BACK TO SCHOOL
Social media challenges can be fun, but caution is necessary
Social media is ubiquitous,
with new platforms cropping
up each year. Social media can
be an outlet for communication
and is designed to bridge the
distance between users around
the world. Many children growing
up today have never been
without social media, and parents
continue to try to educate
themselves about how to keep
their children connected and
safe.
Social media challenges
are a relatively recent phenomenon,
the most notable of
which may be the Ice Bucket
Challenge that helped to raise
awareness about the disease
ALS. Participants poured
buckets of ice water over their
heads and the heads of others.
The stunt went viral and many
people around the world ended
up donating money to ALS research
as a result.
Since then, many different
challenges have emerged, most
of which have become lighthearted
and entertaining ways
to escape boredom or unite people
in support of a good cause.
Fun challenges Flip
The Switch was started by
singer and musician Drake in
2020 that had two people participating
in a video. A person in
the foreground looks in a mirror
while the person in the background
dances to Drake’s “Nonstop.”
When the song reaches
the lyrics, “Look, I just fl ipped
the switch, I don’t know nobody
else that’s doin’ this,” the lights
go out and when they’re back
on the people in the video have
switched places. Some also
switch their clothes. A previous
social media challenge known
as the Bird Box Challenge involved
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people being inspired by
Netfl ix’s meme-worthy original
movie “Bird Box.” Individuals
blindfolded themselves while
attempting daily tasks. Newer
challenges on the popular Tik-
Tok app have people replicating
dance moves or lip-synching to
popular songs. The Until Tomorrow
challenge asks people
to post embarrassing photos of
themselves.
The darker side of challenges
Most social media challenges
are created with fun in
mind, and children and parents
are joining in on the entertainment.
But like other
aspects of social media use,
challenges have a potential
dark side as well. According
to the Daily Mail, 130 teenagers
committed suicide due to
a challenge called The Blue
Whale. In this challenge,
young participants embarked
on a series of feats over 50 days
that became more complicated
and dangerous as time went
on, causing injuries to animals
and participants. The Miami
Herald reported last year that
children were injured from the
Skullbreaker Challenge, which
was a challenge involving two
pranksters and an unsuspecting
individual, who had his or
her feet kicked out from under
while jumping in the air. Other
dangerous challenges have involved
kids playing with fi re,
erasing their skin with pencil
erasers and balancing on the
top of cars while they were in
motion.
Communication needed
Families can have open conversations
about social media
use and touch on the popularity
of new challenges pinpointing
what is safe and what is not.
Parents are urged to always
monitor kids’ social media
use so they can stay up-to-date
about any challenges their children
are considering. Kids can
be encouraged to speak to their
parents or adults at school
about pressures from peers to
engage in challenges that may
make them leery.
Reading aloud to children is
one of the joys of parenting. All
children, whether they’re infants,
toddlers or school-aged,
can benefi t from being read to,
and parents whose youngsters
have grown up often look back
on story time as some of their
favorite moments as moms and
dads.
Reading aloud to children is
about more than just establishing
a bond between parent and
child. According to Reading
Rockets, a national public media
literacy initiative, children
as young as infants can benefi t
from being read to. Infants can
look at pictures as their parents
point to them and say the
names of the various objects
within them. By drawing attention
to the pictures and associating
words with them and
real-world objects, parents are
helping infants learn the importance
of language.
Kids of all ages can benefi t
from being read to, even after
they learn to read on their
own. The following are a handful
of ways that reading aloud
to children can benefi t them.
Reading to children dramatically
expands their vocabulary.
A 2019 study published
in the Journal of Developmental
and Behavioral Pediatrics
found that young children
whose parents read them fi ve
books a day enter kindergarten
having heard roughly 1.4 million
more words than kids who
were never read to. The disparity
is even signifi cant when
comparing kids who are periodically
read to each day with
kids who are read fi ve books
per day. Children who are read
to daily may hear slightly less
than 300,000 words prior to
entering kindergarten, while
those read fi ve books per day
will hear more than 1.4 million
words.
Reading to children expands
their imaginations. The
Northern Virginia Family Services
reports that research
has shown that children who
activate their imaginations
through being read to develop
higher activity in the area of
their brain that’s responsible
for cultivating mental images
and deciphering and comprehending
verbal cues. That
heightened activity bolsters
youngsters’ imaginations and
instills in them a greater fondness
for reading.
Reading can help kids
learn to focus. Parents of
young children no doubt
know that such youngsters
rarely sit still for any signifi -
cant length of time. However,
when being read to, young
children, even those who are
initially reluctant to engage
in story time, will learn to
sit still for the duration of
the book. That can help them
learn to focus, a benefi t that
will pay dividends when children
begin school.
Reading to children can
speak to children’s interests
or emotional needs. Reading
Rockets notes that children’s
favorite stories may speak to
their emotional needs and interests.
That’s why so many
youngsters insist on reading
a favorite book over and
over again. Though that’s often
boring for parents, it can
benefi t youngsters, who will
eventually move on to other
books. Reading to children
can benefi t them in myriad
ways and provide a great way
for parents to bond with their
youngsters.
Metro Images
How kids benefi t
from being read to
Metro Images