The Underground

Zach Becker

Editor-In-Chief

I was watching Dr. Phil today (nothing else was on) and the topic for the episode was “Risky Teen Behaviors.” Specifically, they talked about teen “sexting” and the pass-out game.

One parent contacted Dr. Phil and was worried that their teen was starting a new trend. Apparently, it is possible to make yourself pass out while on a roller coaster to get high. The parent didn’t know what to do and thought the teen might be convincing others to do the same thing. They even had a doctor explain how this works.

Only you can prevent dangerous teen behaviors!

Well, um, I think the mother (and Dr. Phil) probably just passed out (pun intended) this new game for a large new audience of teen thrill seekers. I just love how on these shows they like to pretend that they are doing a service when they are either just (A) making parents worry unnecessarily when their teen enjoys an amusement park or (B) spreading the idea out to other teens who may watch this episode.

The show tries to highlight how stupid the teens are (”My mom just doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” said the teen, who obviously has already gone loopy after a few too many trips on the coaster), but how stupid are the parents they get for these shows?

Every time the teen went to the amusement park, he would ride the coaster 10 to 15 to make himself pass over and over and get high. He promised to stop, but keeps doing it. The mother’s question to Dr. Phil, “Should I let him continue to go to the amusement park?” Hmmm…. well let’s see here. Your teen is risking brain damage and perhaps death. This is a hard one. Only Dr. Phil is qualified to answer that question.

Another parent’s 14-year-old daughter was sending nude text messages of herself to boys. What should she do to punish the daughter? How about take away the cell phone? Duh. Again, only Dr. Phil was qualified to answer that one.

At least the teens have a built-in reason for being so stupid. What excuse do these horrible parents have?

Zach Blogs, Opinions Dr. Phil, pass-out game, risky teen behaviors, roller coaster, sexting, teens