Disclaimer: The goal of Conquer with Na’Kole is to provide education and support for moms (and concerned loved ones) as they conquer the giants that seek to conquer their children. I, Na’Kole Watson, am not a licensed mental health professional nor am I offering professional mental health services or advice. Therefore, I accept no liability or responsibility to anyone as a result of any reliance upon the information produced on this site or in any communication issued by Na’Kole Watson and Conquer with Na’Kole. The views expressed on this and any other affiliated website are my own, and all sources are linked. If you are in crisis, please contact The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. If this is an emergency, please dial 911 immediately.

Happy Sunday! 

There is a lot happening in these social media streets, and I wanted to make sure you knew all about it! I’m going to break things down by app, so feel free to skip to the app(s)  you’re most interested in!

TikTok 

Update: The Slap a Teacher Challenge 

This week I discovered that kids were really out here slapping teachers. In real life. Actually slapping them.

Children now have assault charges because they slapped their teachers because of a TikTok challenge.

Sit with that for a minute.

Here are some articles about the challenges and the charges:

• ‘Slap a Teacher’ TikTok Challenge Set To Begin This Month—Here’s What Parents Should Know – Parents Magazine
• Some students face charges for the ‘slap a teacher’ challenge. Now schools are issuing warnings. – USA Today
• 7th graders accused of slapping NC teacher for TikTok challenge face assault charges – The Charlotte Observer

The Dry Scooping Challenge Causes an Influencer to Have a Heart Attack

This challenge involves scooping dry protein powder and ingesting it without diluting it with water. According to experts, this challenge started earlier in the year and is showing no signs of letting up.

Some users dry scoop to get a rush of energy before they work out. Some do it because they have seen others do it and want to see if it gives them a buzz. Either way, it’s super dangerous.

TikTok Influencer Briatney Portillo warns her fellow TikTokers about the dangers of dry scooping protein powder because she has a heart attack after doing so.

@brivtny #fypシ ♬ Be A Clown – ָ࣪ ۰♥︎ angiehx ࣪𖥔꒷

From the article:

“Doctors warn ingesting the powders on their own can lead to heart and lung seizures – and even death.”

There are lots of “pre-workout” videos appearing on TikTok that have users ingesting the power improperly – dry without any type of dilution. This is so dangerous that doctors are saying it could lead to choking and more.

Doctors and researchers also found that with this highly concentrated protein powder, users were also consuming large amounts of energy drinks and alcohol. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.

Please talk to your tween/teen about this! It’s wild.

Here are some articles for you:

• Doctors warn against TikTok ‘dry scooping’ challenge after influencer’s heart attack – New York Post
• Why ‘Dry Scooping’ Protein Powder Before Your Workout Is a Terrible Idea – Healthline

Facebook/Instagram

Two Young Girls on Opposite Sides of the World Share How Content on Instagram Fueled Their Eating Disorders.

CNN released a video article about Ashlee Thomas (who was fourteen at the time) and lives in Australia and Anastasia Vlasova who lives in the United States.

An older Ashley tells us how bad her eating disorder was at the time. She says that doctors didn’t understand how she was alive because her heart had failed twice. What brought it on? Seeing “clean eating” content and (what appeared to be) “perfect bodies and lots of followers. She said that when she said those influencers and how they looked plus all the followers they had, she said to herself, “I want a taste of that. I want to be liked and loved.”

Ashlee also tells us that she was addicted to Instagram.

Next, we hear from Anastasia Vlasova in the United States. She talks about how she was bombarded with content about clean eating and exercising every single day. She said that the more she saw, the more anxiety and depression she felt. She said that she could not stop consuming the content and that it eventually led to binge eating.

Both girls state that Instagram endangered their lives as teens.

Now. Does that mean your child shouldn’t be on Instagram? Not necessarily. More than anything, it means that we need to be safeguarding our children, teaching them about the world outside of the digital space, reaffirming them and pouring love and affirmations into them. If it’s not Instagram, it’ll be something else. Our society is FULL of pressure.

As we get closer to the end of the year, I’m going to teach you how to set yourself and your tween/teen up for an amazing new year and how to deal with the pressures of social media and society. Be sure to hop on my email list (at the bottom of this article) or follow me on Instagram so you don’t miss out!

Here’s the video: How two young women say Instagram endangered their lives – CNN Business

The Whistleblower Speaks

Frances Haugen is 37 years old (same age as your trusted tween/teen safety strategist) and she used to work for Facebook. She released TENS OF THOUSANDS of pages of information about Facebook.

She decided to be a whistleblower because she became aware that when there are conflicts between Facebook’s profits and the safety of the people who use it, Facebook, according to her, chooses its profits time after time.

Frances knew that help needed to come from the outside, so she decided to blow the whistle. What an act of courage!

The documents show that Facebook was well aware that there were problems with the Instagram product. She goes on to talk about issues with the election and how she felt betrayed with how Facebook handled things.

From the article:

Twitter

Twitter is testing a new pre-tweet prompt that would warn you when a conversation could possibly get heated.

This feature would give users a heads up and say that “Conversations like this can be intense.”

This could be a great feature when it comes to saving people from Twitter wars and from being totally obliterated by people who disagree. It is going to be interesting to see if Facebook/Instagram will follow suit now that we KNOW the technology is there.

