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Define Problem: Many people have come to make the claim of what really happened during the time of 9/11, which has led to many conspiracy theories around the idea.

Gather Information: The website argues back and forth on what people theorized happens and what people believe truly happened as a fact. One argument in the article states "Jet Fuel can't melt steel beams" while another argument states that you don't need to melt something to cause structural damage to it. Another back and forth argument states that debris is missing from the wreckage as the holes aren't right. Skeptics make the claim that there is no way a 125-foot jet made such a small dent in the side of the building, while structural engineer, Allyn E. Kilsheimer make the claim that there was debris. Allyn claimed to be the first to arrive after the attack and found and held parts of the plane that was on the scene.

Evaluate Evidence: Given the evidence that has been found within the article, I believe this article to be credible. The article includes facts that could counter each theory/argument. Although, there is not much on credible proof as to what really happened, the person who has wrote the article made valid points throughout that seems reasonable.

Recognize Assumptions, Emotions, Biases: People have shown assumptions toward this matter as many of the theories as stated in the article. This article also shows some bias as there is no known fact as to what happened and it describes many ideas that many individuals have come to believe and what one person truly believes.

Synthesize Evidence, Identify Alternatives: Many of the theories gathered are created to try to make people believe that the United States Government was involved in the attack. However, there are facts in the article that indicates that the United States wasn't involved and that the theories are nothing more than theories trying to turn people against the United States Government.

Select Best Alternative: With all the evidence gathered, I believe that many of the theories are just skeptics trying to get a rise out of anyone who will listen and I personally believe in many of the facts that have been placed in the article as they seem more realistic than what skeptics claim.

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Post #9 Reason for Belief: Patternicity (Image)

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Post #9 Reason for Belief: Patternicity (Image)

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Definition: The reason for belief Patternicity indicates that as humans, we always try to look for a pattern that portrays some type of meaning.

Connection: The image I have chosen has a strong connection to Patternicity because of the image some may see in the tree. Depending on how one may look at said image, some may just see a tree or they could see the face in the tree. As humans, we try to see patterns in everything that may provide meaning our own lives and reflect on that. An example for this particular image may reflect on how we, as individuals, feel on the inside or it may represent someone close to you in your life.

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Post #8 Reason for Belief: Ideology (Website)

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Post #8 Reason for Belief: Ideology (Website)

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Definition: The reason for belief Ideology is a set of ideas that individuals have come to believe. It could be based off of political beliefs such as where you stand with the Liberals or Conservatives. Ideology also relates to your cultural beliefs and ideas such as religion, feminism, or racism.

Connection: The website I have chosen to represent Ideology speaks of the Chinese Dragon Dance. Every Chinese New Years, the Chinese end their year by doing a celebratory Dragon Dance as it is part of the Chinese culture. The Chinese Dragon represents wisdom, power, and wealth and many other festivities also take place during this celebration. The celebration starts on new years and continues for the next fifteen days which is a Chinese cultural tradition that is pulled off every year.

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Every Chinese New Year Parade ends with a Dragon Dance. The parades start on New Year's Day and continue for the next fifteen days until the end of the festivities with the Lantern Festival.

The Dragon Parade is a highlight of the festivities. The Dragon represents wisdom, power, and wealth and a very important aspect of Chinese Culture. It is also said that the Dragon Dance performed on New Year's Day scares away the evil spirits and all the bad luck with them...

During the Dance, a dozen or so performers hold the dragon up on poles. They raise and lower the Dragon making him "dance" as they wind through the masses to the sounds of horns, drums and gongs.

The Chinese Dragon Parade is customarily performed along with Lion Dancers, acrobats, kung fu performers, and of course, the drums and horns, all ending in a burst of firecrackers!

Watch more China videos...

Above is a short clip of a Chinese New Year Dragon Dance at one of the many festivities in South Florida, click on the arrow to see the Dragon Dancers perform together with a team of Lion Dancers and drummers.

The frame of the Dragon itself was traditionally made of wood or bamboo, covered with material. Nowadays, lighter materials are used, such as aluminum and plastics.

For the Chinese Dragon costume, different colors can be chosen. The main body of the serpent could be green, for a great harvest, or yellow, to represent the empire; golden and silver colors symbolize prosperity, and red denote the excitement and good fortune of the festivities.

Dragons vary in length, some reaching up to 100 meters long! It is believed that the longer the Dragon is, the more luck it will bring!

