Next time you go to water your garden, you may notice a new exotic plant -- The Vodka Tree. Well, to be more specific it is unlikely you'll actually grow an actual tree, but given the hijinks of resourceful teens today, you may find yourself a veritable bouquet of bottles. Read on to find out more about this, and other curious crusades your kids may be up to.
The Vodka Tree
The good new is, it seems parents have indeed become more effective in trying to curtail underage drinking at parties -- monitoring who comes in with what, clear cups and a tighter reign. But clever kids are working around this problem by thinking ahead...several days ahead. Once they know where the parent-monitored party will be, they head to the house a few days before and plant a bottle or two (or three and so on) in the flowerbed. That way when smug parents assume they have carefully created a safe sober environment and go to grab the uneaten hummus, a little dig reveals a very different kind of forbidden fruit!
Sharing is Caring
Kids don't want to steal. For the most part, kids WANT to be good. But what's a cash-strapped college kid to do when four hot artists' new albums break in the same week? Well, drop it in Dropbox. This useful tool -- usually used for company teams and large documents has become the teenager's new best friend. I buy one album, you buy the other and our buddy buys the third. We all drop the files in Dropbox and anyone of us can play it from anywhere. That's not stealing, It's called BUDGETING!
Insta-Slam
Ever wonder where you stack up with your friends? Well, just check out their Instagram profile for a clear sense of whether you made the cut. And where. And how many emoticons you rate. Without a profession or pithy tagline to share in their Instagram bio, the under 18 set are using the captions as personal shout outs. Of course it's not just IF you're in your buddies' bio. It's how far down the line you are, and what emoticons are used. Luckily, not all of your friends can see exactly where and how you do and don't rate. Oh, wait a minute...
Ooooh Bet your Kid has an Oovoo
Ooooh, feeling badly because your kid doesn't have a phone? Or that you won't let him have friends over after school so she can concentrate on homework? Well, chances are he might have 11 of his besties up in his bedroom right now on oovoo. Don't worry, you won't have to cook any more for dinner, but with this clever video conferencing site (and app) your teen can be talking to everyone...at once. And don't be fooled if there is no chatter coming from behind a closed door. Just because they aren't speaking doesn't mean they aren't connected. It's like group study. Only remotely.
Vine-aly
Just when you thought your kids couldn't take one more selfie, they got the power to make a 6-second long video starring ...You guessed...Them truly! And while the selfies are self-indulgent and dull, the beauty of Vine is it gives your kids a way to not only come up with an embarrassing, inappropriate 6 second long video, but it will be looped for eternity. Good luck Instagram, Vine is the new narcissists game in town.
Ask...And you shall receive a lot of nasty comments
Ask.fm isn't the first site that allows users to be "asked" ANYTHING from their followers, but is the one that teens and tweens today have decided to adopt. After all, doesn't every want to know everything about your precious young offspring? Had the questions stopped at favorite color or sports team, I wouldn't even be asking about Ask FM. But given that the ability to be anonymous in asking, sexual questions (and answers) inappropriate language and seemingly unmonitored or uncensored commenting seems to go unchecked, it sure seems like you should be asking your kids whether they are on ask fm.