Camden Teenager Hospitalized With Facebook Withdrawals
Nancy Thompson, 15, was hospitalized today for severe withdrawal symptoms caused by her parents taking away her computer, cell phone, and her Facebook privileges. Thompson, who was being punished for a poor grade in math, was taken to the emergency room at Camden-South Medical Center after her parents found her in bed with cold sweats, thumb twitches, and general zombie-like behavior.âI was terrified, we both were.â Said Marge Thompson, Nancyâs mother. âI heard noises and murmuringÂ upstairs. I went to Nancyâs room, and she was rocking back-and-forth on her bead, mumbling âLike. Like. Comment. Like. Share,â and her thumbs were twitching in a texting motion involuntarily. We called 9-1-1 immediately.âAmbulances were at the Thompson house in minutes, with paramedics prepared for the worst.âWe arrived, and Nancy was still trembling. Itâs a scene Iâve bared witness to many times lately. The âSocial-Media Shakesâ, thatâs whatÂ we call them.â Said Glen Lantz, one of the paramedics on the scene. âWe were loading her into the ambulance, and that was when I saw the look she had. NancyÂ had a prettyÂ standard resting bitch face, but then I sawÂ her lips starting to curl back and one arm started to rise above her head. I recognized the selfie-signs instantly, and immediately sedated her before any of us had to seeÂ her morph into duck face mode.âParents today are more and more often using social media restrictions asÂ punishments for their children and teenagers. As evident in Nancyâs case, it is not always the best solution. Rod Lane, a professional child psychiatrist, says that teens and young adults need their social networks more than ever, and taking them away can have serious adverse effects, much the same as with drug and alcohol addiction.âI know that when your teen does something wrong, telling them they canât get on Facebook is the quickest thing to come to your head. I implore all parents, please donât do this.â Said Lane. âYour child needs to be weened off their social media, like a heroin abuserÂ who goes to a methadone clinic. Just like with âtrueâ drugs, your child can become violent and hostile, or conversely, they can become completely withdrawn and depressed, all because social media is removed from their lives too quickly.âNancyâs father, Donald Thompson, says that the first thing he did when Nancy awoke in the hospital was give her back herÂ 32GB gold iPhone 5 so she could get online.âI never want to have to go through something like this again. I swear I will never take away her Facebook privileges as long as I live. My baby girl can take all the half-nude, fake tanned, stupid-ass duck face pictures she wants. Iâll even âlikeâ them all myself!âNancy responded by saying it would be a âcold day in hellâ before she added her dad on Facebook. She also updated her status on Facebook to âPrnts are soooo f-ing lame. hospitul food sucks. some1 bring me an f-ing Pinkberry like NOW!â It immediately received âLikesâ from 143 ofÂ Nancyâs 2,486 friends.Â