Hospitalist nurse practitioner Amber Jewison and psychiatrist Kia Carter, M.D. were featured on the nationally-syndicated show “The Doctors” on Thursday, Nov. 5. The show highlighted a recent trend of TikTok videos that encourage viewers to take excessive amounts of the common allergy medicine diphenhydramine, aka Benadryl.

Cook Children’s first reported on these videos on Checkup Newsroom over the summer after three teens were admitted to the hospital for overdoses.

“We had three patients in a week who specifically told me they saw a video on TikTok that told them they could take Benadryl to get high, and it gave them a specific number (to take),” Amber said in an interview on "The Doctors." “When I viewed that video, I was pretty shocked.”

Patients who overdose on Benadryl can have abnormal electrocardiograms (EKGs) and may not be able to urinate. It’s even possible to suffer seizures. Amber has treated such patients and says parents are usually shocked to find out their child has overdosed.

“I try to tell parents that it’s really good to know what’s out there on social media and to be aware of what your kids may be doing,” she said.

And it’s not just shocking for parents. Medical professionals are also surprised to see healthy adolescents and teens taking part in these dangerous challenges.

“I was alarmed, I was extremely shocked that children are participating in something so lethal,” said Dr. Carter, who is also the medical director of Psychiatry at Cook Children’s. “Being a parent myself, it’s petrifying to think about the idea of my pre-adolescent daughter participating in this.”

So why do teens participate in dangerous viral challenges like the one involving Benadryl?

“I think people have to realize that children’s brains are not fully developed like an adult and judgement and executive function are a huge part in making decisions. When we see kids participating in these high-risk behaviors, we have to remember that their brains are not fully developed,” said Dr. Carter. “There’s some research also to show that social media and participating in these challenges is activating the reward center in the brain, which can cause kids to become further attached to participating in these challenges.”

Dr. Carter says it’s also important to realize the difference between a child participating in an online challenge, and one who is actively trying to harm themselves. She says kids who are taking part in challenges because they want to fit in are usually active and part of a social group. Kids who are taking medicines or over-the-counter substances to harm themselves are often excluded or bullied on social media.

Her advice for parents - be aware.

“Know what your children are doing on social media, participate and ask questions,” Dr. Carter said.

In today’s technologically driven world, it’s difficult to know how to accept the advancement of technology while also determining where to set boundaries as a parent. As a mom, I too struggle with this concept.

However, a study through Texas Tech University shows that there are actually positive effects on learning when a parent watches TV alongside their child. According to the study, when a parent is present while watching TV with their child physiological changes take place in the child’s body. The child exhibits more effort to learn from the program they are watching. This is important because parents often underestimate the power and influence they have over their child’s life. This study shows that by just being present with your child, you are having a positive impact on their ability to learn from the program being watched. It is important to note that this can happen when both positive and negative content is being displayed on the TV, which is why monitoring the type of shows your child is watching is even more important.

According to the authors, “Just being there is making a difference.” But, why is being present important?

Well, it provides your child the ability to ask questions and engage in a dialogue about the content being viewed. All too often the TV has become just another babysitting tool. However, I would encourage parents to see it as an opportunity. An opportunity to spend quality time with your child, to learn something educational, to be present, to understand your child’s interests and why they like the things they do.

It’s important to note, that “being present” may look differently depending on the age of your child. For a younger child, it may mean pointing out learning opportunities while watching shows (e.g. while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, discussing what is happening/counting together, etc.). However, with an older child/adolescent, this may mean having conversations regarding the show being watched and addressing how it may/may not pertain to the child’s life. For example, if watching any type of news channel talking with your child about the events being depicted and how it may/may not impact their daily life. Topics may include things such as bullying, violence, political processes, funny videos that have gone viral, etc. Being present allows for the opportunity to open the lines of communication between you and your child. It allows for you, as the parent, to show interest and be able to influence their ability to learn from what they are seeing.

The authors bring up a great point when they state, “I think our focus needs to be on raising a generation of media-literate parents in order for them to make the difference for children that we really want to make.” In my opinion, it’s less about seeing technology in an all good or all bad manner, and more about seeing it as an opportunity to learn, engage in conversations, and explore our child’s interests with them. It’s about figuring out how to incorporate these technological advancements into our daily lives, while also deepening our relationships with our children and realizing the influence we continue to have over their lives.

