Let's Talk Midlife Crisis Podcast
Hosts Ashley & Traci are creating a community and empowering women going thru midlife and aging, exploring the topic of midlife crisis an all its complexities. This is a space where we can come together to share our stories, our experiences, and our perspectives on this pivotal moment in our lives.
Whether you're going through a midlife crisis yourself, going through menopause, dating in midlife or just interested in learning more about this fascinating topic, we invite you to join us for insightful conversations with experts, personal stories from real people, and practical advice on how to navigate this challenging time.
Our goal is to create a community where we can support each other through the ups and downs of midlife, and help each other find meaning, purpose and fulfillment in the second half of our lives.
So buckle up and get ready for an engaging and thought-provoking journey into the world of midlife crisis. We can't wait to share this adventure with you!
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Let's Talk Midlife Crisis Podcast
Guarding Our Children's Minds: Navigating the Digital Landscape and Social Media's Hold on Youth
Discover how the digital world is reshaping our children's lives as Ashley and I take a deep look into the effects of increased screen time and social media on the younger generation. We'll guide you through the complex landscape of today's digital playground, inspired by insights from Jonathan Haidt's "The Anxious Generation" and his revealing discussion with Joe Rogan. From the psychological quest for social media validation to the harsh realities of cyberbullying, we examine the challenges facing parents and children, delving into the necessity for new forms of vigilance and proactive strategies to support our kids' mental health.
As the conversation unfolds, we tackle the hot-button issue of digital-age parenting and the responsibility it entails. The ease with which children can access age-restricted platforms prompts us to question whether current online authentication systems are enough. We scrutinize the sluggish pace of the United States in regulating virtual spaces, emphasizing the importance of parental involvement through screen time rules and the promotion of real-world play. Our recommendations don't stop there; we also share practical tools for parental control and highlight "The Social Dilemma" as a critical watch, underscoring why awareness is key for everyone in this digitally connected era.
Wrapping up our thoughtful dialogue, we shine a light on a poignant paradox: the social media titans who keep their own children away from their creations. This striking contradiction opens up a discussion on the profound effects of online personas on youth self-image and mental health. We share anecdotes from our own engagements with television and rock music, acknowledging the unique hurdles today's children face. As we conclude, we invite listeners to share their stories and join us in the journey to understand and mitigate the pervasive influence of social media on our families and future generations.
NOTE: If your teen or preteen is or has been addicted to social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, or YouTube and struggles with self-harm or eating disorders you may be eligible for significant compensation. Click the link (or copy URL and paste into your browser) to learn more: seeoffer.us/CAUSE
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Hello and welcome to let's Talk Midlife Crisis with your hosts, ashley and Tracy. Pull up a chair for your seat at the table as we talk about the great rewiring of childhood.
Speaker 2:Okay, so this is going to be a really interesting topic and I kind of want to just talk about this or to this, I guess, more based on our personal experience and what we're seeing. But I did. I listened to a podcast, joe Rogan. I know he has some big fans and he has some haters, but he has some really interesting guests and topics that he covers, and one was actually referred to me by my son, who's a big fan, and so I listened to it. He said this might be a good topic for you to cover and I was like I don't know. So I listened to it and I was like you know what I think this actually really would be? Like you know what I think this actually really would be? Um, it it talks about. So he, the guest he had, um, he wrote a book called the anxious generation. His name is um jonathan jonathan hate. I hope I didn't. It's h-i-d-t.
Speaker 2:I hope I didn't slaughter that, because joe didn't say his last name on at the beginning and so I was like how am I gonna find this? I hope I didn't kill it, but anyway, he wrote this book. He's a professor at myu and he wrote this book about the rewiring of childhood. Um, we have an epidemic now of and we've kind of touched on this a little bit in previous episodes right of um young kids experiencing mental health issues such as anxiety and depression and things like that, and while that's always been there, it's increased drastically, especially since the pandemic significantly, significantly, I mean it was alarming that what the rates were pre-pandemic, pandemic, right, and then when that happened, it was like the line just shot straight up.