Sometimes the Dragon follows a man carrying a ball on a stick. This is the "Pearl of Wisdom". It is said that the Dragon chasing this "pearl of wisdom" represents the Dragon's way to pursue insight and knowledge.

During Chinese New Year, sometimes it is a red or yellow globe, which is supposed to be the sun as the festival celebrates the spring rains and the sun for a good harvest.

Click on the arrow above to see the Dragon chasing the "Pearl of Wisdom"!

The Dragon Dance should not be confused with the Lion Dance. To learn about the Chinese Lion Dance click here.

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The Dragon dance is an important part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. It is carried on by a team of performers who hold the dragon up on poles, raising and lowering the Dragon making him dance. Take a look at our video.

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Post #7 Reason for Belief: Agenticity (Website)

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Post #7 Reason for Belief: Agenticity (Website)

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Definition: The reason for belief Agenticity is the tendency to assign meaning, intention and agency often to invisible beings such as angels, ufos, conspiracies as described by Dr. Michael Shermer.

Connection: One of the well known conspiracy beliefs that has a relation to Agenticity is the 9/11 Conspiracy theory. The website I have chosen speaks of many of the theories that could have took place that day. Even today, many have come to theorize their own beliefs as to what happened to try to connect all belief that the United States Government had been involved in the attack. This type of belief comes to always have one side arguing over the other and people will try to come up with what they consider the facts of said event such as the day of 9/11.

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Americans and the much of the world watched in disbelief and horror on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 as the World Trade Center collapsed, the Pentagon burned and a field in Pennsylvania smoldered. The largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil in history put on clear display that some of the most potent symbols of American power were vulnerable to hate imported into the country from an area of the world most Americans couldn't point out on a map.

But for some, the idea that 19 people could harbor so much hate that they voluntarily hijacked four jetliners and used them as missiles against innocent people was too likely a story to believe. More than a decade later, the conspiracy theories those skeptics developed are still alive and well.

Here are some of the most prominent theories that skeptics employ in their attempt to prove that the United States government was involved in the attacks - presumably to create a cover to carry out otherwise unpopular foreign policy - alongside explanations on why you probably shouldn't pay them much mind.

Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel Beams
THE THEORY: Skeptics say that American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 - the planes that smashed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City - wouldn't have been able to produce enough heat to melt the steel beams that made up the skeletons of the buildings. The fuel in the jets simply doesn't burn at a high enough temperature for the beams to collapse, they say, so some other weapon (say, planned explosions or military grade missiles) was used.

THE FACTS: Well, yeah, it's true that jet fuel doesn't actually burn at the temperature necessary to melt steel. Jet fuel burns between 800 and 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Steel melts at 2,750 degrees Fahrenheit. But, let's be real: You don't need to literally melt something for its structural integrity to be damaged.

Steel loses about 50 percent of its strength at 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, Farid Alfawak-hiri, a senior engineer at the American Institute of Steel Construction, has told Popular Mechanics. At 1,800 degrees it likely has less than 10 percent of the original strength. It is likely that a good amount of spray-on fireproofing insulation would have been knocked off of the beams when the jets crashed, leaving more steel exposed and vulnerable. Plus, the fuel wasn't the only thing burning - the resulting inferno would have been fed by combustible material in the offices including rugs, paper, furniture and curtains (the National Institute of Standards and Technology estimate that some parts of the fire reached 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit).

The Holes Aren't Right, Debris Is Missing
THE THEORY: American Airlines Flight 77 left behind a 75 foot and 12 foot hole and skeptics say there's no way that a 125-foot-jet made such small dents in the building. And, they wonder, where is all the debris from the crash anyway?

THE FACTS: Well, there was debris.

"It was absolutely a plane, and I'll tell you why," Allyn E. Kilsheimer, a structural engineer who was the first to arrive after the attack has said. "I saw the marks of the plane wing on the face of the building. I picked up parts of the plane with the airline markings on them. I held in my hand the tail section of the plane, and I found the black box ... I held parts of uniforms from crew members in my hands, including body parts. Okay?"

The debris even helps explain that hole. One of the wings hit the ground instead of going through the building and the other was torn off from the force of impact because, as structural engineering expert at Purdue University Mete Sozen has said, "A crashing jet doesn't punch a cartoon-like outline of itself into a reinforced concrete building. What was left of the plane flowed into the structure in a state closer to liquid than a solid mass."

The 12-foot hole was reported to have come from the plane's landing gear.