Here’s the article about Twitter: Twitter’s latest pre-tweet prompts let you know when you’re about to jump into a Twitter fight – The Verge

Snapchat

Snapchat Adds Challenges and Cash Rewards

THANKFULLY, these challenges are nothing like the TikTok challenges I’ve been telling you about recently.

During these Snapchat challenges, creators will be able to post videos to Snapchat Spotlight (its feature that directly competes with TikTok) using certain lenses (kinda like filters), doing certain dances or other activities, and using certain sounds.

Payments for winners will come from a pool of funds ranging from $1K to $25K and the minimum payout is $250.

There will also be a gifting feature that allows its users to gift their favorite creators.

Here’s the full article: Snapchat adds ‘challenges’ with cash prizes to its TikTok competitor – The Verge

Snapchat is Cracking Down on Illegal Drug Sales

As I told you last week, there have been a lot of overdoses because of drugs being bought so easily on Snapchat. According to the company, they have taken a lot of measures to ensure that this does not keep happening the way it has been happening.

Here are a few things Snapchat has done:

• “We are determined to remove illegal drug sales from our platform, and we have been investing in proactive detection and collaboration with law enforcement to hold drug dealers accountable for the harm they are causing our community.”
• Snapchat has created a new educational center called “Heads Up”. When users search for drug-related terms, they will be pointed to the Heads Up content.
• Snapchat made “significant operational improvements” that “increased its enforcement rates by 112% and its proactive detection rates by 260% since the start of the year.

I want to highlight that this fentanyl thing is a serious problem. It only takes one pill to significantly alter, ruin or END a life. In my membership (that opens on October 15th), I’m going to be bringing in experts to talk to parents about Fentanyl and how dangerous it is and can be. Here’s what the article had to say about it:

“Since the start of 2021, officials have seized more than 9.5 million counterfeit pills, which is more than the two prior years combined, according to the DEA. The agency announced last week that it seized approximately 1.8 million fentanyl-laced pills and nearly 1,570 pounds of fentanyl powder, which is enough to kill more than 700,000 people and to potentially make tens of millions more lethal pills, in a two-month sting.”

This is something I need you to keep your eye on and PLEASE educate your tween/teen about. It’s not a game, and it’s getting worse and worse by the day.

Here’s the full article on Snapchat’s response: Snapchat cracks down on illegal drug sales amid national uptick in fentanyl overdoses – CBS News

There is a New Feature That Encourages Young People to Run for Office

Snapchat has decided to help young adults overcome most of the barriers that keep them from running for office by providing them information from BallotReady, a company that tells you what you need to know about who and what you’re voting for, right in the Snapchat app.

This is monumental in terms of encouraging and mobilizing young adults to get involved in our political system at the local, state and national levels.

Snapchat users who decide the feature will be asked about their interests so that they can be matched with the information and political/governmental roles that best suit their interests. Users will also have access to campaign training and recruitment programs like Vote Run Lead and Emerge America.

This new feature will even tell users everything they need to know and do to get on the ballot. It promises to be very comprehensive, and it is Snapchat’s hope that young adults will take advantage of it!

Here’s the full article: Snapchat’s ‘Run for Office’ Feature Aims to Help Young Adults Who Want to Enter Politics

Roblox

Roblox Bans Romance and Politics

Gamers are NOT happy about this one.

Roblox has decided to update its company guidelines to “prohibit content that seeks or portrays romantic relationships,” such as weddings, hand-holding and other romantic animations.

There also can be no “discussion or depiction” of political parties or talk about political campaigns.

Roblox is also banning participation in and recruitment for extremist or terrorist groups.

Roblox realizes that tons and tons of children use its app, and it would be irresponsible of them not to do everything in their power to make it safer.

From the article:

What they’re saying: A Roblox rep told Axios that the new political limits were issued because “we found that political content can lead to divisiveness.”

On the handholding ban: “While some of this activity may seem harmless on its face, we’re acutely aware that we have a responsibility to take special care to keep safe the millions of kids and teens who use and love Roblox.”
The big picture: The detailed update appears to be designed to promote Roblox as a safe, child-friendly space, setting up clearer justifications for cracking down on content that ranges from harmful to controversial.

Read all about it: Roblox bans romance, politics – Axios

Wrapping It Up

We are beginning a new week, and today is a great time to talk to your tween/teen about some (if not all) of these things (if appropriate) as they prepare to go back to school this week!

I have made a commitment to keep you informed – all you have to do is stay connected to the content!

It is my goal to always bring you a roundup of the things that I believe are most important to you as a parent. If I missed anything, or if you have any questions, please let me know!

If you would like to The Sunday Scoop in your email inbox every Sunday morning at 8:00am Eastern (before it releases to the public at 2:30pm Eastern) AND/OR if you want to stay current with all of the things that could affect your tween/teen, feel free to sign up below!

If you would like to take my Cyber-Safe Experience course, it’s here: Cyber-Safe Experience Course (formerly Cyber-Safe Summer)

And finally, if you would like to contribute to my work, feel free to Buy Me A Coffee here: http://BuyMeACoffee.com/NaKole

Let’s Conquer Together!

Na’Kole