Tuesday, August 26 - Wednesday, August 27

The first school week is well underway. The kids are definitely tired, but they seem to like their classes and will, I'm sure, have a good year. They've had XC each day, and in general, our schedule has calmed down a little. The end of summer was crazy.

Lucia has asked for Instagram now that she's almost sixteen, and I am grudgingly moving toward yes. I am no less allergic to seeing my kids with their faces in a screen than I've always been, but there are some good reasons why I can't just prohibit IG forever. (TikTok, on the other hand--Lucia knows not to even ask.) Her friends have started XC accounts, and theater accounts, and they post pics that she wants to see; and, of course, all things Taylor Swift, as well as a favorite author, Lauren Roberts, who posts a lot. Anyway. I've talked at length with her about the basic horrors--predators, pedophiles, the handful of "we invite you to leave the school" stories we've heard about over the past couple of years with kids whose social media posts have wrought (just) punishment--but she knows all this. What she doesn't understand is the basic awfulness of these platforms and the people who created them, the known dangers to teen mental health that have been swept under the rug, the way social media has warped our society and politics in ways we'll likely never recover from. (See: Careless People, a horrifying memoir/expose.)

And so, because I'm me, I've compiled a reading list for Lucia of articles from the NY Times, NY Magazine, The Cut, the Wall Street Journal, and Time that provide this context. We've agreed that she will read the articles, respond to a few questions, watch The Social Dilemma documentary with us, and adhere to a list of (reasonable) guidelines we've created about social media usage, and then she can have an Instagram account. I understand this may seem extreme, but the effects and impacts of social media (especially on teen girls, but also on us all) can also be extreme. The least I can do is introduce her to the contours of the online world she's stepping into.