Parents May Not Understand Unspoken Teen Texting Rules
What? Teens utilize their tech-savvy skills in a variety of ways, including simultaneously carrying on multiple conversations with the same person across different apps.
So What? In a now-viral TikTok video, Gen Zer Tyler Vitelli explains how he texted his mom about a bad grade in one app and then sent her a funny video in another. His mom got upset, assuming he was trying to minimize his failure. But Vitelli explains this was not his intent. Rather, Gen Z compartmentalizes their conversations across different social media platforms.
Now What? This isn’t an exclusively Gen Z habit (many Millennials in the comments claimed this trend began when they were teens themselves), but it does offer some insight to parents struggling to get through to their kids. If your teens seemingly change the subject mid-conversation by sending something unrelated from a different app, it doesn’t mean they aren’t taking you seriously. However, they probably are distracted. So if you need to discuss something important, it may be better to save that conversation for face-to-face.
@tylervitelli2 She didn’t know how to react #storytelling #funny #relatable ♬ original sound – Tyler Vitelli
Federal Appeals Court Unanimously Upholds the TikTok Ban
What? In April, President Biden signed a law requiring the social media platform, TikTok, “to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January,” reports APNews.
So What? TikTok and ByteDance challenged this law, claiming it was a violation of the First Amendment. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied this petition, stating that the U.S. government “acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.”
Now What? Apart from what the government does or doesn’t allow on social media in general, parents need to carefully consider allowing their teens to sign up for any social media platform, not just TikTok. There are always risks involved when putting personal information, such as your name and picture, online. New studies show that just 35 minutes of scrolling through TikTok is enough to develop an addiction. And there are a number of dangerous trends and predatory users to look out for, too.
‘Brain Rot’ Is Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year
What? According to the Oxford Dictionary, “brain rot” is “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.”
So What? On average, 8- to 12-year-olds use about 5 ½ hours of screen media daily. And 13- to 18-year-olds use about 8 ½ hours. (You can read more about those stats in Plugged In’s “Parental Advisory.”) And chances are that a good portion of those hours are mindless scrolling through YouTube and social media.
Now What? The best way to fight brain rot is to reduce your child’s screentime. For younger kids, that’s probably going to involve screen time limits or even removal of the devices. For older teens, those same rules apply, but you can also have a conversation about the problem, encouraging them to take control of their screentime habits and pursue things they’re actually passionate about.
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