Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez is a primary care pediatrician at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. She hosts the Healthy Children podcast from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
I just learned from a firefighter on Instagram that leaving my child’s bedroom door open at night makes it much more likely he would die in the event of a fire. Closing it, on the other hand, would keep the flames outside his room and ensure his survival, he assured me.
Yet another new fear I unlocked while scrolling social media.
What did I do with this newfound wisdom, you may ask? Nothing, apparently. My 4-year-old can’t sleep if we close his door, and my 5-month-old still sleeps in our room. I glanced at the smoke detectors and saw the lights signaling they were working, and I called it a night.
The thing about my social media feed, though — and I suspect I’m not alone — is that videos such as the firefighter’s are presented side by side with videos on things like drowning prevention. On some level, most can tell the difference between what applies to us and is a reasonable measure for our kids’ safety and what is not. But the more scary videos I see on my feed lately, the faster I scroll past. I am so tired I cannot do one more thing.
