Inhaling Helium Can Be Very Dangerous
Question : At a recent birthday party , the seventhgraders had fun inhaling helium and talking like cartoon characters . I think this could be very dangerous . My kids disagree . Who is right ? — Need to Know
Answer : Most people just like your children think that inhaling helium is simply harmless fun . However , the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition tells a different story . According to this organization , a person can cut off oxygen supply , or inhale so deeply that it causes an embolism , or the pressurized gas from tanks can literally cause lungs to rupture .
Unfortunately , parents are providing helium at parties , and science teachers are even using it in class to demonstrate the effects of a gas on vocal cords . And some adolescents are using helium as a recreational drug . It is unclear whether the users get an actual “ high ” from inhaling it , or if it ’ s simply a feeling of lightheadedness from lack of oxygen .
Please have your own children and party providers of helium as well as teachers visit inhalants . org , inhalants . drugabuse . gov and theantidrug . com to get solid information on the real dangers of inhalants , including helium .
Parents Need to Be Acquainted with the Fan Fiction World
Question : My daughter and a number of her just-newly-teenage friends have become hooked on reading and writing fan fiction . I am glad that she is doing all this reading and writing . Yet ,
50 WNY Family October 2018
DEAR TEACHER – by Peggy Gisler and Marge Eberts
Helping all parents make their children ’ s educational experience as successful as possible
I wonder if this is truly an appropriate online activity ? — Wondering
Answer : Many readers might not even know what fan fiction ( also known as “ fan fic ”) is . Fan fiction is an original story that people write that borrows characters , plot elements , and settings from other works ( movies , TV shows , novels , etc .). It is extremely popular , especially with teenage girls .
There are many good points to fan fiction , as it definitely encourages reading and writing . It can also encourage children to think more deeply about the construction of a story and its characters . A few fan-fiction writers have even become published in e-books .
On the other hand , fan-fiction works vary immensely in their appropriateness for children to read . Some have racy language and graphic descriptions of sex , drugs , or violence . Plus , others will be poorly written with a great number of spelling and grammatical errors . And comments about individual stories from followers could be cruel and actually become cyberbullying .
Since your daughter has entered the fan-fiction world , you will need to become acquainted with it . Find out what platforms your daughter is using . Each one will have its own rules and privacy settings . Find out with whom she is sharing her work . Starting out with a small audience and stricter privacy settings is best . You will definitely need to talk with her about writing and sharing sexy stuff , as she could draw the wrong type of readers and even damage her reputation with friends .
After learning about the apps and sites that your daughter is using , you may decide that she can or can ’ t read and write fan fiction . If you approve , do express your concerns and set up some ground rules .
On commonsensemedia . org , you can find descriptions of some apps and sites for fan fiction . This can be helpful for learning about the content of a range of fan-fiction content .
Second Grader ’ s Choppy Reading Style Can Be Changed
Question : My second-grader ’ s reading is very choppy and slow , as she reads each word one at a time . What can I do to help her break this habit ? — For Better Reading
Answer : Word-by-word reading tends to occur when children have to spend too much time figuring out what each word is . It also can happen when children have gotten in the habit of pointing at each word when they read it in order not to lose their place in a sentence .
The first disadvantage of wordby-word reading is that it significantly slows down the rate at which children read . The second and more important result of word-by-word reading is that it definitely interferes with comprehension .
One thing that parents can do to lessen word-by-word reading is to force children to read words in groups rather than isolation . To do this , they must work with material that the child can read quite easily . First , the parent should read the material exaggerating how the words should be grouped . Then the child and parent can read the material together several times before the child attempts to read it alone . If the parent reads louder than the child , they will group the words in the same way . Just five minutes a day of this type of practice should result in improvement .
Another way for children to learn to read groups of phrases is for the parent to make flashcards with short , easy phrases on them . A blank card should be put in front of a flashcard and then slid so the child can only see the flashcard for a second .
Parents should send questions and comments to dearteacher @ dearteacher . com or to the Dear Teacher website .