Teenage Girls Are Having a Rough Time

originally posted by: AdifferentOpinion
Yeah, social media and popular culture.

If I was raising kids today, they would probably run away? I would be the most hated and most controlling parent in the world and my kids would be ostracized for not having phones, TicToc, Insta, Snap or Fakebook or any of that crap with a computer in a busy observable family location.

LOL, maybe I'd even take them and run away to some off-grid commune?

So lucky kids and grandkids are all grown adults, otherwise, I would be a monster!

We accomplished that when our teen girls were pre-teens. When mom & dad say no, end of discussion & they know it. There is something to be said for aiming to be the hard ass. Albeit nicely, mean hard asses don't get end results

Kind of relevant to the discussion but the American Psychological Association has just issued 10 recommendations for reducing the ills of social media in its first advisory on the subject. Only now? Sorta late to the party, methinks?

News American Psychological Association Says Parents Should Screen Kids for 'Problematic Social Media Use

Most of the recommendations provided focus less on the actual algorithms and other technology underpinning social networks and more on young users’ relationships with the tech. The APA suggests limiting kids’ screen time, for example, not necessarily because that inherently leads to mental health harms, but because it could interfere with a child’s sleep, which studies have associated with neurological development in adolescent brains. Elsewhere, the advisory recommends young users minimize the amount of time they spend on platforms comparing themselves to others or viewing illegal or psychologically maladaptive behavior because those actions are also associated with psychological harm. Parents of young users, the advisory notes, should minimize the time kids are exposed to posts related to suicide, self-harm, disordered eating, or other dangerous topics.

As I think I said earlier, it's a little late putting this genie back in the bottle and these recommendations are like closing the barn door after the horse has already run away.

a reply to: AdifferentOpinion

I keep my kid talking. Every day after school he tells me about his day and what he did, etc.

I started this early as soon as he could talk -- it's an ingrained ritual.

No subject is off limits. No subject is inappropriate. No judgement. No hysterics. No OMG.

I just let him talk. You can't keep kids from their lives or what they learn on the playground.

I see porn listed here once or twice. girls are watching it that much now too? that is...




AWESOME!!!

a reply to: Nyiah

Our biggest battle is over YouTube on his Switch. This go round, we caught him up at 2am watching videos. He lost the Switch for a month and won hard parental controls on it when he got it back.

So far, he hasn't started in on wating a phone.