+
Well Being

The spring break teen who wouldn't let the coronavirus 'stop me from partying' has sobered up and apologized

The spring break teen who wouldn't let the coronavirus 'stop me from partying' has sobered up and apologized
via CBS / Twitter

Brady Sluder, the SoundCloud rapper who proudly partied his butt off for spring break in Florida last week, seemed right out of central casting.

Ever defiant with his backwards hat and midday cheap beer buzz, he told a reporter the coronavirus wasn't going to get between him and a good time.

"Whatever happens, happens. If I get corona, I get corona," Sluder with total sincerity. "At the end of the day, I'm not going to let it stop me from partying."


After all, this party was a long time coming so he was going to fight for his right to be there when it happened.

"I've been waiting, we've been waiting for Miami spring break for a while," he added. "About two months we've had this trip planned, two, three months, and we're just out here having a good time."

Sluder unintentionally became the spokesperson for the thousands of twenty-somethings and teens that partied on the beach in south Florida while most of the country was either winding down their activities or on total lockdown.

The partiers became the source of national scorn and embarrassment for not adhering to the nationwide call to practice social distancing.

If Sluder's decision to put partying before his health only affected him, then there'd be no real reason to get too mad at the kid. But that's not how the coronavirus works. Sluder and the rest of the spring breakers were at risk of contracting the disease and then unknowingly spreading it back home.

After being shamed by most of the planet, Sluder has come out and apologized.

"Don't be arrogant and think you're invincible like myself," the spring breaker wrote on Instagram. "I wasn't aware of the severity of my actions and comments."

He spoke to the danger that can happen when young people refuse to practice social distancing.

"Like many others, I have elderly people who I adore more than anything in the world and other family members who are at risk, and I understand how concerning this disease is for us all," he said.

"Our generation may feel invincible, like I did when I commented," he added. "But we have a responsibility to listen and follow the recommendations in our communities."

Sluder's post begs an important question: Why do young people think they're invincible?

The answer is their brains aren't completely developed. This is especially true for men.

Young people's brains are still in a process of neuronal myelination, which is a fancy way of saying that the frontal lobe isn't completely connected to the rest of the brain. This process is usually complete in women by the age of 25, but men go through it until they are 30.

So guys like Sluder are able to party in a danger zone with zero worries because their brains are underdeveloped. Dumping a bunch of alcohol into the mix doesn't help things much either.

"Essentially, your frontal lobes tell you that it's a bad idea to drink alcohol and drive or to ignore the consequences of taking heroin," Gary L. Wenk Ph.D. wrote in Psychology Today.

"When your frontal lobes finally complete their process of myelination, they begin to work properly and you stop doing dangerous things," he continued. "Most importantly, you stop feeling immortal."

A size 21 Nike shoe made for Tacko Fall.

A local reporter at Hometown Life shared a unique and heartfelt story on March 16 about a mother struggling to find shoes that fit her 14-year-old son. The story resonated with parents everywhere; now, her son is getting the help he desperately needs. It's a wonderful example of people helping a family that thought they had nowhere to turn.

When Eric Kilburn Jr. was born, his mother, Rebecca’s OBGYN, told her that he had the “biggest feet I’ve ever seen in my life. Do not go out and buy baby shoes because they’re not gonna fit,’” Rebecca told Today.com. Fourteen years later, it’s almost impossible to find shoes that fit the 6’10” freshman—he needs a size 23.

Keep ReadingShow less

"What Do You Know About The Female Body?" from Jimmy Kimmel

When Jimmy Kimmel takes to the street, you know you’re in for a good laugh at just how little we actually know about, well, seemingly anything. That goes for anatomy too. In this case, female anatomy.

In a segment called “What Do You Know About The Female Body?” men try—and hilariously fail—to answer even the most basic questions, like “does a female have one uterus, or two?” much to the amazement of some of their female partners.

Here are some of the very best bits of nonwisdom:

Keep ReadingShow less
Education

Former teacher shares the funny 'secret code' she used when talking to parents

“Your son is going to make a great lawyer" is code for: "Your kid won’t stop arguing with me."

Miss Smith shares the "secret code" teachers use in emails to parents.

There are many things that teachers think but cannot say aloud. Teachers have to have a certain sense of decorum and often have strict rules about the things they can or can’t say about children, especially to their parents.

Plus, it’s a teacher’s job to educate, not judge. So, they find ways to kindly say what’s on their minds without having to resort to name-calling or talking disparagingly of a student.

Keep ReadingShow less
via Pexels

A teacher lists his class rules.

The world would be a much better place if humans weren’t so … human. We all fall short of perfection. Common sense is, sadly, not too common. And there’s one guy out there who always manages to screw things up when things start getting good.

Call it Murphy’s law. Call it the great “reason we can’t have nice things.” Call it entropy. It feels like a whole lot of pain could be avoided if we all had just a little bit more sense.

But what if there was one rule that we all agreed to follow to make everyone’s life better? What would this magical rule be?

A Reddit user who goes by the name P4insplatter came to this realization and asked the AskReddit subforum, “What simple rule would fix the world if everyone actually followed it?” They received dozens of simple rules that if everyone got behind would make the world drastically better.

Keep ReadingShow less
@thehalfdeaddad/TikTok

Dad on TikTok shared how he addressed his son's bullying.

What do you do when you find out your kid bullied someone? For many parents, the first step is forcing an apology. While this response is of course warranted, is it really effective? Some might argue that there are more constructive ways of handling the situation that teach a kid not only what they did wrong, but how to make things right again.

Single dadPatrick Forseth recently shared how he made a truly teachable moment out of his son, Lincoln, getting into trouble for bullying. Rather than forcing an apology, Forseth made sure his son was actively part of a solution.


The thought process behind his decision, which he explained in a now-viral TikTok video, is both simple and somewhat racial compared to how many parents have been encouraged to handle similar situations.
Keep ReadingShow less
Photo by Igor Ferreira on Unsplash

Florida principal fired after showing statue of "David."

If you ask most teachers why they went into education, they'll share that it had nothing to do with the money and everything to do with their passion for teaching. Even with rapid changes in curriculum and policies, teachers who remain in the classroom are lovers of education and are doing their best to help kids learn.

Hope Carrasquilla, the former principal of Florida's Tallahassee Classical School, was one of those teachers who simply enjoyed teaching. As the principal, Carrasquilla was required to teach two classes. During her sixth grade lesson about Renaissance art, which is also a requirement of the school, Carrasquilla showed a picture of Michelangelo's "David" statue.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, three parents complained about their children being shown the picture. Two of those parents were mostly upset that there wasn't sufficient notice given before the photo of the sculpture was shown. The third parent reportedly complained that the statue of the Biblical figure was pornographic.

Keep ReadingShow less