveler, this summer Puccio spent a month in Southeast Asia and witnessed the way people viewed experiences there.

“Like the way we measure happiness and how they measure happiness,” he said of the different lifestyles. “I began making observations and to see my own life through my Western lens. [I wanted] to share those stories.”

He shared stories from his own experiences, from growing up an immigrant in California in the 1990s when there was a lot of anti-immigration and anti-bi-lingual attitudes.

“I was able to succeed and come through it. I think it is through resilience that we succeed,” he said.

He added that he has seen kids who are struggling and he wants to let them know they can get through it.

“The struggle isn’t forever and being able to understand that is a powerful piece of [learning],” he said.

Recently he shared a story online about resilience.

“I wanted to be on a paddle board at sunset in the Indian Ocean in Bali,” he said. The weather was not cooperating and the man he rented the board told him the waves were rough and he might not be able to make it. But Puccio said he was determined.

“Many times I was knocked off the board, but I got back on. At times I was paddling on my knees, which for anyone who paddle boards knows that’s an uncool thing to do, but that’s what life is all about,” he said about overcoming challenges and being resilient in doing so.

He added, “Sometimes you don’t do the cool thing to achieve a goal but [have to] keep trying and you can make it.” The sunset was wonderful by the way.

The content for the newsletter comes from Puccio exclusively but he is hoping to increase the amount of content by reaching out to others. He has contacted friends who are teachers, counselors and psychologists working with youth. He hopes they will contribute positive stories in the future.

He describes his newsletter as “A space devoted specifically to sharing and exploring the topics of kindness, resilience, and mindfulness … The Doctor Puccio is a place for teens to connect and find that they’re not alone in the challenges they face in the Social Age.”

For more information and to sign up for the newsletter go to www.thedoctorpuccio.com

  Dr. Sebastian Puccio, Mary Okeefe