United Airlines Flight 93 And The U.S. Military
THE THEORY: A lot has been said about the plane that went down near Shanksville, Pennsylvania on its way to hit the White House and the two most prominent theories basically contradict one another. The first is that the Air Force was ordered to stand down even after the hijacking was confirmed and, as a result, no fighter jets were put in the air to take down the plane (or any of the other three, either). Another claim is that the U.S. military actually shot down Flight 93 and eyewitness accounts from the area say that a white plane was seen flying in that area.

THE FACTS: In reality, two F-15s and three F-16s were scrambled after the planes were reported missing or hijacked that morning (out of just 14 fighter jets on alert in the lower 48 states that day). But there was a problem for them: The hijacked planes were nowhere to be found. The hijackers turned off the transponders, making it almost impossible to figure out where they were. Radar at the time didn't cover the United States internally.

And, as for that second plane, yes, there was another jet. It was a corporate plane that was actually contacted by the Federal Aviation Administration as it was descending to land and asked to do a fly-by to see what had happened with the downed Flight 93. The co-pilot of that marketing jet has confirmed this account.

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9/11 Conspiracy Theories Explained: What Really Happened On September 11

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Americans and the much of the world watched in disbelief and horror on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 as the World Trade Center collapsed, the Pentagon burned and a field in Pennsylvania smoldered. The largest terrorist attack on U.S.

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Definition: The red flag All Natural includes the idea of All Natural products to be used for healing purposes even though there is no guarantee that the product may be safe.

Connection: The website I have chosen has a strong connection to the red flag All Natural because it has mention of natural herbs used for healing to cure disease and illnesses. It is common for some people to seek aid from any type of plant like substance that people may use that will help them recover from any type of illness. However, this site does not include the concrete proof that any of these natural remedies are considered safe or if they even work. Most people are culturally against seeing a doctor and rely solely on natural herbs no matter how deathly the illness a certain individual has.

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Home remedies, natural cures and information on causes, symptoms and diet conditions for common ailments and diseases. Also provides information on health benefits from common ingredients like honey, garlic, aloe vera and many others.

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Post #5 Red Flag: Mystical Energy (Video)

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Post #5 Red Flag: Mystical Energy (Video)

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Definition: The red flag Mystic Energy includes the idea that mystical energy fields as well as other forms of energy help you in your ability to perform work which doesn't show true meaning in the real world.

Connection: The video I have chosen that makes a connection to Mystical Energy demonstrates spiritual healing. It focus's on a doctor who can heal you by using a form of energy known as Chi. Many people believe that this type of energy does exist and have meaning to heal you, although, there is no scientific friction that supports the idea of Mystical Energy. By using the term "energy," it gives people a sense of belief that they may perform a job or duty better than before.

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Post #4 Red Flag: Ideological Support (Website)

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Post #4 Red Flag: Ideological Support (Website)

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Definition: The red flag Ideological Support is an indication that things have not been scientifically proven and will have people to try and force their belief onto another person through means of protests or blogs even though there is no evidence to support their claim.

Connection: The website I have chosen makes a strong connection towards Ideological support because it is a blog that relates solely on opinion rather than hard scientific evidence. It is mostly a one sided argument that tries to portray the belief of one individual to a spectrum of people as most blogs are known for. Although, this blog is on a political spectrum, it has many opinionated statements within it which further proves this to be Ideological support such as "Wednesday's judgment told us courts will not protect us from bad political leaders. That's not their job. That judgment is up to voters." Many would agree with this statement, but it doesn't steer it away from an ideological belief.

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Without doubt, it would have been a lot better if Wednesday's court decision favouring Ontario Conservatives had gone the other way - better for local democracy, better for rights and freedoms. Better to slow the train of cuts coming down the tracks.

But it didn't. The Ontario Court of Appeal stayed the decision of a lower court that had struck down the Conservative's mid-point meddling in local elections.

Without doubt it was a win for the Conservatives. If the people - rather than a judge - had been asked that they wanted, Bill 5 would be gone and the regular elections would go ahead. Two polls in the last week confirm that.

Those polls show more than half the people oppose the Conservatives' plan - one they made no mention of in an election held just months ago, or their Throne Speech of just weeks ago. And about two-thirds oppose the Conservatives' threat to override fundamental rights and freedoms any time they hinder Conservative cuts and rollbacks.

But a court is not a democracy. It's not a replacement for democracy.

So this court decision isn't a loss. It's a wake-up call.

