While there’s certainly nothing new about teens taking risks, many of these activities can have deadly outcomes and are starting at younger ages. Parents and youth workers can help teenagers be safe by staying up on what’s going on and knowing the warning signs.
MSNBC lists four risky behaviors today’s kids are engaging in, as well as warning signs and preventative helps.
They list the 4 behaviors as “must knows”
1. Asphyxiation or “The Choking Game”
Also called the Pass Out Game, Space Monkey, or Black Out, children and teenagers shut off oxygen flow to the brain by pressing their thumb or hand tightly on the neck; tying a rope, necktie, belt around their neck; hyperventilating by holding their breath; or putting a plastic bag over the head until they get a floaty, tingling, or high sensation.
2. Online Gambling
Gambling is spreading quickly in the under 18 sector and is surpassing drinking, drugs, and smoking as the most popular high-risk activity among boys.
3. Cold Medicine Addiction
When taken in significant doses, cold medicine can produce euphoric highs and hallucinations. Many kids are taking as much as 25 to 50 times the recommended dose to get high, but in large amounts it can become a dangerous, even deadly mind-altering drug.
4. Steroid Use
Kids as young as 10 years old are taking illegal steroids to do better in sports. Use among middle-school girls is almost as prevalent as it is among boys.
What methods do you use to keep parents informed about current risky behaviors their children may be participating in? What do you do to inform student about the real risks of such behaviors?