Speaker 2:Um, and a lot of that obviously is because kids were home, they weren't in school, they weren't hanging out with their friends, right, they were on social media, and that's kind of, when tiktok just blew up, it was already around, yes, but it really took off yeah, it just went to the next level, absolutely yes, um, so so what they're?
Speaker 2:what he says in this book is that it's very troubling when you look at the difference between how kids are growing up today versus how they did. And obviously, you know, based off research, they're finding that screen time is contributing to this. Um, not just social media, but screen time in general. Yes, and there are people who are kind of fighting that and saying, hey, you know, I watched too much tv when I was a kid and I'm fine.
Speaker 2:The difference is that when we were growing up watching too much tv, right air quotes um, we were hanging out with our siblings or our cousins or our friends and we were interacting and we were laughing at things together and talking about what we're watching and arguing about it, whatever it might be, and maybe even watching Sesame Street or Dora.
Speaker 1:Remember Dora the Explorer? My kids grew up on Dora and Diego. Yeah, because it was educational. They were trying to come up with educational things, so you didn't feel so bad about sitting your child, a young child, in front of the television?
Speaker 2:Yeah, but even then, like kids and you know teenage kids that are watching, you know, sitcoms or anything like that Right.
Speaker 1:Typically there's a moral yes To the whole you know, we used to have family nights and watch like American Idol when it first came out and different things, but it was definitely a family thing and pretty little liars when the kids were young, right, yeah, you know, and those types of programming Right, but we would all watch together.
Speaker 2:And you would interact and talk about it. Yes, Absolutely yes. So that's the difference. Now, if you look at a room full of, you know, teenagers or preteens or whatever it might be, they're all on their phones and they're not talking. No, they're just looking at their phones, so there's no social interaction, even if they're in the same room.
Speaker 2:No, human interaction pretty much at all right, which is typically they're alone yeah, you know, at home in the room or whatever, but even if they're with their friends, yeah, they're not talking while they're looking at all this stuff that's, you know whether it's TikTok or Instagram or whatever it might be and they're finding that it really is causing a lot of issues with the kids. But it was just very interesting to find how disturbing it is. I mean, you know, like I said, we've touched on this before and we know we recognize that it's a problem.
Speaker 1:Right, we were, I think, fortunate enough that our children had grown up before the huge explosion. Yeah, definitely, you know, they were kind of tip their toes in it, you know, with maybe some Snapchat here and Facebook. But my children, who are now, you know, grown and adults, don't necessarily spend a lot of time on social media. Yeah, I think the biggest one perhaps would be youtube, but I think we're, all you know, kind of guilty of that. Yeah, but, um, but, for the social and also on top of that, whatever the psychological ramifications of the screen time is, there's also the ramifications of putting yourself out there and open to so much.
Speaker 1:There's all that cyber bullying and, um, well, and not even if you don't get bullied, but how many likes, you get exactly?
Speaker 2:I think that a lot of kids are that their confidence is based on, yes, the attention that they're getting on there, and I I've mentioned before when my kids were in high school, they would post something on instagram and if they didn't get so many likes within the first two minutes, yes, they would delete the post. Yes, it was like oh nope, it's not cool enough, it's not good enough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm gonna take it down and that definitely has to be impacting right, and I think that was just kind of the beginning of what's really happened now, and and so we haven't personally experienced that.
Speaker 2:But I had concerns then and I addressed it with my kids and said no, no, no, this is not okay. You know, um, and I just didn't. You know, they didn't grow up with ipads when they were little or anything like that. I didn't really have, other than my oldest son who's a gamer. I didn't really have to worry about monitoring screen time, right, I didn't feel that way either.
Speaker 1:I yeah so, but also children are now getting onto screens and that's where you're probably going a lot earlier. Yes, in life like my grand when they were toddlers had the tablet that just had the the kiddie stuff on it. But you know, in case you have to take them to a doctor, they need to be quiet in the car, or whatever yeah, but yeah, the earlier that they're on screens and getting cell phones is that age has changed and that's creating a path for them as they grow and develop.