Courts won't stop the Conservatives' planned roll-back of the minimum wage law and weakening of employment standards. They won't stop more back-of-napkin transit plans that waste billions in public money. They won't stop politicians selling assets for quick cash, like the last Conservative government did with highway 407. Or downloading onto municipalities. Or giving more tax cuts for corporations and high-income earners. Or letting opioid addicts die alone. Or cutting mental health services. Or dismantling the anti-racism secretariat. That's not a court's job.

Slowing down the Conservatives means fewer people get hurt.

This incident makes it abundantly clear these Conservatives don't care about rights and freedoms - let alone norms, practices and customs. They want what they want.

Courts didn't give them this power. Voters did. And it will be voters who take it away.

Municipal elections can slow them down - and they should. Social movements and the labour movement can slow them down - and they should. Slowing down the Conservatives means fewer people get hurt.

But the hurting won't stop - and the healing won't start - until the Conservatives are voted out.

Remember, the Conservatives can win an election with perhaps as little as 36 per cent support - thanks to our first-past-the-post system. Last election, 60 per cent of Ontarians voters were against the Conservatives - but that vote wasn't united.

It's also important we don't try to stop the bully with compromise. We don't win by arguing for slightly smaller tax cuts for the rich. Or for slightly slower cuts to schools. Or a bit less privatized health care. Or suspending only some rights and freedoms. We don't win by half-way agreeing. Bullies will always accept compromises if necessary - then, as soon as they can, will use words offered in compromise to justify taking the other half.

Wednesday's judgment told us courts will not protect us from bad political leaders. That's not their job. That judgment is up to voters.
Have you been affected personally by this or another issue? Share your story on HuffPost Canada blogs. We feature the best of Canadian opinion and perspectives. Find out how to contribute here.

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The Courts Will Not Protect Us From Bad Leaders, Democracy Will (Blog)

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Without doubt, it would have been a lot better if Wednesday's court decision favouring Ontario Conservatives had gone the other way - better for local democracy, better for rights and freedoms. Better to slow the train of cuts coming down the tracks. But it didn't.

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Post #3 Red Flag: Ancient Wisdom (Image)

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Post #3 Red Flag: Ancient Wisdom (Image)

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Definition: The red flag Ancient Wisdom implies theories and religious and cultural beliefs that many people hold strong to such as the flat Earth Theory or traditions passed down through many generations such as rain dances.

Connection: I have chosen an image that represents 'Human Sacrifice' as a strong connection to the red flag Ancient Wisdom. It connects to Ancient Wisdom because many people in ancient times would perform an act of sacrificing one of their own to appease a deity, such as a God or a spirit, as part of a ritual. Even though people have done this in the past as a means of keeping the peace and to not bring destruction upon them, there is no indication that any harm would fall upon the people if they did not provide a Human Sacrifice. Às such, these relates to the cultures and customs of some tribes who believe in a greater deity who may bring them harm to them which brought the creation of a Human Sacrifice to light.

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Post #2 Red Flag: Confirmation Bias (Website)

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Post #2 Red Flag: Confirmation Bias (Website)

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Definition: The Confirmation Bias red flag includes searching for information that have a connection to your beliefs and ignoring the information that doesn't. What you believe in is what matters the most.

Connection: The article I have chosen has a strong connection to Confirmation Bias because it focuses more on one side of the argument than the other. The research here mostly has to do with how Social Media has a negative impact on teens and does not consider some of the positives Social Media might have. Furthermore, much of the article does not give 100% evidence that Social Media has a negative effect on individuals self esteem as many people could argue for the postive effects that Social Media may bring to todays society.

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Many parents worry about how exposure to technology might affect toddlers developmentally. We know our preschoolers are picking up new social and cognitive skills at a stunning pace, and we don't want hours spent glued to an iPad to impede that. But adolescence is an equally important period of rapid development, and too few of us are paying attention to how our teenagers' use of technology - much more intense and intimate than a 3-year-old playing with dad's iPhone - is affecting them. In fact, experts worry that the social media and text messages that have become so integral to teenage life are promoting anxiety and lowering self-esteem.

Young people report that there might be good reason to worry. A survey conducted by the Royal Society for Public Health asked 14-24-year-olds in the UK how social media platforms impacted their health and well-being. The survey results found that Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all led to increased feelings of depression, anxiety, poor body image, and loneliness.

