Just Stay Safe - Tumblr Posts
[FIRST IMAGE ID]
Screenshot of a Twitter post by user Li Speaks. The tweet reads, “"just get your kids off the internet" is the abstinence-only sex ed of internet safety.” It is quoted by the same user with a two-panel comic. Each panel shows a mother in the foreground and their daughter in the background. First one says "My kid doesn't need Sex Ed because she would never have sex!" Behind her is an arrow pointing at her kid saying "14, pregnant." The second panel has the mother say "I don't need to teach my kid internet safety because she's not allowed online!" Her daughter is seen sneaking out through the window, described as "running away to live with her 35 years old "boyfriend.""
[END IMAGE ID]
[SECOND IMAGE ID]
Screenshot of Tumblr tags left under the original post. They say as follows: Is it now time to admit I used to be the "I would never let kids online" person until started to work with kids. And holy fuck, cutting off YouTube from your kid is like cutting them off socially from their entire classroom. They will learn about skibidi toilet and Fortnite. They will learn it from other kids, but they'll never learn how to fact-check stuff or look for something themselves to get a first-hand experience. Girls will get pressured by other girls to buy that skincare thing at age 10, they don't need TikTok. And of course they'll get online anyway which is the main point of this but like, "keep them offline" does nothing except maybe socially isolate your kid and frustrate them into doubling down on the harmful things you try to protect them from and of course now they lack the experience of being online they can't learn from it which leaves them even more vulnerable. It sucks, but it is what it is. Culturally, it is what it is.
[END IMAGE ID]
I get that folks want to be seen and understood, but what I don’t get is why the hell they make the worst and riskiest decision they possibly could in pursuit of that. You want to come out to your parents? Cool, they can find out when you send them your wedding invites. But please, for the love of any god you may believe in, don’t tell your life line you’re gay if you aren’t absolutely, 100% certain that they’ll accept you.
‘Cause if they don’t, what the fuck are you gonna do? They kick you out over it? Sure you can go to the cops, get your parents in trouble for it, but even then best case scenario is you get sent into the system. The worst case is if your family is forced to keep you because then? Then you are unwanted and unwelcome, a pest that they are simply not allowed to get rid of.
They will give you, their disappointment, only the bare essentials required by law. When you come out to parents to turn out to be unsupportive, you can kiss any financial assistance goodbye. As soon as you turn 18 they’ll kick you out and never look twice when they see you on the street.
Depending on how badly you misread their beliefs, saying those two special words can even put you at physical risk, in which case you best option would be to run as fast as you can to someone who is safe.
Please don’t come out to your parents while you still rely on them, it’s just a really bad idea and your entire life could be ruined just from this one miscalculation. So, don’t.