Tips on being involved:

• Be present and active
• Sit next to your child
• Ask questions
• Discuss the content
• Be mindful of what type of show is being watched
• If developmentally appropriate, talk about events happening across our world and discuss your child’s views, opinions, and thoughts.

About the author

Amanda Jordan is a licensed psychologist at the Cook Children's Urgent Care and Pediatric Specialties -Alliance.Cook Children's Behavioral Health services provides a broad range of care that focuses on children from 3 years through 17, and thier families. We also have some limited services for children age 2. As part of family-centered care, all of our professionals are qualified both through education and experience to work with children who have behavioral and emotional challenges. Our psychiatrists are board certified in child and adolescent psychiatry and our psychologists and therapists are all licensed independently in Texas.

Much like Bowdy and Brock Shoff, Dr. Olvera's twin boys found themselves in a gut-wrenching situation after they were put down for a nap. They were 3 years old at the time and decided climbing on the tall dresser in their room would be more fun than sleeping.

"I had also laid down for a nap and heard a loud noise," said Dr. Olvera, pediatrician at Cook Children's Southwest Primary Care location. "When I ran in their room, one of the boys was trapped underneath the dresser."

She rushed the boys to her pediatrician's office, and luckily both were OK.

When she saw the story about the Utah incident on Checkup Newsroom, she posted the following message on Facebook:

Dr. Olvera's boys are 12 years old now, and the big brothers to twin sisters.    

Since 2009, Cook Children's has seen 137 furniture-related injuries. One child even died in 2014 as a result of furniture tip-over.

About the Source
Rebecca Olvera, M.D. is a pediatrician at Cook Children's Primary Care Location in Southwest Fort Worth. She has been recognized as a Mom-Approved Doctor by DFW/North Texas Child magazine in 2012, 2013, and 2014. Find out more about Dr. Olvera here.  

What they didn't do was make sure they had secured their furniture so it wouldn't tip over on their little boys. A home surveillance video shows Bowdy working for almost two minutes to free Brock Shoff in their home in Orem, Utah. 

The video has made the rounds nationally because the twins' parents want people to know it could happen to anyone.

"We were hesitant to post this video initially, Ricky Shoff, the twins' father told CNN, "but a lot of parents have probably made the same mistake that we made, (they) don't have their furniture secure or bolted to a wall."

Sharon Evans, RN, BSN, CPN trauma/injury prevention coordinator at Cook Children’s, hopes this serves as a reminder of the dangers of TV and furniture tip-overs, especially during this time of year.

"People are getting furniture for the holidays and TVs for the Super Bowl," Evans said. "If those aren't anchored, we have seen injuries and even death at Cook Children's due to these items being unanchored. Parents often times get the new TVs or furniture and then put the old ones in the bedrooms for the kids. Every piece of furniture in the house should be secured. 

Since 2009, Cook Children's has seen 137 furniture-related injuries. One child even died in 2014 as a result of furniture tip-over.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission says a child dies every two weeks in the United States from a TV, a piece of furniture, or a combination of the two tipping over in this country. And, a child is admitted to the emergency room every 24 minutes because of a tip-over.

“In the last decade, the number of children seen at our facility for injuries from dressers and television falls has steadily increased,” Evans said. “All the families that bring in children with these injuries say the same thing: ‘I didn’t think this would ever happen.’ Sadly, it does happen, and people need to be aware so they can prevent it.”

The Consumer Product Safety Comission provides these safety tips in any home where children live or visit:

Anchor furniture to the wall or the floor. 

1. Place TVs on sturdy, low bases. 
2. Anchor the furniture and the TV on top of it, and push the TV as far back on top of the furniture as possible.
3. Keep remote controls, toys, and other items that might be attractive to children off TV stands or furniture. 
4. Keep TV and/or cable cords out of reach of children. 
5. Make sure freestanding kitchen ranges and stoves are installed with anti-tip brackets. 
6. Supervise children in rooms where these safety tips have not been followed.

Learn more about the Anchor It! campaign to secure furniture and TVs here.

At best, the mom is rolling her eyes and pulling her phone out to hand to her screaming child.

“Children under 2 years of age should have no screen time and after 2 years, we should limit screen time to 2 hours per day.”

There is the common summary statement that can be taken out of the AAP Policy Statement on Children, Adolescents and the Media.

Is this realistic?

Is this practical?

Is anyone listening to anything we say?

In May, a meeting of the best minds in the use of media in pediatrics set out to answer these questions as well as look at recent research on the use of screens in children and teenagers.

In order to get information about the meeting out quickly, AAP News released a summary of some of the thoughts that came out of the meeting.

