Parenting/Parental Rights
A small group of Sydney parents have started a movement called the Heads Up Alliance. Their purpose is to encourage and enlist parents to delay getting smartphones for their kids, at least until year nine. (I’d hang out even longer, call me old fashioned, but I’d not have internet devices in bedrooms until they have graduated from school.)
So those kids can be social in the real world instead, relate to family and friends, pets, and nature, and not get distracted and de-skilled in a world of clicks and fleeting glib slogans that pass for friendship. Read more
Melissa Jacobs and her husband, Jeremy, raising seven children in St. Louis, canceled Disney Plus this spring. While the family has enjoyed shows like “Bluey,” along with Star Wars and Marvel films, she stated that “the direction Disney was leaning” prompted their decision.
“Many of their programs no longer have a traditional family and instead highlight and celebrate queer, transgender, and homosexual characters,” she stated. “In many shows, kids are openly disrespectful to their parents. It’s all contrary to what we are trying to teach our children.” Read more
When dealing with a teenager who appears depressed, you’re going to get a lot of pushback when you try and enter their world. It’s normal to stop pushing and stop asking questions out of respect for their requests to back off. Plus, it’s impossible to pry information out of somebody without doing more damage to them or the relationship. However, I don’t think that pulling away is the best option, especially when you are worried about their mental health and possibly their safety.
Even if you don’t know what else to do, I recommend you err on the side of closeness. Contact is more important than consent when trying to connect to a troubled teen. In other words, your daughter may want you as far away as possible, but it’s critical that you keep as much contact with her as possible so she can have that assurance that someone is still there for her. Pulling away when she’s in a condition like this will only diminish her mental health and possibly confirm to her the worst things she thinks about herself. Read more