Think back to your formative years and there may well have been some things that you did in your teens that you subsequently regretted, especially if it was as a result of peer pressure to try or do something you weren’t comfortable with.
Now the tables are turned and if you are a parent of teenage children, it is down to you to try and guide them through this challenging but exciting period in their lives.
Personal injury lawyers like Denena and Points are accustomed to helping their clients when things go wrong, but hopefully, if you can become informed enough about some of the latest dangerous teen trends and fads, you will be able to steer your child into calmer and safer waters.
Vaporized alcohol
Parties are a regular feature of teenage life, but do you actually know what activities and games that your young adult son or daughter might be getting up to?
One particularly dangerous trend is the act of smoking alcohol.
Some teens are experimenting with a way of getting drunk that involves inhaling vaporized alcohol. You can find examples of this trend on YouTube, and what happens is that the fumes from the alcohol are inhaled into the lungs, allowing it to travel directly to the brain, and resulting in instant intoxication.
Medical experts are issuing a stark warning that this practice of vaporizing booze in this way can easily lead to alcohol poisoning. Smoking alcohol might seem like a cool thing to do for a teenager at a party, but it could easily have serious consequences.
Another issue with condoms
Responsible parenting includes having that difficult conversation about sex education and the need to use a condom, but there is a dangerous new trend that parents also need to be aware of.
Condom snorting is trending online with teenagers and this is a party game and challenge that could very easily go badly wrong. It seems that the aim is to snort a condom up your nose and then pull it out of your mouth before you start choking to death.
It seems inconceivable to most parents that your son or daughter would even entertain such as dangerous and crazy challenge, but if you are going to talk to them about condoms, talk about how dangerous condom snorting is, as well as the importance of safe sex.
Nothing harmless about cinnamon
If used in the conventional way, there is of course nothing remotely harmful about a spice that you probably have stored in your kitchen cupboard somewhere.
Again YouTube would be your go to resource if you want to see how some teens are managing to turn the use of cinnamon into a potentially deadly challenge.
The game that is enjoying popularity amongst teens at parties, involves swallowing a spoonful of cinnamon powder without taking in water down with it. Trying to consume this spice in this way will dry out your mouth and make the task of swallowing it virtually impossible.
Some teens will cough out a large puff of cinnamon amidst cheers or jeers from their friends, others might suffer a coughing fit, which is bad enough, but nothing compared to a rare few teenagers, who end up inhaling the powder into their lungs, resulting in them needing to be put on a ventilator.
This dangerous game highlights just how vigilant you have to be as a parent, as cinnamon is not exactly an illegal substance.
Inhaling household products
It is also worth pointing out that the practice of experimenting with inhaling common household products is more widespread than you might envisage.
It is estimated that by the time your child has reached the eighth grade, there is a 20% chance that could have tried to inhale the contents of a can of compressed air, glue or some other equally toxic product, when used in this way.
The act of breathing these chemicals can result in a lack of oxygen supply to the brain. It might cause a brief moment of euphoria for the teenager trying it, but there is a definite risk of serious injury or death, so talk to your son or daughter about this highly dangerous practice.
Reasoning with your teenager
Try to think back to when you were a teenager and you will probably remember wanting to rebel against your parents, or at least try new experiences.
Thrill-seeking and risky behavior is a normal part of this part of their formative years but there clearly need to be limits. It is interesting to note that the part of a teenage brain that controls their impulses, doesn’t fully mature until they are about 25 years of age.
Try to have an open dialogue with your teenager and make them aware of the potential dangers, without perhaps trying to lecture them in a way that might make them rebel.
Lara Hutchinson is a Mom of 2 teenage boys who also works with teens on a daily basis. In the age of social-media and other “inventions” that didn’t exist in her day, Lara likes to write articles which inform parents of what their teen could be up to, forewarned is forearmed after all!