If you read the headlines that were generated as a result of the statement, you might have heard:

“Pediatricians think all screen time is OK. Go for it!”

“Pediatricians finally admit that they were dead wrong and outdated when they said toddlers shouldn’t use screens.”

“Pediatric guidelines now changed to allow for more screen time, at earlier ages.”

Unfortunately, we don’t always get the time to fully explain our message and the media doesn’t always get it right.

Here are my takeaways from the statement that I hope better reflect the intent of the authors:

1. What you might have heard: “Pediatricians think all screen time is OK. Go for it!”

What it should have said: “We need to continue to be careful about the amount of time children are on screens. Guiding them toward quality apps and games that are more than just watching a video is important. Watching and playing alongside your children helps to enrich the experience for the family as a whole.”

2. What you might have heard: “Pediatricians finally admit that they were dead wrong and outdated when they said toddlers shouldn’t use screens.”

What it should have said: “The benefit of screen time for toddlers is an ongoing topic of research but it is clear that children continue to learn best from interacting with and talking to other humans. One of the major risk of screen time is the time take away from rich interaction with parents and other caregivers.”

3. What you might have heard: “Pediatric guidelines now changed to allow for more screen time, at earlier ages.”

What it should have said: “While this statement is not a new guideline, it does highlight the AAP commitment to following new research in regards to screen use and helping to relay that information to parents as soon as possible. As more information comes available, we will update our guidelines to reflect current studies in the context of practical media use for children.

Do continue to follow this debate because the guidelines are likely to change over time. (P.S. That’s what guidelines should do in a new and heavily researched field.)

Don’t go out and buy your 1 year old her own iPad.

Don’t fall victim to these persistent persuasion tactics by your children. The more children are exposed to on television at a young age, the more they start to see it as normal.

“The more kids see things that are too mature or scary for them, the more they see it as normal and may repeat the behavior whether that is using bad language, or being aggressive or violent,” said Joy Crabtree, a licensed psychologist at Cook Children’s Urgent Care and Pediatric Specialties in Southlake.

Crabtree believes that appropriateness of television shows and movies should be determined by a number of factors such as the age of a child, maturity level and the content of the show.

Crabtree said, “Another important thing to look out for is whether or not the show is a fantasy, like a cartoon, or realistic with “real” people doing inappropriate things. All these things should be taken into account.”

Use these helpful resources, provided by Lisa Elliot, a licensed psychologist and clinic manager at the Cook Children's Psychology clinic in Denton, to help monitor what your child is allowed to see on television. There are online resources where you can look up appropriate ratings of shows/movies to help you as a guide such as http://www.kids-in-mind.com/ and https://www.commonsensemedia.org/. Also, don’t forget to take advantage of your DVR. You can record a show, watch it when it is convenient for you and decide if it is appropriate for your child to watch.

If your child happens to see something inappropriate on television, make sure you discuss the topic and see if they have any questions or concerns over what they saw. As a general rule, parents should monitor how much time kids spend in front of the television and other electronics every day. Use these resources to make sure you know what your child is watching on television this season.

I had just agreed to write about how our family is going to drastically reduce their screen time over the summer. Now to break it to the kids. I was actually a little nervous about their reactions. After all, I had created three media junkies.

We were at the eye doctor. I was watching all three kids play on their handheld devices. My original plan was to have a big family meeting after dinner and explain the plan. But instead, in the waiting room I simply blurted out, “We are going to go almost totally screen free for the rest of the summer.” I was waiting for the big wails and sobs and yells of protests, but I don’t think they believed me. They sort of chuckled and looked back down at their games. I explained that I had been asked to write about the experience on a regular basis, and we were really going down to one hour a day. Oh buddy. That got their attention.

My middle girl, Morgan, 10 years old, said, “You know, that might be fun, we may learn something.” 

That was about it as far as the family taking it well.

Our youngest, Matthew, 6 years, said, “I don’t want to.”

Our oldest boy, Max, 11 years, said, “What? Wait, what? When? For just this weekend? Are you sure? Mom, this is not going to work. Can I pay for extra time? Can we start in September? What are we gonna DO all summer if we can’t play games?” 

You get the drift, Max is not happy. Like at all. This line of questioning went on for hours. I think I saw him actually go through some of the stages of grief to be honest, especially the denial and bargaining part. Poor guy.