Speaker 2:So when they're that little, yeah they're probably watching interactive shows like Sesame Street type stuff, right, or playing games that are kind of learning games, but it's still screen time, right, and it's still creating this path of you know what. Pattern, yeah, absolutely Pattern of habits, so some of the things that the author was saying, because it's like okay, well, we know this is a problem, but what do we do exactly?
Speaker 1:and I think we all know it's a problem, yeah, even those that don't have smaller you know small children in the house know it's a problem or are even experiencing it themselves. Right scrolling that scrolling thing gets you right and the algorithms and how they try to loop you back in, it's just, and then they're on the ai.
Speaker 2:They were saying the average amount of time that kids are spending only on social media is five hours a day screen time and overall what you know things outside of social media. Overall screen time is about nine hours a day no, that's an average child.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's like a whole. Oh my gosh, it is. So I'm wondering does that include? Because I'm pretty sure my grandsons are on computers during the day for school? Probably it would have to include that, yeah I would think so.
Speaker 2:Um, but if you think about it, I mean, if they're getting out of school around three o'clock and they're going to bed, I mean, who knows, I don't know what bedtimes are like nine kids used to go to like eight yeah, um, that's five hours. Yeah, they might take a break to eat dinner yeah but how much of that's really being monitored.
Speaker 2:And and here's the challenge that I think parents face when they do try to monitor or say, no, I'm not getting you a phone or an iPad or whatever it might be, but then all their friends still have you know so then they're the outcast. So you know, one of his suggestions was like, collectively, as parents, we need to do something about this together. Yes, let's all like. I mean, his suggestions were no phone before you're 16 years old. Okay, here's where I'm like, eh.
Speaker 2:I know I need to be able to be in touch with my kids, you know. Like when my daughter's at soccer practice or when she gets out of school. If I'm not there yet, I want to be able to text her or call her and say, hey, I'm not going to get there in time and my grandson I want to go to my friend's house after school, just stuff like that.
Speaker 1:I'm like, oh, you need to call me, and so now he'll borrow somebody's phone. He's 12, right, and he doesn't have a phone yet, um but, and he'll have to call me from somebody else's phone and so his suggestion for that was okay. Well, they don't need a smartphone right, get him a flip phone, oh, but then you're not cool exactly, but that's why he's saying collectively yeah, we all need to do this.
Speaker 2:We, you know, this is an epidemic.
Speaker 1:It is.
Speaker 2:We just had a pandemic and the world came together to figure out how to get through this Right as a whole. Yes, the same thing should happen for this. This is an epidemic 100%.
Speaker 1:We should come together, and there was also something that was recently done, maybe recently, maybe within the last year or two, but collectively everybody got together on opioid abuse and there was like national broadcasts in the US across every television station and radio station all simultaneously at the same time in an effort to help, you know, combat that epidemic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so 100%, it can be done, absolutely, but it's getting everybody to jump on board with it and I think that you know if there's more awareness created around this because, I was actually talking to page about it and she said well, everybody knows it's a problem like what?
Speaker 2:right, yeah, I think everybody does to share and it's like no, actually not everyone knows and maybe people do know, but they're like well, what am I going to do about? It's like no, actually not everyone knows and maybe people do know, but they're like well, what am I going to do about it? Right, you know right, one person and so yeah, and it takes awareness and people getting engaged and talking and sharing and finding ways to combat this because, it is a problem it is and I'm terrified for the future generation I was gonna say it's only gonna get worse.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because of artificial intelligence right now, exactly, that's another thing they touched on. Yeah, I mean, it's going to again just skyrocket the levels that we're at now, you know, with that implementation as we move forward, and that is scary, it's terrifying.
Speaker 2:It is scary, you know, just thinking about you know, back to my childhood and we didn't have computers. I think we had a computer, but there was no internet. And just playing outside and not having my parents sit there and watch me. There's so much of that now that we've created this fear of the world. But it's a real thing. It's not. It is a real thing. It's a real thing.
Speaker 1:But his argument was Especially for those who live in big cities like we do. Absolutely Right, we used to run around the neighborhood, yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, I totally agree with that, but I also think there's a level of independence that they should have. Yes, and yes, there needs to be a certain amount of fear to protect yourself.
