A couple hosting a New Year's Eve family party feels taken advantage of as some parents drop off their children and leave, turning the event into a free babysitting service. They enjoy the party and want their kids to have fun but seek a polite way to ensure parents stay with their children. Miss Manners suggests creating a schedule for parents to take turns supervising the children, especially those who have previously left early.
A couple hosting a New Year's Eve family party is frustrated as some parents drop off their children and leave, turning the event into a babysitting service. To address this, Miss Manners suggests creating a schedule for parents to take turns supervising the children, especially assigning those who have previously left early to slots near midnight.
Miss Manners advises a couple hosting a New Year's Eve family party to address parents who drop off their children and leave, effectively using the hosts as free babysitters. She suggests creating a schedule for parents to take turns supervising the children, especially assigning those who have previously left early to slots near midnight, to ensure fair participation and prevent the hosts from being taken advantage of.
Meta is introducing age-appropriate Meta accounts for Quest users, with three age groups: Adults, Teens, and Preteens, each with varying privacy settings. Users failing to provide their age within 30 days will temporarily lose access to their Meta account. The move aims to protect minors and help developers tailor apps to specific age groups, while also potentially facilitating age-based matching in multiplayer and social apps.
A 7-year-old girl died after a sand hole collapsed on her and her brother at a South Florida beach, prompting discussions about beach safety measures. Experts emphasize the importance of lifeguards on public beaches and parental supervision, as well as the potential risks associated with newly replenished dunes. Officials stress the need for caution when digging holes on the beach and urge beachgoers to be mindful of potential hazards.
Meta-owned Instagram and Messenger are implementing new safety measures for users under 18, preventing them from receiving messages from strangers by default and requiring parental permission to change settings. The changes aim to provide age-appropriate experiences for teens and enhance parental supervision. This update comes amid ongoing scrutiny of social media's impact on younger users, with calls for stricter measures to protect teen mental health. Additionally, a study reveals that social media giants make billions in advertising revenue from users under 18.
A Tennessee mother is warning other families about the suffocation dangers of balloons after her 7-year-old daughter died while playing with popped birthday balloons. The mother left the girl briefly in the living room, but when she returned, she found her facedown with a popped mylar balloon over her head. Balloons are the leading cause of suffocation deaths in children, according to the U.S. Consumer Protection Safety, and they recommend that children under the age of eight should not play with uninflated balloons without supervision.
A 10-year-old boy in Mississippi was detained by police and taken to jail for public urination. The boy's mother had stopped by an attorney's office for legal advice when the incident occurred. Initially, the responding officer was going to offer a warning, but several other officers arrived and insisted on arresting the child. The boy was taken to the police station and held in a jail cell before being released to his mother. The police chief later admitted that it was a mistake to transport the child to the station and acknowledged the presence of the mother as a reasonable alternative. The incident has raised concerns about the potential trauma it may have caused the child and the need for better judgment in such situations.
Facebook parent company Meta has announced new safety features for Messenger and Instagram aimed at protecting teens who use the social media platforms. The new parental supervision tools for Messenger will allow parents and guardians to monitor their teens' activity, including how much time they spend on the app, updates to their contacts list and privacy settings, and who can message them. Meta is also working on features to limit who can send direct messages on Instagram, and parents will be able to see how many friends their teens have in common with accounts they follow and that follow them. The announcements come amid increasing scrutiny of the social media industry's impact on young users.
Uber is launching accounts for teenagers in select cities, including Cincinnati, allowing families to link multiple Uber accounts together so teens can order rides through their parent's account, and parents can track their rides on the app. Teens must be at least 13 years old, and riders 13-17 need to have permission from a parent or guardian. Uber says the riders are able to be tracked on the app and are not able to be turned off so parents can make sure their child gets to their destination.
A 13-year-old boy from Ohio died after overdosing on over-the-counter Benadryl while attempting to copy an online challenge that encourages kids to take 12 to 14 pills to "see hallucinations." The boy's family is urging parents to monitor their children's social media activity and is pushing for age restrictions on buying over-the-counter medications like Benadryl. The FDA has issued a warning about the challenge and asked TikTok to remove videos of the stunt.