Indirect communication

Teens are masters at keeping themselves occupied in the hours after school until way past bedtime. When they're not doing their homework (and when they are) they're online and on their phones, texting, sharing, trolling, scrolling, you name it. Of course before everyone had an Instagram account teens kept themselves busy, too, but they were more likely to do their chatting on the phone, or in person when hanging out at the mall. It may have looked like a lot of aimless hanging around, but what they were doing was experimenting, trying out skills, and succeeding and failing in tons of tiny real-time interactions that kids today are missing out on. For one thing, modern teens are learning to do most of their communication while looking at a screen, not another person.

"As a species we are very highly attuned to reading social cues," says Catherine Steiner-Adair, EdD, a clinical psychologist and author of The Big Disconnect. "There's no question kids are missing out on very critical social skills. In a way, texting and online communicating puts everybody in a context where body language, facial expression, and even the smallest kinds of vocal reactions are rendered invisible."

Lowering the risks

Certainly speaking indirectly creates a barrier to clear communication, but that's not all. Learning how to make friends is a major part of growing up, and friendship requires a certain amount of risk-taking. This is true for making a new friend, but it's also true for maintaining friendships. When there are problems that need to be faced - big ones or small ones - it takes courage to be honest about your feelings and then hear what the other person has to say. Learning to effectively cross these bridges is part of what makes friendship fun and exciting, and also scary. "Part of healthy self-esteem is knowing how to say what you think and feel even when you're in disagreement with other people or it feels emotionally risky," notes Dr. Steiner-Adair.

But when friendship is conducted online and through texts, kids are doing this in a context stripped of many of the most personal - and sometimes intimidating - aspects of communication. It's easier to keep your guard up when you're texting, so less is at stake. You aren't hearing or seeing the effect that your words are having on the other person. Because the conversation isn't happening in real time, each party can take more time to consider a response. No wonder kids say calling someone on the phone is "too intense"- it requires more direct communication, and if you aren't used to that it may well feel scary.

If kids aren't getting enough practice relating to people and getting their needs met in person and in real time, many of them will grow up to be adults who are anxious about our species' primary means of communication - talking. And of course social negotiations only get riskier as people get older and begin navigating romantic relationships and employment.

Cyberbullying and the imposter syndrome

The other big danger that comes from kids communicating more indirectly is that it has gotten easier to be cruel. "Kids text all sorts of things that you would never in a million years contemplate saying to anyone's face," says Donna Wick, EdD, a clinical and developmental psychologist. She notes that this seems to be especially true of girls, who typically don't like to disagree with each other in "real life."

"You hope to teach them that they can disagree without jeopardizing the relationship, but what social media is teaching them to do is disagree in ways that are more extreme and do jeopardize the relationship. It's exactly what you don't want to have happen," she says.

Dr. Steiner-Adair agrees that girls are particularly at risk. "Girls are socialized more to compare themselves to other people, girls in particular, to develop their identities, so it makes them more vulnerable to the downside of all this." She warns that a lack of solid self-esteem is often to blame. "We forget that relational aggression comes from insecurity and feeling awful about yourself, and wanting to put other people down so you feel better."

Peer acceptance is a big thing for adolescents, and many of them care about their image as much as a politician running for office, and to them it can feel as serious. Add to that the fact that kids today are getting actual polling data on how much people like them or their appearance via things like "likes." It's enough to turn anyone's head. Who wouldn't want to make themselves look cooler if they could? So kids can spend hours pruning their online identities, trying to project an idealized image. Teenage girls sort through hundreds of photos, agonizing over which ones to post online. Boys compete for attention by trying to out-gross one other, pushing the envelope as much as they can in the already disinhibited atmosphere online. Kids gang up on each other.

Adolescents have always been doing this, but with the advent of social media they are faced with more opportunities - and more traps - than ever before. When kids scroll through their feeds and see how great everyone seems, it only adds to the pressure. We're used to worrying about the impractical ideals that photoshopped magazine models give to our kids, but what happens with the kid next door is photoshopped, too? Even more confusing, what about when your own profile doesn't really represent the person that you feel like you are on the inside?

"Adolescence and the early twenties in particular are the years in which you are acutely aware of the contrasts between who you appear to be and who you think you are," says Dr. Wick. "It's similar to the 'imposter syndrome' in psychology. As you get older and acquire more mastery, you begin to realize that you actually are good at some things, and then you feel that gap hopefully narrow. But imagine having your deepest darkest fear be that you aren't as good as you look, and then imagine needing to look that good all the time! It's exhausting."

As Dr. Steiner-Adair explains, "Self-esteem comes from consolidating who you are." The more identities you have, and the more time you spend pretending to be someone you aren't, the harder it's going to be to feel good about yourself.