Speaker 1:And To protect yourself and just be aware yeah, be aware of your surroundings that type of thing.
Speaker 2:But he also argued In educating the children the childhood predators that were once out there when we were younger, watching kids on the playground and watching neighborhoods and things like that. They're not out. I mean, sure, I'm sure there's a few out there. Still they're mostly online.
Speaker 1:They're targeting kids online because that's where kids are, so you know it's to some extent, I still believe that there's a lot, you know, with the human trafficking and all of these crazy things that you hear about and perhaps, like me, I don't you know dive too much into, because it's just so horrific that it's difficult for me to you know. Wrap your head around wrap my head around it and, um, it, just you know, brings me down and I, just you know, choose to ignore it, which is sad, until it affects you, right?
Speaker 2:and then all of a sudden, you have this heightened sense of awareness. It's like, yeah, I know it's a problem, but what do I do about it?
Speaker 1:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2:Um, but yeah, I, just I. I feel again, I am so glad I don't have to, I'm not in a position where I really have to deal with this, but I feel like it's really important for parents to set the ground rules before their kids. Kids are of age to have phones or whatever it is Like as far as playing on, you know, iPads and things like that, all that screen time time. Set the ground rules. This is when you'll get a phone. Right. Until then this is what we're doing, right you will not have social media accounts until and you know, unfortunately, it's really easy all you have to do is say yes, I'm 13 and whatever lie about your birthday whatever it's so easy for them to create that stuff.
Speaker 2:Yes, I would. I do wish. I mean I'm not a big fan of things being regulated to the point where we can't have freedom of speech you know, but I do think there should be more authentication. Or off, what is it? Um, yeah, authentication, I guess when you have to go on to say I'm not a robot like that type of thing right I think we need to have, you know, stricter guidelines on that. Yes, um, and we're so in the us.
Speaker 1:We're so lagging. Oh, as far as anything is to do with um online internet social media.
Speaker 1:It's ai all, yeah, all of it we're so far behind the eight ball on that and unfortunately it's going to impact us by this generation of young humans that are growing up right now. You know, and even for those parents who are commendable and they do monitor screen time and social media accounts of their, you know, young children and things like that, it's still difficult, like we were just talking about, with the likes and different things that you know will impact them Well, and also the them the fact that you know they're going to have all these friends that are allowed yes, to do all this, yes and you know they, they're going to face those challenges again with, like the bullying and being picked on and things like that.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I, I mean I commend parents that are doing everything they can to enforce it and regulate it, um, but yeah it's, and find a balance challenge find a balance, and oftentimes I'm fortunate because I live in a cul-de-sac so and I have these little orange cones that I can set out right, you know, and the kids can go in the cul-de-sac, and they can.
Speaker 1:You know, not necessarily well. The littler ones can ride their bicycles, but the older ones need to veer out of the yeah the cul-de-sac, but doing long boards and skateboards and scooters and we, that's just things that we have at home.
Speaker 1:I don't have roller skates, but just anything like that anything outside physical interacting to get some in the sun and exercise and all of that kind of stuff, and and perhaps there is a space, a small space, for some screen time, right, right, Absolutely. And I know for me it's always a challenge with my grandkids and we sit down to eat and everybody brings their phones and I make everybody put their phones away at the table. And I've heard they have these lock boxes. My oldest daughter had bought one of these, it's like a timer on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So there are ways you know and means and things that can assist in parents to help control it, yeah, but there's a lot of good documentaries and information out there now, outside of Google and the research, because even with that that you know and with AI, they're just kind of serving you up, kind of what you want to hear, right based upon your algorithms and stuff. But there are some movies and I remember it's actually been a couple of years now but I watched the Social Dilemma.
Speaker 1:Oh, which was really really impactful and, basically, it's the tech experts from silicon valley that were sounding the alarm of the dangerous impact of social networking, which they use an attempt to manipulate and influence. And what I found, which was so interesting to me and um, you know, they interviewed quite a few different individuals. You know the, the guy from facebook that invented the like button.
