I started my nonprofit M.I.N.T. to help young adults learn to love who they are. In light of Logan Paul’s recent viral suicide video, I wanted to ask parents how they teach their kids about social media and suicide. I learned a lot from this experience, and I hope you haven’t let someone like Logan Paul influence you to ever harm yourself. Laughing about the negative effects of social media, and more importantly suicide, isn’t funny- and making fun of your friends who joke about suicide is never a funny thing to do.

I was surprised at how much parents in the stores I went to knew about social media. I wasn’t expecting as many parents to be so knowledgable- I know my parents didn’t teach me much about social media when I was a kid! I was relieved to know that parents in this day and age know a lot about the Internet, and how it’s changing the way kids view themselves and their bodies. Most of the parents weren’t comfortable speaking on-camera (who would be when a random girl approaches you in a store) but I got some fantastic responses from the parents who didn’t mind chatting. All of the parents agreed with me that when parents negatively talk about their bodies, it truly impacts how kids view who they are. The worst thing a parent can do is look in the mirror and be critical of their body, because kids do pick up many of those comments and think that they are “normal”.

My advice? Start the discussion early. Don’t be afraid to make your child uncomfortable- it’s the most practical way of getting your child to trust you! If there’s one thing I wish my parents did when I was younger, it’s teaching me about my body (the creepy and the not creepy) as early as age 7. What’s the worst that could happen- your kid blocks you on Instagram? Is there anything worse than that?

Xo,

Alexa