Stalking (and being ignored)

Another big change that has come with new technology and especially smart phones is that we are never really alone. Kids update their status, share what they're watching, listening to, and reading, and have apps that let their friends know their specific location on a map at all times. Even if a person isn't trying to keep his friends updated, he's still never out of reach of a text message. The result is that kids feel hyperconnected with each other. The conversation never needs to stop, and it feels like there's always something new happening.

"Whatever we think of the 'relationships' maintained and in some cases initiated on social media, kids never get a break from them," notes Dr. Wick. "And that, in and of itself, can produce anxiety. Everyone needs a respite from the demands of intimacy and connection; time alone to regroup, replenish and just chill out. When you don't have that, it's easy to become emotionally depleted, fertile ground for anxiety to breed."

It's also surprisingly easy to feel lonely in the middle of all that hyperconnection. For one thing, kids now know with depressing certainty when they're being ignored. We all have phones and we all respond to things pretty quickly, so when you're waiting for a response that doesn't come, the silence can be deafening. The silent treatment might be a strategic insult or just the unfortunate side effect of an online adolescent relationship that starts out intensely but then fades away.

"In the old days when a boy was going to break up with you, he had to have a conversation with you. Or at least he had to call," says Dr. Wick. "These days he might just disappear from your screen, and you never get to have the 'What did I do?' conversation." Kids are often left imagining the worst about themselves.

But even when the conversation doesn't end, being in a constant state of waiting can still provoke anxiety. We can feel ourselves being put on the back burner, we put others back there, and our very human need to communicate is effectively delegated there, too.

What should parents do?

Both experts interviewed for this article agreed that the best thing parents can do to minimize the risks associated with technology is to curtail their own consumption first. It's up to parents to set a good example of what healthy device usage looks like. Most of us check our phones or our email too much, out of either real interest or nervous habit. Kids should be used to seeing our faces, not our heads bent over a screen. Establish technology-free zones in the house and technology-free hours when no one uses the phone, including mom and dad. "Don't walk in the door after work in the middle of a conversation," Dr. Steiner-Adair advises. "Don't walk in the door after work, say 'hi' quickly, and then 'just check your email.' In the morning, get up a half hour earlier than your kids and check your email then. Give them your full attention until they're out the door. And neither of you should be using phones in the car to or from school because that's an important time to talk."

Not only does limiting the amount of time you spend plugged in to computers provide a healthy counterpoint to the tech-obsessed world, it also strengthens the parent-child bond and makes kids feel more secure. Kids need to know that you are available to help them with their problems, talk about their day, or give them a reality check.

"It is the mini-moments of disconnection, when parents are too focused on their own devices and screens, that dilute the parent-child relationship," Dr. Steiner-Adair warns. And when kids start turning to the internet for help or to process whatever happened during the day, you might not like what happens. "Tech can give your children more information that you can, and it doesn't have your values," notes Dr. Steiner-Adair. "It won't be sensitive to your child's personality, and it won't answer his question in a developmentally appropriate way."

In addition Dr. Wick advises delaying the age of first use as much as possible. "I use the same advice here that I use when talking about kids and alcohol - try to get as far as you can without anything at all." If your child is on a social media platform, Dr. Wick says that you should friend them and monitor their page. But she advises against going through text messages unless there is cause for concern. "If you have a reason to be worried then okay, but it better be a good reason. I see parents who are just plain old spying on their kids. Parents should begin by trusting their children. To not even give your kid the benefit of the doubt is incredibly damaging to the relationship. You have to feel like your parents think you're a good kid."

Offline, the gold standard advice for helping kids build healthy self-esteem is to get them involved in something that they're interested in. It could be sports or music or taking apart computers or volunteering - anything that sparks an interest and gives them confidence. When kids learn to feel good about what they can do instead of how they look and what they own, they're happier and better prepared for success in real life. That most of these activities also involve spending time interacting with peers face-to-face is just the icing on the cake.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does social media affect behavior negatively?

How does social media affect social skills?

How does social media affect teenagers' mental health?

Is social media harmful?

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How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers - Child Mind Institute

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How does social media affect teens? Experts say kids are growing up with more anxiety and less self-esteem due to social media. Read advice for parents from specialists in our article.

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Post #1 Title: World Mysteries Assignment 1

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Post #1 Title: World Mysteries Assignment 1

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Made by James Wannan, working individually