Speaker 1:Oh, right and they're talking about how everything was about monetization, monetization, monetization. And then they invented like the like button, and so it talks about him and you know it, just it's. I highly recommend it. And again, it's the social dilemma. We're gonna have links to everything in our description, on the podcast so, or on our website for easy access. But I highly recommend taking a look at it, even if you don't have young children in the house anymore or children at all. But it's really an eye opener as to what is happening.
Speaker 1:And what was most profound to me was at the very end of the episode or the show. And it's just a movie, it's not a series or anything, so it's a quick watch. It's just a movie, it's not a series or anything, so it's a quick watch. But all of the people that they were interviewing that have created what we now know is our current social media, and this was a step back from AI, so to speak, but algorithms, it's kind of the same thing, but in any event, at the end of the movie they were interviewing each one and they asked them if they had children.
Speaker 1:None of them had their current positions anymore. So these high like CEOs and you know, these major executives that created what we now know, as you know, current social media today. At the end, they asked them if they still work there, and none of them still had those positions. They asked them if they had children, and none of them still had those positions. Um, they asked them if they had children I believe all of them had children and then they asked them if they let them use social media or if they would allow them yeah to use social media and the answer was no.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like they put this out there to alert parents, and there is actually something online where you can sign up, you know as to your point, to you know, create that, you know, community of people. To you know, put a stop to everything, and but that's something that I think every one should see.
Speaker 2:It's interesting you brought that up about them not wanting their kids um to be on social media. Um, this author, he's also a, as I said, a professor at NYU and he does a lot of um. He goes around and talks to a lot of of kids in like middle age, college age, all different age groups, right, and one of the questions he asks all of them if social media was not accessible to you until you were 18 years old, to any kid not just you, but any kid at all would you agree with that? Would you think that would be a good enforcement? And every he's never had anyone say no.
Speaker 1:Every kid, even middle school kids, school kids, have said yes I think that would be amazing because of the anxiety it's creating for them and if they're that young and can see how it's impacting their lives.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the competition that they have out there, you know, comparing themselves to what so-and-so's posted and what they're doing. I mean, I remember my kids talking about Self-confidence and image.
Speaker 1:Self-image, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:I remember my kids talking about oh, my friend, he's in Bora Bora right now.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And he's so rich he always gets to go to these great. He has this beautiful house and I'm like what friend is this? Oh, it's someone I follow on social media. I'm like they're your friend. Do you talk to them? I know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, no, I always. You don't even know who they are. Yeah, you follow them, yes, and they're making their life look a certain way.
Speaker 2:Yes, you don't even know if it's real. Right, you don't even know if it's real.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So it's just, it's mind blowing.
Speaker 1:And people, kids, what they see on social media, yeah, and I guess to your point, like we were talking about when we were kids in television and they said television was going to ruin you know the generation and and for me too. Um, I remember music like rock and roll. Right, that was the big thing, yeah all, even elvis remember it started back with elvis and how corrupting that was to you know young minds and and clearly we turned out okay right, but I think this is a whole different level this is a whole different ballgame that we're talking about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I I don't remember watching excessive amounts of tv. I liked to be outside and doing things I was very active growing up, but I just you know, yes, there's a level of seeing things on TV and going, wow, that would be a great life Right, like the models and stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, but it's just so different. And then the photo airbrushing of models.
Speaker 1:Yes so remember when that all came out and you're just like well, anybody could look like that. Yeah, if you're airbrushed Exactly. Exactly so. We had our toes dipped into the water, but it's nothing. Like you said, this is an epidemic.
Speaker 2:And it's out of control. It's out of control, it's got so. Yeah, I mean there definitely has to be some kind of regulation to this. It's just gotten out of control and I think for me personally, I think a lot of people are just it's very terrifying to think about what this generation, um, you know, whether it's early twenties, high school and younger what, what is going to come of that? And it's it's really sad and scary to me to think about 12 year old girls, um, having bouts of anxiety or depression or being suicidal.
Speaker 1:I was just going to say being suicidal.
Speaker 2:They should be kids. They should be kids having fun. And I get that.
