Because of the detrimental impacts of social media, so many parents try to completely remove phones from their children. This may eliminate the issue of obsessive social media use, but it’ll undoubtedly lead to other issues, such as the kid feeling alienated and socially isolated, as well as plenty of conflict at home. You raise a typical parenting conundrum: how to strike a balance between your teenager’s social wants and constraints necessary for their health and wellness.

The Philosophy That Stands Behind Social Media and Teens

Social media parenting presents particular and frustrating difficulties. Parents are unaware of what it’s like for teenagers to grow up in the social media age. Instead, we frequently see stories about how social media could be harming a whole generation (our children). However, social media use has ingrained itself so deeply into the lives of our teenagers that an outright prohibition is unachievable.

As much as the media would have us think that social media is harmful, the research around social media and teens isn’t as clear-cut as they make it out to be. Your intuition that using social media may lead to a happier social life is correct. It can encourage social engagement, which has advantages including improved mood and building a sense of belonging that’s important in adolescence. Teens’ use of social media appears to be less of a determinant than how they use it. Making continuous social comparisons, which makes kids feel horrible about themselves, and using “likes” as a stand-in for value and likeability in real life are the parts that seem to pose the most risk to mental health.

A Few Possible Steps

Start by being curious. Pose open-ended questions to your teen, such as how they choose what to share and what the “likes” on their posts mean to them. Do they worry about the dangers of social media? (You can cite the particular platform they prefer.)

Try to see things from their point of view. What does it feel like when they receive many likes compared to when they don’t? What thoughts do they have? (Even if they don’t have any instant responses, this still encourages them to think about their interior experience.)

Depending on their response to these discussion starters, show sympathy for their situation. This can include how being active on the platform makes them feel like they belong to their friend group more or how getting lots of “likes” boosts their self-esteem.

Justify the regulations governing their use of social media. Share your worries about the amount of time they spend on their phone and social media, both of which are intended to incite compulsive behavior for commercial gain. Teenagers are known to dislike feeling used or controlled. You can mention the consequences on mood, anxiety, and self-esteem that are known to be detrimental.

During the summer, parents can find many different, engaging, and educational activities to keep stimulating the minds of their children without sticking to a formal school curriculum. While summer breaks ultimately create great opportunities for families to spend time participating in leisure activities or simply vacationing, it’s important to have a good balance between play and learning to ensure the educational progress they had made during the previous academic year will not be lost during the summer. So, here are a few easy and fun science-based experiments that can help parents engage their kids in science while having quality family time and in a low-stress environment.

Melting Skittles With the Magic of Science Is a Great Trick for Kids

A fun and easy science experiment that kids love to do is Skittle Melting Magic. This fun experiment can be done in three simple steps. First, enthusiasts should place the Skittles in a circle on a plate. Then, water should be poured into the center of the plate to cover the bottom of the Skittles. The magic happens when the colors start melting depending on the temperature of the water, forming a chocolate rainbow.

Another good practice with children is to teach them about germs. This can easily be done while teaching children to wash their hands by explaining why it is important and what germs have to do with the process. This is a great opportunity to teach children a valuable life lesson while. A good way to simulate how soap helps to get rid of germs is to put water with grounded black pepper on a plate and use a finger dipped in soap to make the pepper run away from the finger. This can show kids how good hand-washing can repel germs.

Oranges Can Be Used for a Science Experiment Showing Buoyancy

Fun, easy, and educational, the orange buoyancy science experiment is perfect for kids of all ages. Most importantly, it’s very easy to demonstrate, and that is especially great for busy parents. The ingredients are simple and include water and oranges. This experiment shows children that an orange will not sink, but a peeled orange will go directly to the bottom. It’s useful for parents to teach kids some science and how to experiment using the scientific method.

The Walking Water Experiment

Another trick that teaches science very effectively is the walking water experiment. It requires a strip of paper towel folded 1 or 2 inches wide. One end of the paper towel strip should be placed into a glass with colored water and the other end into an empty glass. After staying like that for about an hour, the water will travel through the paper towel until the two glasses have the same amount of liquid. Parents can use several glasses for a better effect.

There are other similar experiments that are easy to do and very interesting for kids. Parents could try the Magic Milk experiment, where dish soap is used to scatter food coloring on top of milk, or the Making Rain experiment, which provides a great visual of how clouds hold moisture and why it rains when they cannot retain it. So, while learning and summer may not go hand in hand for children, parents can be creative with science experiments to keep their kids learning as much as possible.