Social media websites like YouTube are all the rage these days and for good reason too. The popular video sharing portal provides users a platform to upload their videos and reach out to millions of viewers from all over the world, while sitting at home. The website is single-handedly responsible for turning unknowns, like Justin Bieber and Psy, into global icons. This, being yet another indication of its massive popularity among the masses. However, not all is sunshine and rainbows in the land of video sharing. Lately, YouTube’s notoriety has expanded beyond supporting sacrilegious content to allowing videos which are promoting dangerous teenage trends.

Today, YouTube is home to thousands of videos which feature hazardous activities like vodka eyeballing, condom snorting, gallon smashing and cinnamon eating to name a few. The website has gained immense popularity among the teen demographic for housing such enticing videos. Experts are of the view that these videos are encouraging teenagers to imitate these life threatening acts in their effort to gain fame. In the midst of all this hoopla, parents are finding it increasingly difficult to prevent these trends among their teenage kids.

Here are a few ways using which parents can speak to their teens about the hazards of such actions and redirect their energies into more constructive activities:

Communicate with them 

Proper communication is essential for a healthy parent-teen relationship. Educating your teen about the risks of following dangerous trends is a duty binding upon all parents. They need to inform their kids of the serious repercussions of indulging in such life-threatening acts. Parents should give their kids, examples of teens that got injured attempting stunts. This might help them convince their teen to stay away from pulling dangerous stunts. Parents can prevent dangerous teenage trends by talking to their kids. 

Encourage outdoor activities

Teens spend a good chunk of their time on the Internet and it’s not always to research their science homework. With an onslaught of social media websites, it has become easier for adolescents to document their thoughts and share content using internet. Even though there is nothing wrong with spending time online to connect with friends, it has to be regulated in some way. One way to do that would be to encourage your teens to take up alternative outdoor activities like playing a sport etc. This won’t just keep them out of harm’s way but also give them the necessary mental and physical exercise considered crucial for their physical growth and personality development.

Inspired by the rags to riches stories of various pop stars who gained popularity through YouTube, these teens often indulge in life threatening acts to attract attention and earn recognition. They see it as a means of self-expression, through which, they aim to seek approval from the people around the world.  These adolescents, hence, film their stunts and then post them on YouTube to reach out to a global audience. They are well aware of the fact that the more dangerous the activity, the more likely they are to get featured. With this in mind, these teenagers choose to go for the most risky activities.