Quick reminder the Suffragettes used bombs and arson attacks www.surreycc.gov.uk/culture-and-...
I do think social media apps are a perfidious evil. I am allergic to this culture of instant-availability-at-all-times. I have all notifications switched off because fuck that. Bots combined with the worst of all humanity makes most services a NIGHTMARE.
BUT
I still think teenagers, particularly in the 14-17 age bracket where they are doing some Serious Social Development, are allowed to go find things out for themselves.
I have had a lot of thoughts, AS A PARENT OF TEENAGE BOYS but also as a woman who has been terminally online since 2000, and my main takeaway is that they really don't understand how teenagers use the internet or what they use it for.
They are on discord and reddit. Sometimes they read stuff that is awful. Mostly they are just giggling with their mates.
They see youtube as Old Father Time's website. My kids LOVE podcasts. They want to listen, not watch.
But I made friends on forums that I AM STILL IN TOUCH WITH. I was on LIVEJOURNAL, that haven of Russian bottery. Myspace taught us how to cyberbully people in real time. MSN, the precursor to whatsapp, could be NIGHTMARISH. Paedophiles were lurking on every chat service.
a/s/l
Absolute SCENES in Stamford in 1926
A reminder that drug-related crime is not new
(1926)
When I was 15, I was playing on Newgrounds every lunchtime until the IT staff got wind of it and shut it down.
There was a website called Rotten.com. Don't go to it. Later, there was Goatse. DO NOT GOOGLE THAT.