Oh this sings to my soul! We have young people who see are walking around every day with a phone in their hand, going from one social media app to another. They see these "celebrities" changing themselves, losing weight at a rapid pace, and wearing only "the finer things in life". These people have so much money and they use it for pure evil. We have young people who strive so hard to receive over a thousand followers on their Instagram or TikTok accounts and with that they hope to have over a hundred likes on their photos, and when this doesn't happen they believe they failed at life. When this happens; depression, anxiety, and panic erupt like clouds who have held water in for to long and the rain comes down in buckets.
We live in a time where children are being influenced by outsiders and they are trying to become like the newest TikTok star or the actor they admire.
When I was growing up I was in the beginning of this social media craze. I had MySpace and Aim Instant Messenger which was enough to throw me into years of allowing outside influences to dictate who I was which, in turn, caused many years of anxiety and panic attacks, never being truly happy, and always wanting something better. I never truly knew myself or loved myself for that matter.
I cannot even imagine being a young child or teenager these days. The amount of pressure they must feel on a daily basis is unfathomable. From Facebook to Instagram to TikTok to SnapChat and I'm sure there are more that I am unaware of. It's to much for the human mind to handle especially young children who can be very easily influenced.
Raising a daughter in times like today can be scary, but moving to the mountains and teaching her our family values, as well as limiting any social media access in the future is mine and my husband's goal.
It's a scary time when we have educators and doctors who promote ideologies that are, in our eyes, completely and utterly absurd. We have people we don't even know trying to push their agenda on our children, but with that being said, I have been seeing more and more parents coming out against all this and going back to the simpler times. Homeschooling and homesteading. All we can do as parents, is continue to instill our core values into our sons and daughters and allow our life experiences to guide some tough conversations that may have to be had.
Your post was inspiring, thank you!