jewels

My middle schooler's classmate got caught choking herself today.

When my daughter told me this, I thought of those who practice auto-asphysxiation and thought they were trying to 'get off' in the bathroom or something. Turns out that a friend of a friend sent these youtube links to other friends. My daughter called it California Dreaming and told me that most of her friends had been doing it. I was able to find several videos of certain groups doing it to themselves or one another, laughing their asses off. (I won't post them as I'm not certain of the ages of the people in them.)

These 13 and 14 year old kids see these videos and think it's a good time. Although I monitor my kids online activities and they are barred from certain sites, I never thought of youtube as a dangerous place to be. I will definitely be having a talk with my girls this evening, but I know there are many parents that won't even bother.

I wanted to alert those who are parents of young teens. I think of myself as a pretty savvy mom, but since I had no clue, I'm wondering what else might be out there that we need to watch out for.

All I can say is I'm glad my kids are straight edge and proud.

What do you think? How can we protect our kids without stunting their growth? Doesn't it make you wonder what else is out there?

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We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.
Mark Twain