1. Writing on your skin will give you ink poisoning. So false. This myth stems from a fact about decades old pen and ink manufacturers. The ink had traces of toxic chemicals, but when this was discovered all traces of the toxins were removed.

2. Sitting too close to the computer or TV will ruin your eyesight. This has never been proven. In fact, studies have shown that children can focus their eyes on close objects with less eyestrain than adults.

3. If you make that face, it will stick like that. This myth was created so kids would stop making goofy faces at their peers. If one’s face were to stick after making an expression, there is something seriously wrong.

4. Popping your knuckles will give you arthritis. That pop is neither harmful, nor beneficial. The sound is actually just nitrogen gas filling in the space one’s created while pulling apart the joint, and the release of the gas.

5. If you swallow gum, it will stay in your stomach for seven years. False. The human body is good at breaking down materials in gum. The only thing it has trouble with is the synthetic material, which it deposits into the small intestine as waste.

6. Sugar contributes to hyperactivity. A link has not been found between the two. Although diet does have an effect on behavior and health, sugar does not directly contribute to how rowdy your kid is.

7. Drinking coffee stunts your growth. Coffee affects your central nervous system, not your growth and development. So while it may cause anxiety, it won’t make you short.

8. Toads give you warts. They don’t. Neither do frogs. They look warty, but it’s really just glands that secrete non-wart-giving oils and liquids.

9. Sneezing with your eyes open will make your eyes fall out. Although pressure behind your eyes does go up when you sneeze, it’s not nearly enough to make them pop out of your head. So if you like the uncomfortable feeling of sneezing with your eyes open, do it with no fear.

10. You have to wait 30 minutes before you go swimming on a full stomach. This myth led children everywhere to believe that they would cramp up and drown if they didn’t wait those long 30 minutes. Fact is, there has never been a drowning related to swimming on a full stomach.

11. Reading in the dark will ruin your eyesight. It can give you a headache and eyestrain, but it won’t ruin your eyes.

17mcrees@usd489.com