So this whole minors-in-fandom seems to be the big hot button topic right now, and this post pretty much sums up everything I have to say about the issue. But after reading this post, I had an epiphany while cooking dinner. While I usually donāt jump into The Discourse myself, I needed to share my discovery. So a few years ago I read this excellent article āThe Overprotected Kidā - if you havenāt read it, go do it. Now. Seriously. Itās ostensibly about āmillennialsā but itās talking mostly about kids that were 5-15 at the time the article was written, i.e. kids who are 8-18ish now. So, basically, this entire white-knight age group of kid crusaders.
Basically, all of this boils down to a generational divide on how we were raised. Like, I could have told you that, but. Really. Basically every line in this article is solid gold, and completely explains the phenomenon weāre embroiled in right now. The article specifically talks about how playing in ādangerousā playgrounds helps children mature and learn how to safely take risks. Well, fandom has long been called a sandbox for a reason, and the parallels are so close itās bizarre.
Like, navigating your way through fandom spaces that have explicit content or disturbing themes?
āThe idea was that kids should face what to them seem like āreally dangerous risksā and then conquer them alone. That, she said, is what builds self-confidence and courage.ā
āAt the core of the safety obsession is a view of children that is the exact opposite of Lady Allenās, āan idea that children are too fragile or unintelligent to assess the risk of any given situation,ā argues Tim Gill, the author of No Fear, a critique of our risk-averse society. āNow our working assumption is that children cannot be trusted to find their way around tricky physical or social and emotional situations.ā
Even today, growing up is a process of managing fears and learning to arrive at sound decisions. By engaging in risky play, children are effectively subjecting themselves to a form of exposure therapy, in which they force themselves to do the thing theyāre afraid of in order to overcome their fear. But if they never go through that process, the fear can turn into a phobia.
Basically, the problem is this: the 14 and 15 and 16 year-olds on this sight have been, largely, helicopter-parented for every moment of every day of their lives. Many of them have never had to take care of themselves, or navigate difficult emotional situations without parental guidance. When I was a kid, the internet was the wild west, and parents universally told us that everyone on the internet was a pedophile who wanted to kill you, so you had to keep yourself safe. Now, kids always expect there to be a parent there to take care of their emotional needs, and when they go onto online spaces, the just assume that the nearest adult will fill in that role for them, whether that adult is interested or not.
Now, kids are out here saying shit like āi dont know how you dont know that as an adult its your responsibility to maintain a safe environment for children, just as much as it is their parents. for ex not swearing around kids or letting teenagers drink alcohol like every adult knows that.. ā
I am not your mother. Itās not my responsibility to ensure that there isnāt underaged drinking. If I walk past a couple of teenagers drinking beers on the street, do you know what Iām going to do about it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing, because I donāt care and Iām not their mother, and Iām not your mother either. Iāll watch my mouth if I notice that thereās a kid near me, but that doesnāt mean I donāt swear in public, even if there could be kids around me that I havenāt noticed.
This expectation, that every adult is there to monitor you and watch out for you, and if they arenāt willing to do that then theyāre a bad person?
āin all my years as a parent, Iāve mostly met children who take it for granted that they are always being watched.ā
Or how about this chilling factoid?
āWhen my daughter was about 10, my husband suddenly realized that in her whole life, she had probably not spent more than 10 minutes unsupervised by an adult. Not 10 minutes in 10 years.ā
These are the kids on here shouting āI need an adult!ā and then getting offended when no adult rushes in to take care. Itās baffling to me, honestly, but. I didnāt grow up this way. My parents taught me how to make good decisions, take care of myself, and navigate difficult situations, both in the ārealā world AND online. Iā¦ donāt really know what to say to kids whose parents didnāt.
Iām not your mom. If I want kids, Iāll have my own. And I wonāt raise them the way your parents raised you.
janainaart
jbbartram-illu
dededos
origamiaround
romaincrisis
ellievsbear
snowghoul
