75 Comments

It’s very difficult to read articles with a topic that contains the words ‘children’ and ‘suicide’, but I believe that it’s important to bring attention to such aspects for future safety of our children!

Expand full comment
Feb 25, 2023·edited Feb 25, 2023

I am not surprised to see the conclusions in this article. I am an LMFT and an intensive care coordinator for Child Adolescent Mental Health in a large HMO. I see this in real life and parents struggling as these kids go in and out of hospitalization and other levels of intensive outpatient care. Those parents that try to limit or take away social media are sometimes successful, but many kids either feel more isolated or like any other addict, find creative ways to get around their parent’s restrictions. The question is, now that we have created this global addiction, what do we do about it?

Expand full comment

Jon Haidt’s ‘stack, After Babel, is a whirlwind of data and statistics everybody should read, especially parents.

Expand full comment

I have kids and I see it as my job to protect them. My job to monitor their internet activity and my job to make sure they aren’t seeing inappropriate stuff. They don’t have Instagram. They don’t have tik tok. I don’t want to rely on the government to guide my parenting decisions because ultimately that leaves parents with someone to blame other than themselves

Expand full comment

I loved the Inner Workings post!! It reminded me of many moments in Anna Wiener's 'Uncanny Valley'. I fear you have to be pretty far removed from yourself and the real world to pursue a 'frictionless life'.

Expand full comment

I recommend Janisse Ray and her Substack Trackless Wild. Janisse has written several books including Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and The Seed Underground. I love her writing because she is very place-based, focusing a lot on Georgia and nautral places throughout the state, Including the Okefenokee Swamp. She offers writing and goal-setting sessions, some of which are free and some are paid.

Expand full comment

wanted to do something easy and pleasant this week so I wrote about a weird obsession of mine -- lost works of art

https://open.substack.com/pub/drugsdontwork/p/lost-works?r=1ejxk&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

Expand full comment

I was both happy and sad to see the mental health coverage about social media and teen girls. They aren't the only demographic affected by it, but I think it's probably true that teenage girls are impacted by social media in unique ways, or experience pressures at levels other groups aren't used to. Isn't that the main demographic, in America, being groomed for agreeableness and to allow men to invade their personal boundaries? That's when all the people-pleasing is usually inculcated. So that is a very important connection to point out. Thanks for highlighting it!

Expand full comment

Thank you so much for featuring us!!! These other pieces are SO fascinating, what amazing company.

Expand full comment

Sherry Turkle is also a great resource for research on the effects of social media on children

Expand full comment

You have a good thing going here. Android and Apple are widely-used. Support both. I would be embarrassed if I worked at substack and saw someone trying to use this article on Android. Also known as unusable.

Expand full comment

I have a question My bank is going digital do I just let it happen or go somewhere else

Expand full comment

It is very regrettable for me, that I don’t speak English, only Spanish, this information is very interesting

Expand full comment

I am glad there are articles on Substack open to all. In general I view pay-for-news/opinion as I do concierge medicine-to be abhorred. What kind of society will be have if only the rich get news and diverse opinions?

Expand full comment

An immodest but well-meant plug for my Saturday week-in-review, just out this morning. This week Minsk, the war and one, Biden in Europe, Nicola Sturgeon, Nikki Haley, the US, China and Japan and the Bucharest Nine. Plus, the UK's turnip scold and fat Spanish trains. It's called Common Sense and Whiskey: https://csandw.substack.com/p/what-just-happened-6

Expand full comment