Children and young adults have been video taping themselves doing dangerous and harmful things for years now in order to obtain their fifteen minutes of fame on YouTube. What parent will forget the deaths and injuries that occurred from things like "planking" or the Hanging Game. The latest in the YouTube video craze is "The Salt and Ice Challenge" which involves putting salt and ice on bare skin and seeing how long one can stand to keep it there. It mimics frostbite and can cause severe damage to the participant. Pictures of one Pittsburgh teen can be found in the AOL headlines. I will warn you, the pictures are not pretty, but the damage is most certainly permanent.
What can we do as parents to ensure that our children don't take the "Salt and Ice " Challenge, or attempt to get their fifteen minutes of fame in some other dangerous way? Sit down with them and talk about the dangers of these stunts. Show them the pictures of this boys back and talk about how much pain he will be in for a long time. Ask them if they can remember any of the "planker's" or hanging game victim's names who died trying to gain notoriety. Point out that they are not remembered or famous, they are just dead. Talk about other ways to gain the desired notoriety that are not dangerous: inventions, sports achievements, academic accomplishments,
I am really concerned that society, with all of it's "reality" shows, is pushing our children toward more and more dangerous activities with the prize being 15 minutes of fame. How many more children have to die before the social networks ban these dangerous videos? No outlet for these videos to go viral and I bet money on the number of injuries drops dramaticly.
Showing posts with label teen death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teen death. Show all posts
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012
In the Good Old Summer Time: Joy Riding and Your Teen
As the good old summertime approaches, teens will be spending more time on the roads without supervision. Our teens being out their on the roads beyond parental control doing who knows what strikes fear in the hearts of parents everywhere. In 2010, 3115 teens were killed in car crashes. Is more regulations on teen drivers the way to go or is it more parental supervision that is needed? The age old question, is it the government's responsibility or the responsibility of the parent to monitor this activity?
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently released some startling projected statistics about teen drivers and changing the driving laws made specificly to govern them. Their figures suggest that changing the driving age in all states from 16 to 17 would reduce car fatalities by 13%. Statistics support that the longer teens wait to learn to drive the lower their crash rate. In addition, these findings suggest that not allowing teens to drive at night or with other teens in the car would reduce deadly car crashes by 20%. The Insurance Institue for Highway Safety supports tougher rules for first time drivers because it will allow these drivers to gain more experience while being supervised.
I remember when my first born got his driver's license, it sure was time saving for me to have the option of sending him to the store or out to pick up his sister. I live in a state that allows a teen to get their permit at fifteen, but they must be sixteen and have had their permit for atleast six months prior to testing for their license. We did not give our children a car, they each earned the money to buy their first car. I think that this made them more cautious with their car because they were invested in it. When they drove our vehicle, they told us where they were going and if they went somewhere else (got to love those systems that you can install that tells you where the car has been) without permission there was a consequence. We took the keys away for a period of time. Clipping their wings (or wheels) leaves a lasting impression. A few words about those trackers and the right to privacy. My children knew that the device had been installed. I think installing this device without their knowledge and then using the information against them, will cause irreparable damage to the parent-child relationship so important to maintain when parenting of a teen.
Maybe the right answer to the question of who should be monitoring this activity to save the lifes of teens is both the governement and parents.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently released some startling projected statistics about teen drivers and changing the driving laws made specificly to govern them. Their figures suggest that changing the driving age in all states from 16 to 17 would reduce car fatalities by 13%. Statistics support that the longer teens wait to learn to drive the lower their crash rate. In addition, these findings suggest that not allowing teens to drive at night or with other teens in the car would reduce deadly car crashes by 20%. The Insurance Institue for Highway Safety supports tougher rules for first time drivers because it will allow these drivers to gain more experience while being supervised.
I remember when my first born got his driver's license, it sure was time saving for me to have the option of sending him to the store or out to pick up his sister. I live in a state that allows a teen to get their permit at fifteen, but they must be sixteen and have had their permit for atleast six months prior to testing for their license. We did not give our children a car, they each earned the money to buy their first car. I think that this made them more cautious with their car because they were invested in it. When they drove our vehicle, they told us where they were going and if they went somewhere else (got to love those systems that you can install that tells you where the car has been) without permission there was a consequence. We took the keys away for a period of time. Clipping their wings (or wheels) leaves a lasting impression. A few words about those trackers and the right to privacy. My children knew that the device had been installed. I think installing this device without their knowledge and then using the information against them, will cause irreparable damage to the parent-child relationship so important to maintain when parenting of a teen.
Maybe the right answer to the question of who should be monitoring this activity to save the lifes of teens is both the governement and parents.
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