Month: February 2016

Visions, an adolescent residential treatment center located in Southern California, has a warning to parents about what their kids are looking at on their mobile devices. Today, there are many apps that pose dangers to young users, giving them access to sexual material, making cyberbullying easier and allowing kids to hide the information on their phones from their parents. By learning about the most popular teen apps today, you will be equipped to check the devices of your own children to make sure no potential risks are lurking.

Hiding the Evidence
Kids are using apps that look innocent enough, but are really fronts for much more offensive material inside. For example, “calculator” apps like Best Secret Folder, KYMS (Keep Your Media Safe) and Private Photo are all disguised as calculator apps but secretly store photos and other material away from parents’ prying eyes.

Audio Manager is another app used for this purpose. While the name implies the app is to be used for managing music files or controlling sound quality, the real purpose is to keep photos, videos and even other apps safely hidden from view. All you need to do to unlock the screen is hold down the Audio Manager app and press in your code.

Erasing the Evidence
While some apps hide photos and messages, others promise to destroy messages after a determined period of time. Snapchat is the most common app for this purpose, but Burn Note has also been gaining steam recently.

The problem with these apps is that they can give teens a false sense of security that whatever they post on the app will not be permanent. This can lead to teens posting photos and messages they would not necessarily post otherwise. Unfortunately, there are numerous ways to recover the information that has “self-destructed” on these apps, allowing the inappropriate material to get into the hands of total strangers and even sexual predators.

Conversing with Strangers
Another serious danger with many of the apps today is that they allow teens to interact with random strangers with few if any limits on the content of the conversations. The result can be messages filled with sexual content, bullying and references to drugs and alcohol. Some of the most popular apps in this category include Omegle, Whisper and Yik Yak.

Dating apps like Tinder and Blendr also appeal to some teens, particularly the ability to post videos, photos and messages and have them “rated” by other members of the community. Both of these apps feature GPS tracking, which makes it far too easy to connect adults and unsuspecting kids. The rating feature can also be used as a bullying tool, as kids can gang up on one person’s profile.

The Link to Substance Abuse
In addition to the blatant risks listed above, there are other potential dangers hiding behind many of these apps. Even when the messages found within are not sexual in nature, many of them can be very dark – referring to depression, suicide and substance abuse. Kids that have not been exposed to these subjects at school or within their friend groups may find themselves immersed on their mobile devices, without the assistance of adults to navigate the confusing and sometimes scary issues.

Visions is an adolescent residential treatment center concerned with all aspects of teen health as a means to prevent substance abuse and addiction. To learn more about our treatment programs, contact Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers today at 866-889-3665.

Another study has raised concerns amid the ongoing debate over marijuana legalization, particularly among those at adolescent residential rehab centers that see the effects of this drug firsthand. The new study indicates daily, long-term marijuana use may contribute to impairment of short-term memory. When combined with the results of other studies, opponents of marijuana legalization point out that these findings support the idea that marijuana use can lead to some type of cognitive decline over time.

Marijuana Use and Verbal Memory Loss
The recent study, which was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, looked at the marijuana use of nearly 3,400 Americans over a period of 25 years. All of the subjects were between the ages of 18 and 30 years at the beginning of the study, and answered questions about their pot use eight times throughout the duration of the research. At the end of the study, subjects were asked to complete a bevy of cognitive tests that measured focus, short-term memory and decision-making skills, among other cognitive abilities.

One of those tests was a list of 15 words adults were given to read and study. Twenty-five minutes later, the adults were asked to write down all of the words on that list from memory. Adults that used marijuana heavily over an extended period of time were able to recall fewer words overall than those that did not use the drug.

Researchers found that those that smoked pot daily for five years or longer showed “statistically significant” declines in verbal memory. Verbal memory encompasses the ability to recall words. The more pot the test subjects used and the longer they used it, the greater the declines.

At this time, the researchers that conducted the study determined that the cognitive decline might be attributed to the fact that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana, may impact how information is processed in the part of the brain known as the hippocampus.

While researchers admitted there were some limitations in the recent study, they also noted that the results gained followed others that have indicted marijuana use could lead to declines in cognitive abilities. For example, a study by New Zealand researchers has found that longtime marijuana users tended to see a dip in IQ scores as opposed to those that never smoked pot. Those reduced scores seemed to persist even if marijuana use was stopped, indicating the decline could be permanent.

Marijuana Risks Documented
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), there is substantial evidence that exposure to marijuana has long-term and even permanent effects on the brain. While many of the initial marijuana studies were performed on animals, a growing body of research on humans is showing similar results. Scientists have found additional support that the THC in marijuana alters way the hippocampus functions. Since the hippocampus is the area of the brain responsible for memory formation, it makes sense that altering this area also may alter the way memories are stored, processed and recalled.

In addition to the cognitive impairment marijuana might cause, it has also been shown to damage the lungs and heart, particularly when smoked. Women that use marijuana while pregnant also increase the risk of birth defects in their unborn children. Many are concerned that legalizing the drug could increase its use, which could also increase the potential dangers.

Finding an Adolescent Residential Rehab Center
Contrary to the claims of those in favor of legalizing marijuana, the drug can be both addictive and dangerous. If you are struggling with marijuana abuse, contact Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers at 866-889-3665.