Speaker 1:it's always been there, but it's so big now, it's so much more expensive than it used to be, epidemic proportions, absolutely, and it's going to impact our future generation. Yes, so the next generation, and what happens in the world, and also what I'm finding is, with the lack of exercise, the lack of motivation that they have to do anything outside of being on a screen, including schoolwork or thinking about their future and perhaps what they would like to do with their future, right, you know all kinds of things like that there's like, I feel like there's zero motivation and inspiration. Yeah, for the younger generation right now, um, you know that will help them in their more formative years. Right, moving forward, this cannot be a good thing.
Speaker 2:No, no, I don't think it is. It's. It's like I said, it's terrifying and I do hope that. I mean, I would love if there's some kind of support group or petition or anything. I would love to be a part of it. There is, if you, yeah, the Social Dilemma.
Speaker 1:Go to thesocialdilemmacom and look for a petition on there. I haven't been on there. It's been years. In the beginning I was getting some emails and different communication and in the beginning I was getting some emails and different communication and, if I'm not mistaken, there was actually like something that you could download, a PDF that you could download, of things to do. So I would definitely say, start there and let's sign up there, because that's exactly what it was designed to do and it's been out there for a few years. But also help spread the word. You know, talk to the parents of your children's friends. You know, talk to the schools. Talk to your neighbors. Talk to your friends about it.
Speaker 2:That was one thing that they mentioned too is he said there shouldn't be phones in schools, which I agree with. Yeah, if they keep it in their bag so that after school, if they need to call for their ride, whatever it might be. But how many children?
Speaker 1:have the control, the self-control, to sit there all day, but it shouldn't even be allowed in the classroom.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:No, I agree, you know what I mean If they have it in their backpack. I feel that most children don't have the self-control to not pull it out of their backpack.
Speaker 2:Oh, let's check messages, pull it out of their backpack. Yeah, oh, let's check messages though as time goes. If it's something that is put in place, yes, it might take a year or two, but at some point the kids are going to be so used to nobody else has their phone exactly they're going to be so used to it like no, we don't. We don't use our phones in class.
Speaker 1:We're not allowed to you, know right initially.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's going to be challenging because it's been allowed right. There's not's not. You know, I do remember my kids. If they got caught on their phone in class they would get it taken away and they have to go to the office and get their phone for them and that. But it's just, I don't think I mean it's not the same thing, but but it's just. I don't think it's just putting the rules in place. And if you put them in place now, in a few years, it's just going to be accepted right because that's just the way, that's, that's how it is.
Speaker 1:That's how it works, so maybe that's a good place to start is with your local schools and their school districts right and you know, petitioning meetings all the time that parents are allowed to go to.
Speaker 1:That's true it's stuff that should be addressed. It's kind of sad and I'm probably the biggest I'm raising my hand, I'm probably the biggest one who might say something about it. But actually to show up at a meeting and take that time out, I mean you kind of have to have a level of devotion there. Absolutely right, because everybody's lives are so busy. You know you work all day. Perhaps I think most people yeah, um work. You know full-time jobs now, and especially if you do have children, then you have to deal with that by the time, dinner and bedtime bath and stuff is over sports or any extracurricular activities.
Speaker 1:You're exhausted, but I think that it is something that is super important, that we do need to take a stand now and carve out that time and make it a priority and show up to those meetings, absolutely, I mean it's the future of our children.
Speaker 2:You know it's something that should be important to parents, and I mean we. You know we enforce a lot of rules within our home on other things, and you know school and things like that. There's no reason that this can't be addressed the same way, right? And you know you do all't be addressed the same way, right? And you know you do all that because you care about your kids and you want them to be safe and you want them to make good choices this shouldn't be any different exactly 100 and discipline, and it's about yeah yeah, self-control right
Speaker 1:right and quite honestly their mental state, the mental state, because if your children are having issues, I guarantee, guarantee you you're having issues too. Right, right, absolutely yeah, it's an uphill battle here, so let's nip it while we can, while they're young and you still have control and you're able to instill habits and learn how to manage their time Productively. Productively, perhaps, it's in perhaps Productively.