I told the kids my plan is to allow them one hour a day with the option to earn an additional hour a day by doing certain chores and tasks. I figure we can set it up together. Maybe a family trip to Hobby Lobby to buy a fancy chore chart, stickers. You know, all that cool stuff I see on Pinterest, but never actually do.

I decided to give the kids 24 hours to mentally prepare. The two youngest ones want to start now. My oldest, not so much. I know there are going to be special circumstances that may result in the kids getting additional time (I bet Max will be the first to point ALL of them out) and I am not totally sure how this is going to go. I have to admit, I have gone from being completely freaked out by the idea to actually a little curious how our summer is going to change now that we will be a lot less distracted. 

Previous media free stories:

• 'TV head' - Could you unplug?
• Going media free - part 1

Aubrey Conklin, moved to Texas from Michigan via Chicago almost 10 years ago. She’s been married for 14 years and is the  mom to three kids ages 11,10 and 6.  A huge sports fan who not only loves all things Detroit sports but spends her own free time playing soccer, volleyball and softball.  Aubrey is a part time preschool teacher as well, a volunteer for her kid's school. 

My family consists of five media junkies. I am not even going to pretend we aren't. When our kid’s pediatrician, Dr. Kim Mangham, called to ask me about blogging about media this summer, I couldn't hear her because our TV was too loud.

I thought we had it under control. My family is very active. The kids play sports and swim. We go to different events and activities together all the time. But despite being so active, with all the hand-held games, TVs, computers, laptops, smart phones, tablets and video game consoles, we still manage to cram in A LOT of media time during the day.

The week before Dr. Mangham called, I had taken all my kids (11, 10 and 6) to their annual well check appointment. (Taking all three kids at the same time to their well check was either my most genius or dumbest idea yet. The jury is still out. It was crazy.)

I did give myself props because I remembered to charge everyone’s device of choice before the well check. So while everyone played on their devices, Dr. Mangham discussed with us summer safety and attempted to explain the importance of reducing media time. Dr. Mangham also mentioned that two of her patients’ parents were considering going media free for the summer. I allegedly said something agreeable to this statement and by the next week Dr. Mangham called to ask if I wanted to blog about my attempts to go media free.

I panicked. I didn't mean like really go media free. How would we go screen free? How would my kids talk to their friends? What about FaceTime with the grandparents? Use all those educational apps? What am I going to do if someone calls and I need to talk? Just not turn on the TV to their favorite program? Those Minecraft houses don't build themselves you know! How am I going to tell them? We are flying in July and I have a big meeting tomorrow!! How do you do this? Cold turkey? Reduce but not eliminate? What would we all do if we are not connected to the world?

The more questions I came up with, the more I realized that in our house media is a crutch.

We are going to try it. And our goal? To simply try and find a healthy balance when it comes to our media consumption on a daily basis

I am not sure how our journey is going to play out. Plan A (because plan A always works right?) is to reduce. We will limit our media to one hour a day,  with a chance to EARN up to another hour. Hey, maybe my baseboards will get cleaned this summer!

First things first. I have to break it to the family. Screen time as they know it is about to change!!

We moved into a new home about three weeks ago. Amid the chaos of boxes and a not quite finished remodel job, I hear the laughter of my kids upstairs. I head up to check on them and realize they are “playing nicely.”  What is interesting is that we have had no access to TV for three weeks. Could there be a connection between my kids getting along and no TV?  What are the results of being unplugged?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV for kids under 2 and less than 2 hours per day of media time for kids older than 2 years of age. Why? Because too much media is associated with aggression, inattention, anxiety, depression, sleep problems and obesity in our kids.

We call it TV head at my house. It is a lazy Saturday morning. The kids lounge in front of the TV for a few hours watching a movie. The next thing I know there is fighting, yelling and disagreement between my children. My son never quite recovers the rest of the day. He is a little “fuzzy headed” and a little grumpy.

Many of my patients have found harmony at home by decreasing media time. My parents have returned with true amazement at the difference in their kids once they have unplugged, especially in the evenings. They have reported healthier and happier kids. A number of my families have decided to unplug for the summer, which in all honesty, is probably the hardest time to do so, especially when it is hot outside and not much to do inside. Enter Mrs. Aubrey Conklin, one of the most fun and down to earth moms I have ever met.  I discussed the benefits of decreased media with her at the recent well-child exams for her three children. She is open minded enough to try it, and kind enough to let us join her on this journey.

Watch for Aubrey’s blogs this summer. She will be reporting in on how she and her family are doing cutting back on screen time.