Even if you aren’t thinking of having kids, admit it—they do tend to surprise you sometimes. Even if it’s them doing something so dumb, it tickles your funny bone.
Well, here’s something that you might quite likely also find surprising. Kids like being yeeted (a.k.a. thrown, tossed, flung, hurled, launched, shot, chucked, sling, heaved, propelled, you get the idea), and the internet can’t stop it with the fascination.
A Tumblr thread has been going viral where folks discuss and explain the idea of the vestibular system, how it works and how, in order to improve its development in kids, you have to actively pick them up and yeet them in the air or at a ball pit or pillows or whatever else that is completely safe.
The importance of yeeting kids cannot be overstated, and folks online have pointed out the science behind it
Image credits: Donnie Ray Jones
So, Tumblr user turing-tested shared their fascination with the whole concept of throwing kids around. “There’s nothing purer,” the Tumblonian explained. And it wasn’t long until other folks on Tumblr started explaining what’s up with that and a wild pediatric occupational therapist appeared!
Tumblr user hjartaohamast-svohljott, who introduced themselves as a pediatric occupational therapist, elaborated on the whats, whys and hows of this kid-yeeting phenomenon. And as it turns out, it’s more than just the vestibular system at work here, but also proprioception.
Tumblr people have been discussing how throwing kids at objects (or just throwing them around) is good for their balance and concentration
Image credits: hjartaohamast-svohljott
But, let’s rewind. For those unfamiliar, the vestibular system is a sensory system for balance and movement coordination as well as spacial awareness and orientation. That other fancy word, proprioception, is, as OP explained, “the feeling of your joints and muscles [and] where your body is in space!”
It is a natural response by the body to yearn input from the outer world—input like leaning against walls, giving your body a squeeze to wake up and so on. And when folks throw kids at soft objects, it wakes them up and also calms their bodies down because these bodily vestibular and proprioceptive needs are met.
Actually, it's good for any human being and your vestibular system will thank you for stimulating it
Image credits: hjartaohamast-svohljott | Link provided in image
Image credits: hjartaohamast-svohljott
Image credits: Russ Anderson
So, why do kids need this kind of sensory input? According to the Center for Developing Kids located at Pasadena, California, besides the vestibular system being responsible for thing like balance, postural control, muscle tone, and maintaining a stable visual field while moving, it’s also closely tied to difficulties with attention, organization of behavior, communication, and modulation of arousal level. In other words, if you don’t stimulate it, all of the above might more or less be affected and not work properly.
The body has its own coping mechanisms for this, so that’s in part why you can see kids running around, being jiggly, and crashing into things seemingly deliberately—that’s their body’s way of saying that they need this input.
All GPS jokes aside, this sudden loss in balance, control and orientation urges the body to adapt to new senses, hence improving it and giving you +2 to concentration and dexterity
Image credits: hjartaohamast-svohljott
OP suggests several things that folks can do to meet these needs, whether you’re a kid or an adult (adults have these needs too): Jumping up and down, giving yourself “a squeeze” (stretching while yawning) or getting a bear hug, doing wall push ups or cartwheels, having a crunchy snack, listening to a different genre of music, or doing stretches. Even something as simple as showering will get your tactile senses sending signals to the vestibular. Based on these suggestions, you can guess just how complex the whole system is because of the myriad of ways to wake up the body.
A pediatric occupational therapist joined the conversation, adding that it's not just about the vestibular system, but also about proprioception
Image credits: hjartaohamast-svohljott
If you want more conventional means for doing these instead of flailing around like a maniac, here are some sitting exercises for those working a desk job, and as for kids, the Center for Developing Kids points out that most playground equipment should suffice to meet these needs, like various swings and slides. And if that isn’t available, hey, beds, cushions and trampolines might be your best friends.
OP also added some of the things that folks (not just kids, but adults too) could do to improve their balance, orientation and concentration
Image credits: hjartaohamast-svohljott
The post got quite a bit of attention online. On Tumblr alone, the thread got over 386,000 notes, but the whole thing also found its way on Imgur, where it was viewed another 160,000 times and upvoted by over 4,600 Imgur users.
In the comments, internauts joked that detention is a bad way of going about solving this situation because “misbehaving” kids shouldn’t be nailed down to a chair as punishment, but rather given more recess to solve the issue.
The thread ended up with over 386,000 notes on Tumblr and another 160,000 views on Imgur
Others pointed out that they probably weren’t yeeted enough as kids (seemingly alluding to having ended up jittery and absent-minded), with some even thinking of taking this advice. Well, maybe not the cartwheeling part—not everyone is as spry as a 12-year-old.
And don’t, for the love of God, ever pick up a kid you don’t know and don’t yeet them at anything without the explicit consent and permission from both the kid and the parents and without showing them this article. That’s gonna save you from so much trouble, trust me.
So, what are your thoughts on this? Does this explain a lot of things about your (or your kid’s) body? Share your thoughts about anything you’ve read here in the comment section below!