Speaker 2:Productively perhaps, Even if it is playing outside. It's okay if you're on social media.
Speaker 1:But you have a specific, limited period of time and most phone carriers mobile carriers now, the major ones allow parental controls Right, so that A you can monitor how much time they have, at least on that particular device. Right, perhaps multi devices I'm not as techie as I, but I'm sure at least the phones, and perhaps you know all screen and there's things that you can look into like that and you can, you're out put timers on it or you know, say okay and sure you can be on your phone and you know you have one hour or whatever.
Speaker 1:That you know perhaps right a lot of time for what they're doing on there. That's what I was just gonna say yeah, because yeah, I mean it's, it's okay because creditors are there.
Speaker 2:Screen time but, but also like what are they saying to other people? What are people saying to them? Are they bullying?
Speaker 1:and you don't even know about it. Right, right, what Right, what are?
Speaker 2:they seeing? What are they reading?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, it's just there's some really Inappropriate, really terrible stuff Content out there. And even just false information, so much so and we don't know what to believe and what is true, absolutely, and especially with AI and all of this fake news and all that it's hard for us to figure out.
Speaker 1:I don't think now. I'm kind of skeptical of anything anymore. Right, like to believe that anything is true and I might need a little bit more than you know what I'm seeing to back that up, and usually I'll end up starting to research something.
Speaker 2:Go down a rabbit hole.
Speaker 1:Yes, If it piques my interest at all. But for young, you know minds to have that know-how, they don't know what's true and what's not true.
Speaker 2:And, yeah, one of the funny things, um, that my kids like to tease me about, um, it was just, you know something? I always said to them, um, they would you know, share information with me. And I would say, really, how do you know that? Yeah, how like you, that's true, right? They're like well, yeah, and I'm like where did you see it? On the internet? And I said, oh, well, then it must be true.
Speaker 1:I know that's my favorite thing to say and, sadly enough, not just for my children and grandchildren but friends too, right?
Speaker 2:yeah, it's like oh, you heard yeah, on the internet. Well then, it's true, right well?
Speaker 1:that's what the algorithm, the algorithms, are serving up to you, because the funny thing is is I'm getting the exact opposite information. So it's a scary place out there.
Speaker 2:But I'm really glad that you brought this topic up, because I do believe it's something that we are in crisis of right now, yeah, and those of us middle aged still raising kids, it's affecting us and we need to know what we can do about it and how to do it and how to get support doing it yeah, um, and even if you don't have children and you're finding yourself very anxious or stressed, or what have you same?
Speaker 1:start all yeah start regulating and monitoring how much time you're spending on screens and um and make some changes, some positive changes. Maybe you know plants, a garden or yeah, but you know, maybe get your hands in the dirt or go for a walk. I mean, I've mentioned my 28-year-old son doesn't even have social media.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because he recognized the amount of anxiety it gave him and the amount of unproductive time he was spending on there and was just like I don't need this, I don't need this in my life. And that's very admirable for somebody that age, because most people his age are spending a lot of time on there.
Speaker 1:They are.
Speaker 2:Fortunately, I mean, I think your kids are kind of the same, they just don't really spend a lot of time on there and we're fortunate for that, but my grandkids, my grandkids will post here and there, but that's about it. They don't feed into any right other bm right people right and I don't think they're.
Speaker 2:You know, they're kind of beyond the age of being bullied by people, um, just for you know, simple posts and things like that, um, but yeah, it's, it's just, it's really scary and, again, even for adults, it can affect us as well so, yeah, 100, and we'd like to.
Speaker 1:We'd love to hear from you yeah what are your thoughts on the subject, um, and have you had these issues within your own circle household circle, life and how are you dealing with it? And do you want to jump on the bandwagon and, you know, help, support initiatives, um to help combat this before it goes to that next level and gets completely out of control. Let us hear from you. And that just about wraps it up for today. Thank you for joining us on. Let's Talk. Midlife Crisis. Embrace the change.
Speaker 2:Join the conversation on our website at letstalkmidlifecrisiscom, or our Facebook or Instagram and YouTube channels. We'd love to hear from you guys.
