TikTok Blocks ‘Legging Legs’ Trend as Experts Voice Concern
What? “Legging Legs” has been described as Gen Z’s “thigh gap” or “bikini bridge.” It’s a trend that showcases the “perfect” or “ideal” size and shape that women and girls should have to wear these spandex pants.
So What? Experts have slammed the trend for promoting unrealistic body standards, which might subsequently amplify girls’ body insecurities and undermine their self-esteem. It’s been called “disgusting,” “toxic” and “harmful” by social media users. In response, TikTok now redirects searches for the trend toward resources for eating disorders.
Now What? It’s important for teen girls, especially those who’ve been targets of body shaming, to remember that genetics and bone structure play a bigger role in certain body types than diet or exercise. And as one influencer pointed out, beauty standards change every couple of weeks, if not weekly, so “our sole purpose in life is not to fit into clothes and to fit into whatever beauty standard is in right now.”
AI Can Promote or Stifle a Child’s Creativity
What? Parents and teachers have voiced concerns that implementing AI in the classroom may hinder the learning process—particularly the creative thinking process.
So What? A new study indicates that “allowing students to practice creativity independently first will strengthen their belief in themselves and their abilities. Once they accomplish this, AI can be useful in furthering their learning, much like teaching long division to students before introducing a calculator.”
Now What? While the study found that AI can be beneficial in the brainstorming phase of creativity, “the essential tasks of defining problems and critically evaluating ideas still rely heavily on human input.” And students shouldn’t rely too heavily on AI, since many of the ideas are either repetitive (given that generative AI recycles existing content) or completely unrealistic (because AI can “hallucinate,” yielding inaccurate results).
Asthma Is More Common Among High School Students Who Use Marijuana
What? In 2019, 37% of high school students reported using marijuana. Those numbers dropped in 2020 and 2021. But in 2022, 8.3% of eighth graders, 19.5% of 10th graders and 30.7% of 12th graders reported using the drug at least once in the previous year.
So What? Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the City University of New York have now found a connection between asthma and marijuana use. Asthma is more common among teens who use cannabis, and that correlation increases with the frequency of use.
Now What? Parents should know that marijuana usage among adolescents been linked to a range of mental health problems, such as depression and social anxiety, as well as schizophrenia. Approximately 3 in 10 people who use marijuana have marijuana-use disorder (and the risk of developing this disorder is stronger in people who start using marijuana during youth or adolescence). And, of course, there’s been a rise in cannabis laced with fentanyl, an even more addictive and potentially lethal drug. So while some advocates try to characterize pot use as benign, the weight of scientific evidence strongly suggests otherwise.
For more resources on marijuana use and its effects, visit Focus on the Family:
4 Responses
“So while some advocates try to characterize pot use as benign, the weight of scientific evidence strongly suggests otherwise.”
Hold up. Are we talking about *the drug* being the issue behind asthma (a condition I’ve had from childhood) or *the smoke* inhalation (which not all forms of marijuana usage consist of) ? Whether you personally participate in marijuana use or not, it’s not worse than tobacco, and it’s most definitely not worse than snus or alcohol, all of which are legal to sell in the US to people who are of age (despite snus being banned in nearly all of the European Union). There is no reason simple possession should be a jail offense, let alone be something that leads to long-term sentences, and I question the overlap between people who don’t want the US to be an overly restrictive “nanny state” and the people who don’t care about people spending large portions of their lives behind bars for possessing or selling a plant. (If we’re going to be putting people in jail for that, we should be doing the same for tobacco and especially alcohol, both of which I know many professing church-goers who regularly partake in.) We as Christians need to be more concerned about abuses of prescription painkillers and other “technically legal” drugs, because that’s way more devastating than any concentration of marijuana I’ve ever heard of.
I believe the best kind of influence to be under is that of the Holy Spirit.
True. That shouldn’t necessarily translate into punitive legislation, though.
Marijuana is worse than tobacco. It has carcinogens like tobacco, causes psychosis in some young people, increases weight gain, and doubled Denver’s rate of car accidents when it was legalized recreationally.
In Oklahoma where I live, many peoples’ pet dogs have eaten it and died and children have had to be treated in the hospital for it because they make it in gummies that appeal to children. There are 4 pharmacies within a mile of my neighborhood but at least 8 marijuana shops. And we only have “medical” marijuana, but the regulations are so lax that nearly any adult can qualify.
Since it is now legal, people smoke it in crowds and around kids and vape it in public buildings and claim it is healthy since it is a plant, but society is just trading one poison for another.