Dangerous Teen Fads

Teenagers are not known for making smart choices. They hang out with the wrong crowd, skip a few classes, and maybe even have a few drinks. But did you know these may be the safest bad choices they make?  Parents should take the time to educate themselves on the dangerous activities that their kids may be participating in.   Although some may seem harmless, they may be scarier than you think.

Using Acronyms for texting and online messaging is pretty common place these days.  Most of us moms are well aware of  these simple acronyms and probably most of you use them in your own texting. 
LOL ~ Laugh Out Loud 
BFF ~ Best Friends Forever
TTYL ~ Talk To You Later

But were you aware that the common teenager is using these acronyms to get other ideas across? 
POS ~ Parent Over Shoulder
RUH ~ Are You Horny
GYPO ~ Get Your Pants Off

The Acronyms can even get more disturbing.  Clayton Paul Thomas has a great list if you are interested in learning some more.

Another fad that is becoming more popular among the tween and teen crowd is ChatRoulette.com. This website randomly selects a person for your child to have a video chat with. What is shown and talked about on this website is not monitored and cannot be filtered. As a result, your child is vulnerable to adult content and sexual predators. Sexting is another act that opens the door to predators. Teens believe that sending explicit or pornographic images will be kept private, but this is not always the case. What happens when the person on the receiving in decides to be vindictive and spread it around? Not only can it land up in the wrong hands, it can lead to permanent emotional damage. I have heard about at least two cases where this exact thing happened and the girls ended up committing suicide.

Although the above fads are more talked about, there are others that are more hidden from us parents.  Smoking and inhaling Smarties is also very amongst the tweens and teens. After crushing up the candy, they roll it up in paper to smoke or just inhale it as if they were using drugs. Unless the candy clogs the nasal passage, this new fad is physically harmless. But the act itself should make parents aware of their child’s interest in drug use. Our children can actually learn how to do this on YouTube.

The Choking Game has been around for years, but is still popular with the young crowd. Teens enjoy being choked or choking themselves to achieve a momentary high. This game can lead to black outs, brain damage, or even death. Another frightening game that has been around for many years is car surfing. Just like it sounds, kids pretend they are surfing on the top of a moving vehicle. This game has led to many injuries and deaths over the years. And if that wasn’t enough, kids have now progressed to train surfing.

As parents, we have a responsibility to our kids to be aware of what they encounter on a daily basis.  We need to remind our children of the consequences their actions may bring.  Make them aware of how many other teens have suffered as a result of those same choices.  It may be scary for them to read a news article of another teen falling to his death after car surfing, but it may just save their life.  

What other teen fads are you aware of?  Grab a latte, put up your feet, and join the discussion!