Social media allow teenagers to create online identities, communicate with others and build social networks. These networks can provide teenagers with valuable support. Teenagers also use social media for entertainment and self-expression. And the platforms can expose teenagers to current events, allow them to communicate across geographic barriers and teach them about different kinds of subjects, including healthy behaviors. However, social media use can also negatively affect teenagers, distracting them, influencing their sleep, and exposing them to bullying (恐吓), rumor (谣言) spreading, untrue views of other people’s lives and peer pressure.

There are steps you can take to encourage responsible use of social media and limit some of its negative effects.

Set reasonable limits. Talk to your teenager about how to avoid letting social media affect his or her activities, sleep, meals or homework. Encourage a bedtime routine that avoids electronic media use, and keep cellphones and iPads out of teenagers’ bedrooms. Set an example by following these rules yourself.

Monitor your teenager’s accounts. Let your teenager know that you’ll be regularly checking his or her social media accounts. You might aim to do so once a week or more. And make sure you follow through.

Explain what’s not OK. Discourage your teenager from gossiping, spreading rumors, bullying or damaging someone’s reputation—online or otherwise. Talk to your teenager about what is appropriate and safe to share on social media.

Encourage face-to-face contact with friends. This is particularly important for teenagers who are vulnerable to social anxiety disorder.

Talk about social media. Talk about your own social media habits. Ask your teenager how he or she is using social media and how it makes him or her feel. Remind your teenager that social media is full of unrealistic images.

If you think your teenager is experiencing signs or symptoms of anxiety or depression related to social media use, talk to your child’s health care provider immediately.

Giving an allowance to children can be a useful tool to teach them both a sense of responsibility and the ability to manage their money. 【小题1】However, the adults are divided over when the time is right to stop giving their children an allowance.

Some parents stop giving their children an allowance when they graduate from high school; they believe it's time for their children to earn their own way. 【小题2】

Instead of waiting until after high school, there are parents who -believe that they should stop their children an allowance after they graduate from college. 【小题3】 Therefore, receiving an allowance .will give children more time for schooling.

【小题4】 If chores aren't done, grades aren't kept up and there is a bad attitude, then it may to giving your child an allowance. In the real world, if your work doesn't meet its standard and your attitude is bad, then you will no longer get paid.

If you are not sure when you should stop giving your child an allowance, talk to other parents.【小题5】 Besides, even if you make a wrong decision, the situation can be changed right away.

The streets of London are infamously colorful, and even more so now that some local authorities have decided to dress up pedestrian crossings in colors or other equally bright designs. Some of these “colorful crossings” are created by councils around the UK with more than just aesthetics (美学) in mind, focusing instead on preventing pedestrian casualties (伤亡人员).

Two cities in England that have just finished a pilot experiment are Liverpool and Hull. Before the experiment, the former had 99 adult pedestrian deaths or serious injuries per 100,000 people in 2019, making it the worst place in the UK that year, while in Hull 44 pedestrian casualties per 100,000 people were recorded.

“We call these colorful crossings a push because in an urban environment, pedestrians have a choice about where they cross the road,” says Dr. Holly Hope Smith, the consultant working on the two trials. “We’re trying to enhance a crossing that’s already there so that people are more likely to use it”

While Dr. Holy Hope Smith said that there had been little in terms of international research into colorful crossings, in 2004, research from Australian academics concluded that colored surfaces of crossings had a positive effect on pedestrian safety with regard to the number of crashes and the severity of injuries suffered by pedestrians. They recommended that they be applied in “busy” and “complex” pedestrian environments. More recently, a 2017 report by Better Bankside about artwork employed at crossings in London’s Southwark Street said, “Our work did make respondents use the crossing more, and 68% told us that the artwork made them experience more pleasure.”

Yet, bright colors aren’t for everyone. People suffering from autism (自闭症) have raised concerns over the nature of having several colors on a road, while guide dog owners have reported their assistance dogs being confused by the new road designs. “Colorful crossings can be really misleading for people with low vision and their guide dogs,” says Dr. Amy Kavanagh, a blind activist and campaigner. But Hope Smith doesn’t agree. “These crossings are placed to enhance existing pedestrian crossings. All the signals that are there for visually disadvantaged road users remain — the touch sensors, the audio signal for when the crossing is on — we haven’t touched them,” he says.